Pre - World War II
The Manila Grand Opera House (MGOH), the biggest show house constructed after the Philippine revolution against Spain, was situated along Rizal Avenue, between Doroteo Jose and Lope de Vega Streets. It used to be N.T. Hashim’s National Cycle Track when it was acquired by a businessman in the 1890s. The circular wooden structure with a nipa roof became the Teatro Nacional where the Russian Circus and some American theater companies performed.
In 1902, the Teatro became the MGOH after it was transformed into an opera house by Italian impresario Balzofiore in time for a visiting Italian opera company. Seats were divided into the palco proscenio for the dignitaries, butaca or orchestra for most theatergoers, and gallery, the least expensive section.
The theater’s most celebrated feature was said to be its acoustics, allowing even the softest whisper to be clearly heard.
It was the site of many important events in the 1900s—Rizal Day programs, grand concerts of Filipino and foreign artists, zarzuela and operatic presentations. On October 16, 1907, the first Philippine Assembly was inaugurated there by the United States Secretary of War William Howard Taft.
After two decades of hosting opera and zarzuela productions, ownership changed in 1942. By then, the building looked more like a warehouse than a theater.
The new owner, Toribio Teodoro, known as the “shoe king of the Philippines”, lived there when the Japanese seized his house and shoe factory during World War II. The building was badly damaged by flood in 1943 and burned down a few months later.