Saigon Opera House (Municipal Theatre)

The Saigon Opera House, also known as the Municipal Theatre, stands at 7 Cong Truong Lam Son at the top of Dong Khoi Street in District 1 of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. It was built by French architects at the turn of the 20th century and opened in 1900 as a venue for the city's French residents, with a design that follows the Petit Palais in Paris and French Third Republic theatre architecture. The building seats about 800 people. After the partition of Vietnam, the Republic of Vietnam used the hall as its National Assembly from 1956 until 1975, and it was returned to its role as a performing arts venue after reunification and renovated in the 1990s. The facade is richly decorated in the neoclassical and Flamboyant Gothic style, with a central arched entrance, carved garlands, a pair of female figures flanking the door, balustrades and a tiled roof. The interior has a gilded auditorium with a painted ceiling, a balcony, ornate boxes and a stage with a grand curtain. The venue is not a museum, so the curatorial approach is to present performances rather than exhibits, and the interior is open only during ticketed events. Regular programmes include classical concerts, ballet and the A O Show, a contemporary performance combining acrobatics and bamboo structures, together with performances by the Ho Chi Minh City Ballet, Symphony Orchestra and Opera. The building has been restored in the 1990s and maintained since, and the exterior and auditorium are in good condition. It sits close to the Continental Hotel, the Hotel de Ville and the Dong Khoi shopping street, and the exterior is a standard stop on walking tours of the colonial centre.