Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Metropolitan Theater


It was Sunday morning, and I was stuck in Oregon without a vehicle.  Since I had to pick up the van from the main house, I decided to hop on a bus through Taft Avenue, Quiapo and Espana to get to Quezon City.  I haven't taken the bus for ages; luckily the traffic was very light, and the trip was over in a jiffy.  The trip was a reverie of sorts; passing by the Metropolitan Theater in Plaza Lawton gave me a melancholy feeling.  While I had not seen the theater during its glory days (that was right before the war), I had frequented the place right after it was renovated in the late seventies.  At that time, the art deco structure gave me a splendid impression as to why Manila was named the Pearl of the Orient!  Alas, today, the building is in utter decay; I took these pictures from the bus, and asked myself why such cultural landmarks are left to rot.  If I remember correctly, a television station used to rent the theater in the early nineties, but the repair and maintenance costs must have been enormous.  Such a pity, such a waste!





No comments: