Located in the heart of District 1, the Saigon Opera House is one of the most recognizable historical buildings in Ho Chi Minh City. Home to the AO Show, it serves as a venue for cultural displays, attracting tourists and locals alike. But as recently as 50 years ago, the Opera House attracted a different type of attention.
A Grand Project
After the French took over Saigon in 1863, they set about francising the city. Pierre-Paul de La Grandière, leader of the French forces and Governor General of Cochinchina started hosting theatre shows for soldiers and local frenchmen at his mansion on the corner of Nguyen Du and Dong Khoi.
The demand quickly outgrew the capacities of the makeshift theatre, and soon the colonial administration petitioned the French government for the funds to construct an opera house.
The French government refused, being preoccupied at the time with the rising threat of Prussia and the eventual Franco-Prussian War of 1870 that resulted in a resounding French defeat, the fall of the Second Empire and the proclamation of the Third Republic.
Therefore, the colonists took matters into their own hands, constructing a temporary theatre at the site of what is now the Caravelle Hotel sometime between 1865 and 1880.
This theatre proved to be quite popular amongst the colonial elite, and by the time of Paul Blanchy’s mayorship (1895-1901) a petition was once again launched to construct an Opera House “worthy of the French Republic’s civilizational vocation and cultural importance” in Indochina.
The job was entrusted to the architect Félix Olivier under the supervision of Eugène Ferret (San Remo Casino, Universal Exposition 1900) and Ernest Guichard.
By 1898, construction had started. Olivier modelled the Saigon Opera House after the Petit Palais art museum in Paris. Fashioned in the flamboyant style of the Third Republic, the inscriptions and furnishings were drawn by French artists and imported.
Inaugurated in 1900, the Saigon Opera House drew attention from Europe, with Prince Valdemar of Denmark travelling to Indochina to witness the grand reveal.
When it opened, the Opera house boasted a capacity of up to 1800 spectators spread across a 3-floor seating plan. Until WWI, the theatre hosted travelling troupes from France and Europe for performances reserved to the colonial elite.
The Decline of French Empire
During the Interwar period of the 1920s and 1930s, the theatre gradually became less popular among the local French. The economic realities of the colony made performances inaccessible to all but the richest colonists, and the theatre struggled to fill seats.
Deemed architecturally old-fashioned, prohibitively expensive and overly flamboyant by the locals, Saigon nightlife quickly moved to the thriving bars and nightclubs of the city.
Following the outbreak of WWII, France ceded control of Indochina to the Japanese Empire. Performances ceased, and the theatre fell into disuse.
The local government took this opportunity to re-organize the facade and give the Opera House a more modern look by removing some of the elaborate decorations in 1943. The following year, the Opera House was damaged during an Allied bombing run on Imperial Japanese forces.
The end of WWII saw France attempt to re-colonize Vietnam from the South. During this time, the theatre was used as a temporary shelter for French civilians being evacuated from North Vietnam.
After the defeat of French forces at the battle of Dien Ben Phu in 1954, the French left Indochina.
Republicanism and Renovations
In 1955, the new Republic of Vietnam transformed the Opera House into the seat of the Lower House of the State of Vietnam, one half of the Republic of Vietnam’s bicameral legislature. This usage lasted until the liberation of Saigon in 1975.
During this time, the Opera House was modernised again in the Southern-Vietnamese modernist style. Changes were also made to the interior seating plan to accommodate the new function, with total seating being reduced to 500.
Reunification in 1976 saw the Opera House return to its original usage. The building was renovated in 1998, with the original facade being restored. Further work in 2007 saw structural improvements to the roof, columns and statues as well as improvement to spectator comfort (cushioned seats).
More recently the Opera House Station of Line 1 of the HCMC Metro was opened, allowing visitors to access the iconic landmark via public transport.
As of 2023, the HCMC People’s Council approved a resolution to undertake further maintenance work, but construction has yet to start. Today, the Opera House hosts international shows as well as local celebrations of culture like AO Show and Teh Dar.