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Jakarta theaters attracting more visitors
Art meets business: Veteran singer Titiek Puspa performs in a musical titled Love and Gratitude during the opening of Ciputra Artpreneur at the Ciputra Theater in Jakarta on Aug
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span class="inline inline-center">Art meets business: Veteran singer Titiek Puspa performs in a musical titled Love and Gratitude during the opening of Ciputra Artpreneur at the Ciputra Theater in Jakarta on Aug. 16, 2014. Courtesy of Ciputra Group
With increased interest in theater and musical drama, venues across the Greater Jakarta area are welcoming an ever-greater number of visitors.
Ciputra Theater, located in the Ciputra Artpreneur Building in Kuningan, South Jakarta, has high hopes of making theater one of the city's principle forms of entertainment.
Corporate public relations head Eky Mery said that Ciputra Theater, which opened on Aug. 16, aims to host international plays and musical dramas, including Broadway shows.
'We have noticed that many Indonesians go to Singapore to watch Broadway shows. We want to tap into that market as well so Indonesians won't need to go to Singapore to see such shows,' Eky told The Jakarta Post.
Singaporean venues have hosted a number of Broadway hit shows, including Cats, Swan Lake, The Phantom of the Opera and West Side Story.
'Our theater has been booked for a number of shows next year, including Disney's Beauty and the Beast musical,' Eky said.
She added that Ciputra would also produce themed musical dramas throughout the year. 'For example, we may do one for Valentine's Day,' she said.
Ciputra Theater is one of the largest theater venues in Jakarta, with 1,280 seats.
'We hope we can contribute to Indonesia's arts scene,' Eky said.
Meanwhile, Titan Theater in Bintaro, South Tangerang, Banten, a smaller-scale theater, has enjoyed a surge in room usage over the past year. Titan Theater is located in the Titan Center, which started operating in 2010.
According to marketing and sales staffer Lily Rosmalia, Titan Theater is currently the only theater venue in Bintaro, and one of very few with downward slope seating in Jakarta's satellite municipalities.
'In the past year, we have had an increase in room usage. There's been a show every weekend recently,' Lily told the Post.
Lily added that, unlike Ciputra, Titan Theater hosted smaller-scale shows. Schools often booked the theater for performances of musical dramas, which were open to the public, she said. Many international schools and upscale private schools are to be found in and around Bintaro, but the area lacks venues for such performances.
'There's always a lot of demand to watch musicals. The tickets usually sell out,' Lily said.
Moreover, she said, a number of classical music concerts had been held in the theater.
'Recently, we had maestro Ananda Sukarlan perform at Titan Theater. Violinist Iskandar Widjaja has performed here too,' Lily revealed.
'The theater is very profitable. Numerous classical music concerts and musicals have been held here. We hope in the future Broadway-style shows will also be held here,' she said.
Lily revealed that the theater's rates were set at Rp 26 million (US$2,172) for half a day and Rp 37 million for a full day.
Besides these two relatively new venues, Jakarta theater-lovers can visit Jakarta Arts Building (GKJ) in Pasar Baru, Teater Jakarta and Graha Bhakti Budaya theater at Taman Ismail Marzuki, Balai Sarbini in Semanggi, all in Central Jakarta, and Salihara black box theater in Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta.
