The Coliseum was the first building erected in Havana to provide theatrical performances, it opened its doors on January 20, 1775. It was located in front of the Alameda de Paula between Calles Acosta, Oficios, and Luz, in Old Havana. Built between 1773 and 1775, the initiative for the creation of the theater came from the Marquis de la Torre, who managed to gather on July 2, 1773, the most important merchants and the main personalities of the city with the aim of raising funds for the construction of the building. Shortly after, work began on the masonry and wood building, directed by the Havana architect Antonio Fernández de Trebejos y Zaldívar; in the year 1775, it was announced that on the 20th of that current month, the performance of comedies would begin in the new Coliseum.
