Panama’s National Ballet of Panama with 35 dancers provided the curtain-raiser at the official reopening of the National Theater after a $15 million restoration on Thursday, October 3.

The restoration works, consisted of the rehabilitation of the building, with changes in the stage, boxes, stretches, lights, ceilings, scenic machinery, slabs, outdoor terraces and the installation of an elevator. 

Paintings were also restored, including 41 artistic works by Panamanian artist  Roberto Lewis, one of which represents the birth of the Republic of Panama (1903).

The first lady,  Yazmín Colón de Cortizo  extended an invitation to the population to come visit  the rejuvenated  facilities

 Carlos Aguilar , Minister of Culture, said that "now we must work to maintain the theater well so that in a few years we don't have to invest millions of dollars to restore it".