by Megan Meister   By Suzanne Calvin   The year that the United
States declared its independence from Great Britain, 1776,
Havana (a city with a population of around 50 thousand) opened
the Teatro Coliseo to host a variety of musical theater
offerings.  By 1801, a second opera theater had opened and
within a decade there was an “official” Cuban opera company
receiving regular government support.  Although influenced by
homegrown and Spanish elements like the tonadilla (a short
operetta tackling contemporary stories about the underclass—much
like the Italian verismo movement of the late 19th century),
Havana opera theaters imported most of their principal singers
from Italy and France.  With a stable of stars and a large,
highly professional orchestra, Havana produced as many as eighty
performances a year, including works by the greatest opera
composers of the day.  In fact, Mozart’s Don Giovanni had its
Havana premiere in 1818 – a good seven years before it debuted
on the New York stage.  During the early 183