New Frontier Theater

The theater first opened in May 27, 1967[1] as the New Frontier Theater and was considered for some years to be the biggest theater in the Philippines,[2] with at least 3,500 seating capacity.[3] The theater also had an ice skating rink and a roller skating rink, which opened in 1968 and has a capacity of 900 skaters.[4] It was used until the late 1980s[5] after which the theater fell into disuse due to the emergence of home video formats such as Betamax, VHS and LaserDisc, as well as competition of new malls with cinemas, causing standalone theaters to close operations.[5]

Renovations were planned as early as 2003[2] but it was almost a decade later that such works would have been completed. It was renovated and reopened on September 1, 2015. The renovation cost around ₱500 million.[5] The facade of the original building was kept and the renovated theater has a 2,385 seating capacity.[5][6]

The theater was renamed "Kia Theatre" after the Araneta Group signed a five-year licensing deal with Columbian Autocar Corporation, the Philippine distributor for Kia Motors until 2018, on July 15, 2015.[5] The theater façade would feature a 305.96 square metres (3,293.3 sq ft) Kia showroom as part of the agreement.[7]

The theater reopened on August 15, 2015 with the staging of the musical, MLQ: Ang Buhay ni Manuel Luis Quezon.[8] The first commercial show of the theater upon its reopening was The Disney Live! Mickey’s Music Festival which ran from September 1 to 6.[5]

The theater reverted to its original name on October 1, 2018.[9][10] It is connected to Gateway Mall and the Manhattan Parkview via elevated bridge.

• Entertainment events at the Kia Theatre