[3][4][5] The cornerstone was set on April 7, 1858, with great celebration; engineer Francisco Antônio de Oliveira was responsible for the building's design.

The São José Theatre was inaugurated on September 4, 1864, with a performance of the play Túnica de Nessus, written by law student Sizenando Nabuco.

It featured a facade with a combination of exposed bricks, rudimentary pilasters and unadorned window frames, topped by a heavy triangle that formed the ceiling of the hall.

[3][4] In 1868, Saldanha Marinho, President of the Province of São Paulo, irritated by the constant work on the building, instructed the Treasury Procurator to intervene.

After being acquired by the city government, the São José Theater passed to the administration of Antônio da Silva Prado, who renovated the building and completed the work in March 1876, when the venue was inaugurated again.

Japanese jugglers, German magicians, Italian drama companies and artists such as maestro Arturo Toscanini, actress Sarah Bernhardt, Eugênia Câmara and poet Castro Alves, who recited from his cabin, performed at the theater.

The event also included a performance of the opera The Geisha by Owen Hall and Sidney Jones, featuring a cast from the Ernesto Lahoz Company.

The next day, Les saltimbanques by Louis Ganne was announced, followed by A Waltz Dream by Straus and The Merry Widow by Franz Lehár, which concluded the 1909 season.

The audience had a traditional horseshoe shape with a privileged view of the stage, as the building's design exploited the slope towards the Anhangabaú Valley located at the back of the complex.

The decorative pieces on the theater's facades, such as the mascarons and cement sculptures, were reused in the construction of Vila Itororó, built by the Portuguese merchant Francisco de Castro.