In 1861, the Teatro Reale was given on perpetual lease, by the government, to Dr. Salvatore Mifsud and Anacleto Conti for an annual ground rent of £236,15, and in 1862, the directum dominium was sold to Emmanuele Scicluna for £7,833.6.8. Subsequent owners were Carmelo Arpa, a chemist (1889) and the Gollcher family (1906-7). The theatre had fallen into disuse in 1866, as a result of the construction of Malta's new Royal Opera House, designed by Edward Middleton Barry, on Strada Reale, at the entrance to Valletta. The theatre began to serve as a doss house for homeless and indigent citizens, who rented out the stalls for a few pennies a night. However, in 1873, the "Teatro Reale" - was officially renamed the ""Manoel Theatre"", and it enjoyed a brief new lease on life when the Royal Opera House burnt down. But by 1877, the Royal Opera House had been rebuilt, and once more, the Manoel Theatre was eclipsed and fell again into disuse. On 27 December 1922, 6 January 1923 and 3 February 1923, the Manoel Theatre was the venue for the first public airing of Malta's National Anthem, ""L-Innu Malti."" During the Second World War, the Manoel Theatre served as emergency accommodation for victims of the constant bombardment by the Luftwaffe and the Regia Aeronautica. In the early 20th century, it was also used intermittently as the venue for Carnival balls and, for a period of about twenty years, it operated as a movie theatre.