The Teatro San Babile was built by order of the then Cardinal of Milan Giovanni Battista Montini, later Archbishop of Milan and future Pope Paul VI, and its construction dates back to 1964 by the architect Mario Gottardi.

It immediately assumed the role of emblem of the vitality of Milan, becoming its ideal living room.

The greatest Italian actors have alternated on its stage; among the many we remember Paolo Stoppa, Aroldo Tieri, Peppino De Filippo, Nino Taranto, Glauco Mauri, Rossella Falk, Giorgio Albertazzi, Ernesto Calindri, Lauretta Masiero, Giulio Bosetti, Enrico Maria Salerno, Renzo Montagnani, Giancarlo Sbragia, Lella Brignone, Valeria Valeri, Franca Valeri. Nowadays Paola Gassman, Paolo Villaggio, Milena Vukotic, Paolo Villaggio, Paola Pitagora, Vanessa Gravina, Alessandro Benvenuti, Lucrezia Lante Della Rovere, Massimo Dapporto and many others.