المسرح قدام البوابة.

Yes. In Levantine Arabic, this is a normal complete sentence.

It is a nominal sentence, which means it does not need a present-tense form of to be. So where English says The theater is in front of the gate, Arabic simply says:

• المسرح = the theater
• قدام البوابة = in front of the gate

Together, that already means The theater is in front of the gate.

Because in Arabic, the verb to be is usually not said in the present tense.

So:

• المسرح قدام البوابة = The theater is in front of the gate

But in the past or future, Arabic does use a verb:

• كان المسرح قدام البوابة = The theater was in front of the gate
• رح يكون المسرح قدام البوابة = The theater will be in front of the gate

So the missing is is completely normal.

Here is the basic breakdown:

• المسرح = the topic/subject, the theater
• قدام البوابة = the predicate, telling you where the theater is

More specifically:

• قدام is a location word meaning in front of
• البوابة is the object of that location phrase, the gate

So the sentence structure is basically:

• [the theater] + [in front of the gate]

قدام is a very common location word in Levantine Arabic. In this sentence, it means in front of.

You can think of it as functioning a lot like a preposition in English, even though Arabic grammar books may describe it a bit differently.

Examples:

• السيارة قدام البيت = The car is in front of the house
• أنا قدامك = I’m in front of you

In colloquial Levantine, قدام is extremely common in everyday speech.

Yes, قدام is very common in Levantine everyday speech.

In Standard Arabic, you are more likely to see أمام for in front of:

• Levantine: المسرح قدام البوابة
• Standard Arabic: المسرح أمام البوابة

Both are understandable, but قدام sounds natural and colloquial in Levantine.

Because both nouns are definite here:

• المسرح = the theater
• البوابة = the gate

Arabic uses الـ to mean the.

So this sentence is talking about a specific theater and a specific gate, not just any theater or any gate.

If you removed الـ, the meaning would become more general or indefinite:

• مسرح قدام بوابة = a theater in front of a gate

That is grammatically possible in some contexts, but it is not the same meaning as the original sentence.

A broad Levantine-style pronunciation is:

el-masraḥ ʔoddām el-bawwābe

A few useful notes:

• المسرح is often pronounced el-masraḥ
• البوابة is often pronounced el-bawwābe
• the final ة in بوابة is usually pronounced like -e in Levantine
• the ح in مسرح is a strong breathy h
• the first sound in قدام can vary by region:
  • many speakers say something like ʔoddām
  • some say qoddām

So pronunciation may differ a little depending on where the speaker is from.

Both relate to gates or doors, but they are not exactly the same.

• باب usually means door, and sometimes gate
• بوابة more clearly means gate or gateway, often something larger or more formal

So in this sentence, البوابة gives the sense of the gate rather than just the door.

For example:

• باب البيت = the door of the house
• بوابة الجامعة = the university gate

No. قدام stays the same.

It does not change whether the thing in front is masculine, feminine, singular, or plural.

For example:

• المسرح قدام البوابة = The theater is in front of the gate
• المدرسة قدام البوابة = The school is in front of the gate
• المحلات قدام البوابة = The shops are in front of the gate

The word قدام remains unchanged.

Yes. In everyday Levantine, you can often make a yes/no question just by using question intonation:

• المسرح قدام البوابة؟ = Is the theater in front of the gate?

You usually do not need to add a special word like English do/is/are.

In more formal Arabic, you might see هل, but that is not the most natural everyday Levantine choice here.

A common Levantine negative version is:

• المسرح مو قدام البوابة = The theater is not in front of the gate

In some areas, you may also hear مش instead of مو:

• المسرح مش قدام البوابة

Both are common colloquial ways to negate this kind of sentence, depending on region.