Ronacher in 2015

The Ronacher theater, originally Etablissement Ronacher, is a theater in the Innere Stadt district of Vienna, Austria.

Along with the Raimund Theater and the Theater an der Wien, it is run by the Vereinigte Bühnen Wien (VBW).

History

The Wiener Stadttheater (Vienna municipal theater) after its construction in 1872
Fire at the theater 1884.
Ronacher Logo

It was initially built as the Wiener Stadttheater (Vienna municipal theatre) from 1871 to 1872 by the architects Ferdinand Fellner the Elder and Ferdinand Fellner for a private working group of the journalist Max Friedländer and the playwright and director Heinrich Laube.[1]: 8, 205–206 

The two wanted to build a bourgeois theatre that would compete with the imperial court theatres – without censorship. The house was opened on 15 September 1872 with Schiller's Demetrius in an adaptation of Laube.[1]: 216–248  Twelve years after its opening, the house burned down on May 16, 1884.[1]: 198–199  Since the building is not free on all four sides, a reconstruction as a theatre was not permitted according to the fire protection regulations that are now in force. In 1886 Anton Ronacher bought the ruins of the fire and had Ferdinand Fellner the Younger (who in the meantime had founded the office of Fellner & Helmer) build a concert and ball house on it from May 1887 to April 1888. The murals are by Eduard Veith. The main staircase was built with steps from Kaisersteinbruch. A large ballroom and a hotel were attached to the new variety theatre, and it was already able to use electric light, and included promenades and a conservatory.[2][3]

The new Etablissement Ronacher was not a playhouse, but equipped with tables and chairs. During the performance, people were allowed to drink, eat and smoke. However, due to the poor economic situation, Ronacher later had to give up the house. From 1890 onwards, artists performed more frequently, which attracted more suburban populations and drove away the aristocracy. Later, the program was supplemented by revues, operettas, dance and singing performances. The house was rebuilt again and again and adapted to the needs of the modern variety business (1901, 1906 and continuously between 1907 and 1916; in each case by Ferdinand Fellner the Younger), especially around 1910 accompanied by the discussion whether, following the course of the times, the house should make the transition to classical spoken theatre.[4] In the years 1909–1912, Gabor Steiner, the founder of Venice in Vienna, was the director of the theater.[5] From 1928, the then Austrian radio, the RAVAG, was leased for a few years in parts of the Ronacher and broadcast its music programs from there: First, the so-called "Parisien" was converted into a studio, which was used together with ancillary rooms and the entire third floor. In 1930, RAVAG rented another one and a half floors and some single rooms in the building.[6]

After the Anschluss in 1938, the theatre passed from its previous co-owner Samuel Schöngut to Bernhard Labriola through Aryanization.[7][8] Schöngut was deported to the Litzmannstadt ghetto on 2 November 1941 and from there to the Auschwitz concentration camp on 16 August 1944, where he was murdered.[9]

After World War II, the Ronacher was an alternative stage for the Burgtheater, which had been damaged by bombs, until 1955. Subsequently, vaudeville artists performed again, before the Austrian television used the premises for TV productions from 1960 onwards. In 1986, after ten years of vacancy, an operetta was performed again for the first time, this time, Cagliostro in Wien by Johann Strauss II. In 1987, the Vereinigte Bühnen Wien bought the house and staged the musical Cats and two operas. An architectural competition in 1987 resulted in a "deconstructivist" extension as the winning project. However, Coop Himmelblau's project became the target of fierce public criticism and was shelved in August 1991. In 2003, 2004 and 2008, the Ronacher hosted the award gala of the Nestroy Theatre Prize.[6]

After several years as a guest performance hall for international productions and festive events, the Ronacher was expanded into a musical stage at a cost of 46.9 million euros. By mid-2008, the stage technology was modernized and the floor of the stage was lowered by two meters, which improved the view of the stage.[10] The extension of the building by the architect Günther Domenig was carried out despite massive political and cityscape protection concerns.[11]

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, numerous performances had to be cancelled during Cats' season. During this time, the saleable seating capacity was first reduced to 75% and later to 50%. Since September 2021, tickets have been sold again at full capacity. Changes have been made to the play itself, such as the fact that the actors are no longer allowed to play in the auditorium as cats in order to be able to comply with the distance rules. The sequence as well as the choreography had to be adapted and changed – these changes served as a template for all Cats productions played worldwide.

The Ronacher has around 1000 seats and 40 standing places. The exact number of seats and standing room varies depending on the production (The Hunchback of Notre Dame currently has 1000 seats and 30 standing places).

Musical world premieres

Musical Music and book Premiere Dernière Shows / visitors Additional information
Rock me Amadeus Christian Struppeck October 2023

Other musical performances

Musical Music and book Premiere Dernière Shows / visitors Additional information
Cats Andrew Lloyd Webber 1988 24 September 1990 over 2000 shows / 2.3 million visitors
20 September 2019 26 June 2022 454 shows / 180,000 visitors
Chicago John Kander, Fred Ebb 21 April 1999
Falco – A Cybershow Joshua Sobol, Paulus Manker 1 April 2000 26 November 2000
The Producers Mel Brooks 30 June 2008 22 February 2009 German language world premiere
Spring Awakening Michael Mayer, Bill T. Jones 21 March 2009 30 May 2009 German language world premiere
Tanz der Vampire Michael Kunze, Jim Steinman 16 September 2009 25 June 2011
30 September 2017 27 June 2018 240 shows / 252,000 visitors
Sister Act Alan Menken, Glenn Slater 15 September 2011 31. Dezember 2012
Legally Blonde Laurence O’Keefe, Nell Benjamin 21 February 2013 20. Dezember 2013
Der Besuch der alten Dame Christian Struppeck, Moritz Schneider 19 February 2014 29 June 2014 120 shows / 114.000 visitors
Mary Poppins Cameron Mackintosh, Disney 1 October 2014 31. Januar 2016 371 shows / 366,000 visitors German language world premiere
Evita Andrew Lloyd Webber, Tim Rice 9 March 2016 31. Dezember 2016 185 shows / 148,000 visitors
Don Camillo and Peppone Michael Kunze, Dario Farino 27 January 2017 25 June 2017 117 shows
Bodyguard Alexander Dinelaris 27 September 2018 30 June 2019 273 shows / 260,000 visitors
The Hunchback of Notre Dame Alan Menken, James Lapine, Stephen Schwartz 8 October 2022 June 2023 Austrian premiere

References

  1. 1 2 3 Rudolf Tyrolt (1889). Chronik des Wiener Stadttheaters - 1872–1884 (in German). Verlag von Carl Konegen. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
  2. ↑ "Die Eisenconstructionen der Decken und Dächer des Etablissement Ronacher (ehem. Stadttheater) in Wien". Der Bautechniker (24): 341–245. 15 June 1888. Retrieved 24 May 2023 – via ANNO.
  3. ↑ "Ronacher, Anton". Austrian Centre for Digital Humanities and Cultural Heritage. Archived from the original on 17 January 2022. Retrieved 24 May 2023.
  4. ↑ "Kleine Chronik. (…) Der Kampf zwischen Varieté und Theater". Neue Freie Presse Morgenblatt (in German). 30 May 1909. Archived from the original on 16 May 2023. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
  5. ↑ Norbert Rubey: "Gabor Steiner". In: Österreichisches Biographisches Lexikon 1815–1950 (ÖBL). Vol. 13, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 2010, ISBN 978-3-7001-6963-5, p. 169 f. (Direct links to "p. 169", "p. 170")
  6. 1 2 "Ronacher, Etablissement". Oesterreichisches Musiklexikon Online. 15 May 2005. doi:10.1553/0x00075a41. Archived from the original on 21 February 2023. Retrieved 24 May 2023.
  7. ↑ Stephan Templ, Tina Walzer (2001). Unser Wien. "Arisierung" auf österreichisch (in German). Berlin: Aufbau Verlag. p. 212. ISBN 3-351-02528-9.
  8. ↑ "EIN MENSCH IN SEINEM WIDERSPRUCH: DER MEISTERSTEMMER, FABRIKANT UND VARIETÉBESITZER BERNHARD LABRIOLA". Austrian Academy of Sciences (in German). August 2015. Archived from the original on 24 June 2018. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
  9. ↑ Adolf Glücksmann. "Declaration under oath of the nephew Adolf Glücksmann" (in German). Archives of the property control sub-section of the US Allied occupying forces. Archived from the original on 2023-05-16. Retrieved 2023-05-16.
  10. ↑ "Ronacher mit neuem Innenleben". Vienna City Archive (in German). Archived from the original on 6 March 2015. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
  11. ↑ "Zu- und Umbau Funktionssanierung Ronacher" (in German). Archived from the original on 1 May 2006. Retrieved 15 May 2023.

Further reading

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