Vereinigte Bühnen Wien

Located in Vienna’s historic centre, the RONACHER was built between 1871 and 1872 by renowned architects Ferdinand Fellner sen. and Ferdinand Fellner jun. for a private company owned by journalist Max Friedländer and former director of the Burgtheater Heinrich Laube. As the „Wiener Stadttheater“, it was designed to attract a middle-class audience and compete with the imperial-court theatres. The house opened on September 15, 1872, with Heinrich Laube’s adaptation of Friedrich Schiller’s Demetrius.

Only twelve years had passed since its opening when the theatre was destroyed by fire on May 16, 1884. Due to new fire regulations, it became impossible to reopen the Schauspielhaus. In 1886, Anton Ronacher acquired the burnt-out ruins and again commissioned Ferdinand Fellner jun. – who, together with his partner Hermann Helmer, ran the most successful theatre architects office – with the design of a „Concert- and Ballhaus“. The new house was conceived as a variety theatre and Anton Ronacher added an adjacent large ballroom and an affiliated hotel. Also, he was already able to install electrical lighting. In 1888, the theatre was reopened as the ETABLISSENMENT RONACHER. With its future use in mind, the operators had refrained from acquiring lavish stage equipment, while stalls and dress-circle boxes boasted tables where patrons enjoyed food and smoked during performances. Already after two years, Anton Ronacher had to resign from his position as Director of his „Conzert- and Ballhaus“ for financial reasons. From 1890 on, performances featuring „strongmen and athletes“ attracted visitors from the suburbs who drove away upper middle class and aristocratic audiences. Over the following years, variety programs were mixed with revues and operetta guest performances, soloist dancers and singers. For many years, dancers, magicians, acrobats, and illusionists dominated the theatre. The highlights of this era include Josephine Baker’s performance in 1932. The 30s, however, also saw the end of variety theatre at the RONACHER, which was largely brought about by a stage ban imposed on Jewish artists.

After the war, the RONACHER served as a replacement for the largely destroyed Burgtheater and was used as a variety theatre again between 1955 and 1960. In 1960, the RONACHER was closed and Austrian broadcaster ORF took over the house, using it as a studio and stage. After ORF moved out of the building in 1976, it lay dormant for ten years. With Cagliostro in Wien and events of The Vienna Festival (Wiener Festwochen), the first steps towards revitalizing the theatre were taken in 1986.

In 1987, VEREINIGTEN BÜHNEN WIEN (VBW) took over the house for the purpose of revitalizing it. From 1988 to 1990, Cats and two opera performances played there, which had previously been shown at the THEATER AN DER WIEN.
Following a "gentle renovation", the RONACHER was reopened and leased out in 1993. Back under the umbrella of VBW since September 1997, it mainly hosted guest performances of international tour productions, festive events, and occasionally VBW productions such as Chicago or F@lco - A Cyber Show.

The years between 2005 and 2008 saw a comprehensive functional renovation of the RONACHER. The construction project comprised renovation costs to the tune of 34.1 million euros and was completed after the plans of Architektur Consult ZT GmbH around Prof. DI Günther Domenig and DI Gerhard Wallner. The opening ceremony on June 30, 2008 was hosted by Vice Mayor Mag. Renate Brauner and attended by Austrian President Dr. Heinz Fischer and City Councillor for Cultural Affairs Dr. Andreas Maylath-Pokorny. Finally, the gala premiere of THE PRODUCERS marked the reopening of the RONACHER.

In September 2010 the hitmusical TANZ DER VAMPIRE hat its premiere at the RONACHER. The new musical SISTER ACT starts on the 15th of September 2011.