Kaunas State Musical Theatre is musical theatre in Kaunas

Kaunas

Kaunas is the second-largest city in Lithuania and has historically been a leading centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the biggest city and the center of a powiat in Trakai Voivodeship of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania since 1413. During Russian Empire occupation...

, Lithuania

Lithuania

Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...

. It was established on November 27, 1940 in former State Theatre hall adjoining the Laisvės Alėja

Laisves aleja

Laisvės Alėja is a prominent pedestrian street in the city of Kaunas, Lithuania. It stretches between the St. Michael the Archangel's Byzantine style church to the Central Post Office and Tadas Ivanauskas Zoological Museum around the Kaunas Old Town, the oldest section of Kaunas...

. For some time it was playing mostly operettas.

The building

Decision to build Kaunas City Theatre was admitted in 1891, and first play was staged on January 9, 1892. Neo-Renaissance was chosen as a style for the building, and it was built in the City Garden square. Two storey building had 500 square meters hall. Spectators also could watch plays from two storey balconie rows. In the balconies special loges were established for Kaunas Governor

Kovno Governorate

The Kovno Governorate or Government of Kovno was a governorate of the Russian Empire. Its capital was Kovno . It was formed on 18 December 1842 by tsar Nicholas I from the western part of the Vilna Governorate, and the order was carried out on 1 July 1843. It used to be a part of Northwestern Krai...

 and Kaunas Fortress

Kaunas Fortress

Kaunas Fortress is the remains of a fortress complex in Kaunas, Lithuania. It was constructed and renovated between 1882 and 1915 to protect the Russian Empire's western borders, and was designated a "first-class" fortress in 1887...

 commandant.

After Lithuania established independence and Kaunas became the temporary capital

Temporary capital of Lithuania

The temporary capital of Lithuania was the official designation of the city of Kaunas in Lithuania during the interwar period. It was in contrast to the declared capital in Vilnius , which was under Polish control from 1920 until 1939...

, the theatre became a cradle for modern Lithuanian drama, opera and ballet theatres.

Theatre was reconstructed in 1922-1925, 1930-1933 and in 1980. Exterior of the building assumed Neo-Baroque architecture, the audience hall was enlarged to 763 places, and the third row of balconies and the central lodge

Box (theatre)

In theater, a box is a small, separated seating area in the auditorium for a limited number of people.Boxes are typically placed immediately to the front, side and above the level of the stage. They are often separate rooms with an open viewing area which typically seat five people or fewer. ...

 were added.

Romas Kalanta

Romas Kalanta

Romas Kalanta was a Lithuanian high school student known for his public self-immolation protesting Soviet regime in Lithuania. Kalanta's death provoked the largest post-war riots in Lithuania and inspired similar self-immolations...

 set himself on fire in 1972 as a protest against the Soviet regime in the nearby square.

Musical theater

1948 Lithuanian Opera and Ballet Theatre, with whom the Musical theatre was sharing the same building, was moved to Vilnius

Vilnius

Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 560,190 as of 2010. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius County...

, and Musical theatre became the only theatre to reside in the building. It built its reputation on staging musical comedies. After Lithuania regained independence theatre added opera

Opera

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

s to its repertoire.