The musical stage that has been playing in Chorzów since 1985 was at first meant to be something quite different: a television revue theatre. The history of the Teatr Rozrywki (Entertainment Theatre) begins with an idea from the 1970s, and it is housed in a building that was earlier a hotel, a German stage and a cultural centre for steelworkers.

From Music-Hall to the State Entertainment Theatre

The sources date the beginning differently. The theatre's website gives 1976: then, under an agreement between the head of radio and television affairs, the then Katowice voivode and the management of the Kościuszko Steelworks, the Music-Hall, that is a revue theatre, was established. More generally, people speak of the end of the 1970s and of the idea of creating, at the television centre in Katowice, a stage with revues modelled on Broadway, with performances of musicals and recitals by stars. About 250 performances a year were planned.

The adaptation of the building dragged on, so the first Music-Hall productions took place on other venues' stages. In 1981, because of the political and social situation, preparations were halted altogether. Only on 1 January 1985 was the Music-Hall transformed into the State Entertainment Theatre, which as the successor of the Music-Hall took over from the Radio and Television Committee the Department of Culture and Art of the Voivodeship Office in Katowice.

To secure a company, the Dance and Vocal Studio was set up. For two and a half years it taught acting, pantomime, singing, dance, tap, acrobatics and stunt work, and a graduate received a diploma as a variety artist. The entry for the site in the portal calls this school the School of Dance and Singing, other sources the Dance and Vocal Studio.

The house that was the Graf Reden hotel

As its seat, a historic building was chosen at the junction of Konopnickiej and Katowicka streets, in the centre of Chorzów, that is the former Königshütte. Before the war it housed the Graf Reden hotel, described as the most exclusive in the town. It was built by Franz Oppavsky, a German of the Jewish faith. In the interwar period the German Theatre, among others, operated here, and after the Second World War the Cultural Centre of the Kościuszko Steelworks, known as the Steelworker's House: concerts and events were organised in it, and choirs had their seat here. The theatre describes the building as Art Nouveau, supplemented by a modern building.

The side annexe also has its history. Before the war it housed a large beer hall, where sporting events were held, from chess and skat tournaments to boxing matches. This part was rebuilt for the theatre's needs. The whole complex underwent another rebuilding in 2006-2007. According to the theatre's website the work was financed by the Marshal's Office of the Silesian Voivodeship and the city of Chorzów, and the project received awards in the voivodeship's architectural competitions in 2009.

Musicals, drama and premieres

From the beginning the programme line was set by musical spectacles and musicals, supplemented by comedy and drama titles. That is why the theatre has four ensembles: acting, vocal, ballet and an orchestra, and about a hundred artists work here altogether. There is also a children's choir.

The theatre itself stresses that its profile was determined above all by its own repertoire, and lists Polish premieres. Among them are the musicals Evita, The Rocky Horror Show, Jekyll & Hyde, Billy Elliot and Tootsie. This is a list from the theatre's official history, without independent confirmation in other sources. The Chorzów stage has also hosted, among others, Milva and Bulat Okudzhava.

Where to look for similar stages

The theatre stands not far from the market square in Chorzów, and it is linked with the Kościuszko Steelworks, whose cultural centre was housed in this building, by a history told by the Steelmaking Museum in the hall of the former Kościuszko Steelworks power station. Anyone who wants to compare Rozrywka with other stages in the region is close to the Silesian Theatre in Katowice, the independent Teatr Żelazny and the puppet theatre Ateneum. Zabrze's musical answer is the House of Music and Dance with its large performance hall and the Zabrze Philharmonic, and in the centre of Katowice there is the historic Rialto Cinema-Theatre, which besides films hosts concerts and plays.