Joe Blog

The Roodepoort Civic Theatre was founded in 1980. The theatre operated as a 328 seater auditorium and an 80 seater box theatre. On the initiative of its first director, Weiss Doubell, the theatre became, apart from a receiving theatre, also a producing theatre with its own production units – the Pro Musica Orchestra, Opera Company and Opera Chorus.

The name of the theatre was later changed to the Pro Musica Theatre. The Theatre was initially subsidised by the Roodepoort City Council (later the City of Johannesburg). Sponsorships had to be found to help finance its enterprises, projects such as audience development, and productions, to ensure sustainability. Up until 2008, Pro Musica presented 400 opera performances and 500 symphony concerts.