The venue
The Broadway Theatre on Na Příkopě
Where the Prague Swan Lake is danced: the Broadway arcade between Na Příkopě and Celetná, the cinema before it, the hall and how to find the entrance.
Book Swan Lake in Prague ↗Quick answer
The Broadway Theatre lies under the Broadway arcade, a passage between Na Příkopě and Celetná in Prague's Old Town. It was built from a former cinema in a building of the 1930s and opened as a theatre in December 2001, and it is a modern working theatre rather than a historic opera house. Look for the arcade entrance on Na Příkopě.
The address
The booking page gives the address as Na Příkopě 988/31, beneath the Broadway arcade. Wikipedia says Na Příkopě is a street in the centre of Prague connecting Wenceslas Square with Republic Square, and that it separates the Old Town from the New Town. It follows the line of a moat that was dug along the medieval walls, which is where the name, meaning on the moat, comes from.
The arcade and the palace
Czech Wikipedia says the theatre was built in the Broadway palace, which joins Na Příkopě and Celetná and dates from 1938. The booking page says the building was designed by Bohumír Kozák and Antonín Černý, and that the theatre lies in the basement under the arcade. The arcade is therefore a short cut between the two streets, and from Celetná the Powder Tower rises close behind it.
The cinema before the theatre
Czech Wikipedia says the hall was originally a cinema, known as Broadway and earlier as Sevastopol, and that the cinema closed in 1998. A photograph from 1958 on Wikimedia Commons shows the Sevastopol cinema on Na Příkopě with a film poster over the door. The theatre was approved for use and opened in December 2001, and its first show, the musical Cleopatra, premiered on 22 February 2002, according to the same article.
The hall
Czech Wikipedia names Jaromír Pizinger as the architect of the hall, and describes dark blue seats with dark wood elements and a stage with two revolving sections, one of which has a trap. The theatre's own website calls it a modern theatre in the centre of Prague, equipped with the latest sound and lighting technology chosen to suit musicals and more. A summary of reviews on the booking page calls it a modest venue, which fits a theatre built for musicals.
What the theatre normally stages
According to Czech Wikipedia the theatre has staged drama and above all musicals since it opened, with a list of titles that runs from Cleopatra in 2002 to 2026. A ballet evening is therefore a guest in a house built around stage musicals. That helps explain why reviewers talk about a modern theatre and not an opera house, and why the evening suits a visitor who wants an easy night of ballet in the centre and not a night in a historic auditorium.
Finding the entrance
A French reviewer found the venue hard to spot from the street, so plan the approach. Coming from Wenceslas Square, take Na Příkopě past Můstek metro station, which Wikipedia puts under the square's lower end, and look for the arcade. The arcade's other entrance is on Celetná, close to the Powder Tower. Put the theatre address into a map app, and look for the Divadlo Broadway sign over the glass doors.
Who this isn't for
A gilded 19th-century opera house is not what this is. Wikipedia lists the National Theatre, the State Opera and the Estates Theatre as the stages of the National Theatre's own ballet company, and any of them is a better fit for that wish. If you want a modern, central, easy-to-find theatre where a 105-minute highlights ballet fits an evening, the Broadway does what the booking page says.
Frequently asked questions
Where exactly is the Broadway Theatre?
At Na Příkopě 988/31 in Prague's Old Town, under the Broadway arcade that joins Na Příkopě and Celetná.
Was it a cinema?
Yes. Czech Wikipedia says the hall was a cinema that closed in 1998 and reopened as a theatre in December 2001.
Which metro station is closest?
Můstek, which lies under the lower end of Wenceslas Square where Na Příkopě begins.
Is it an opera house?
No. It is a modern theatre that has mainly staged musicals and plays since 2001.
Sources