Thalia Hall's History
Thalia Hall was modeled after the original Opera House of Prague, which was destroyed by fire around 1858. It was, for the Bohemian immigrants, a revival of a lost memory, a memory carved in stone as a record of passions, beliefs, inspiration, and ideas.
In the shadows of the ornate balconies and the dust of the stage we can recall laughter, applause, amusement and intrigue. For decades, thalia hall was a magical place, a place where marriage proposals were made, where the city's longest-running ethnic theatre company, the Ludvik Players, performed. It was where over two thousand people from socialist, free-thinking, and anarchist groups used to crowd the balconies to thrash out new ideas of freedom. thalia hall inspired the constitution of the nascent Czechoslovak state, and provisions of it were written here, while German spies eavesdropped under the stage.
Thalia Hall became the nucleus of a vibrant community ringed with dance halls, bakeries, bowling alleys, banks, gymnasiums, and majestic churches. the neighborhood was named Pilsen, after Pizn, the town from which many of the inhabitants had come. today, Pilsen remains one of the most historic areas of Chicago, and thalia hall is considered one of the city's most significant landmarks.
