In 1870 an opera company was added to the theatre, and in 1895 it moved to the new purpose-built building on Republic of Croatia Square in Zagreb's Lower Town, where it is based today.

[1] The building itself was the project of famed Viennese architects Ferdinand Fellner and Herman Helmer, whose firm had built several theatres in Vienna.

At the entrance of the theatre is located the wall fountain Well of Life (sculpture) (Zdenac Života), designed by Croatian artist and sculptor Ivan Meštrović in 1905.

Its first manager and dramatist was the Greek–Croatian poet Dimitrija Demeter, a leading activist of the Croatian national revival movement, with Ivan Zajc as first conductor.

[citation needed] Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic the Croatian National Theater in Zagreb decided, in collaboration with the daily newspaper 24sata, to allow citizens access quality cultural content through a YouTube channel, which will feature daily performances from the branches of opera, ballet and drama.