Carré is closely connected to the family Carré. This family group gave their first performances by the end of the 18th century and in 1863 they came to Holland for the first time. In 1866 Oscar Carré finally got permission to build his first stone theater, and on 3 December 1887 this building was officially opened. Carré turned form a circus into a variété theater. After the dead of Oscar Carré in 1911 the theater had a bad period. No profits were made even though several directors tried new things.
During the second world war Carré attracted more people, because people were searching for distraction. But because of the Razia's in 1944, people started to stay away and the doors were closed from 1944 till 1945. In 1968 Carré was bought with the intention to break it down and build a hotel on the place. That's where the municipality of Amsterdam got involved.
In 1977 Carré became the official theater of Amsterdam, because the municipality bought it and when it existed for one hundred years it became the Royal Theater Carré.