Detroit has a long theatrical history, with many venues dating back to the 1920s.[7] TheDetroit Fox Theatre (1928) was the first theater ever constructed with built-in film sound equipment. Commissioned byWilliam Fox and built by architectC. Howard Crane, the ornate Detroit Fox was fully restored in 1988. It is the largest of the nation's Fox Theatres with 5,045 seats.[8][9] The city has been a place foroperatic,symphonic,musical andpopular acts since the first part of the twentieth century. Portions ofLeonard Bernstein's music forWest Side Story, produced by Detroit'sNederlander Organization, were composed on the piano that resides in the library atCranbrook in the Detroit suburb ofBloomfield Hills.David T. Nederlander's career began after purchasing a 99-year lease on the Detroit Opera House. His son, the organization's chairman, James M. Nederlander, also a Detroit native, coproduced over one hundred famous theatrical classics, includingWest Side Story,Hello, Dolly!,The King and I, andFiddler on the Roof.[10] Today, the Nederlander Organization operates Detroit'sFisher Theatre, theDetroit Opera House, and several theaters in other major cities on theBroadway theatre circuit. Organizations such as theMosaic Youth Theatre support the city's theater community.[11]
During the late 1980s the great oldmotion picture screens and live performance stages began to be restored. The Fox Theatre,Detroit Opera House (formerly the Grand Circus Theatre; Broadway Capitol Theatre; Paramount Theatre; Capital Theatre), andThe Fillmore Detroit (formerly the State Theater; Palms Theater) are notable restorations. The Fillmore Detroit is the site of the annualDetroit Music Awards held in April. Other venues were modernized and expanded such asOrchestra Hall, the home of the world-renownedDetroit Symphony Orchestra. Next to the Detroit Opera House is the restored 1,700-seatMusic Hall Center for the Performing Arts (1928) at 350 Madison Avenue, designed by William Kapp and developed byMatilda Dodge Wilson. TheDetroit Institute of Arts contains the renovated 1,150-seatDetroit Film Theatre. Smaller sites with long histories in the city were preserved by physically moving the entire structure. In a notable preservation, theGem Theatre andCentury Theatre were moved (off their foundation) to a new address across from the Music Hall Center in order to constructComerica Park. Detroit's 1,571-seatRedford Theatre (1928), with its Japanesemotifs, is home to the Motor City Theatre Organ Society (MCTOS).[12][13]
Along withWayne State University’sHilberry Theatre inMidtown, the only graduaterepertory theater in the nation, Detroit has enjoyed a resurgence in theatrical productions and attendance. In the 2000s, shows ranging from touring musicals to local theater happen nightly and the theaters have sparked a significant increase in nightlife;hospitality ventures serving the area have increased accordingly. With its sports venues and casinos, the Detroit Theater District has helped revitalized high rise residential areas like those surroundingGrand Circus Park and its nearbyFoxtown,Greektown, theCultural Center andNew Center area anchored by the 2,089-seatFisher Theatre.[2]
The city has some surviving historic theaters which have been converted to other uses while others await redevelopment.Albert Kahn and Ernest Wilby designed theBeaux Arts styled National Theatre (1911) with itsMoorish entry at 118 Monroe Street which also awaits redevelopment.[2] The 2,200 seat National Theatre is the oldest surviving theater from the city's first theater district.[14] The futuristicCadillac Centre begins construction on Detroit's historic Monroe block, once a collection of eightantebellum commercial buildings demolished in 1990.[15]C. Howard Crane designed theNeo-Renaissance styledUnited Artists Theatre Building at 150 Bagley Street slated to become a residential high rise. The 600-seat Stratford Theatre at 4751 W. Vernor Hwy., designed by Joseph P. Jogerst, seated 1,137 when it opened in 1916. The Art Deco styled Stratford Theatre in theWest Vernor-Junction Historic District has operated as a retail store since 1985. The ornate Spanish styledHollywood Theatre (1927) at the corner of Ferdinand and Fort St. was demolished in 1963.[16] When the historic Hollywood opened, it was the city's second largest with 3,400 seats.[16] The HollywoodBartontheatre organ was saved and awaits restoration.[17] There were over 7,000 such organs installed in American theaters from 1915 to 1933, but fewer than forty remain in their original location such as the Barton theater organ in Ann Arbor'sMichigan Theatre.[18]
^"Arts & Culture". Detroit Economic Growth Corporation. Archived fromthe original on October 9, 2013. RetrievedJuly 24, 2008.Detroit is home to the second largest theatre district in the United States.
^AIA Detroit Urban Priorities Committee (January 10, 2006)."Top 10 Detroit Interiors". Model D Media. Archived fromthe original on July 23, 2008. RetrievedNovember 23, 2007.
^"Hooray for Hollywood".Journal of the American Theatre Organ Society. November–December 1998. Archived fromthe original on April 20, 2008. RetrievedJanuary 14, 2008 – via StevenBall.com.
Eisenstein, Paul (February 1997). "Relighting the Footlights: The Detroit Opera House Renovation Recaptures the Golden Age of the American stage".Popular Mechanics.
Hauser, Michael & Weldon, Marianne (2006).Downtown Detroit's Movie Palaces. Images of America. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing.ISBN0-7385-4102-8.
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