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Performing arts in Detroit

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The Fillmore Detroit is located beside the Fox Theatre along Detroit's Woodward Ave.

The Detroit Theatre District is an unofficial designation used to describe over a dozen magnificent performing arts venues in Detroit, Michigan. Ranked second in the United States to Manhattan's Broadway for seating capacity, the stages and old time film palaces are generally located along Woodward Avenue, the city's spine, between downtown and New Center area. The Detroit Theatre District is among the exclusive venues in the United States featuring Broadway theatre performances.

Theatre history

Fox Theatre, Hockeytown Cafe and its City Theatre along Detroit's Woodward Ave.

Detroit has a long theatrical history, with many venues dating back to the 1920s. The Fox Theatre (Detroit) (1928) was the first movie palace to have live sound. Commissioned by William Fox and built by architect C. Howard Crane, the ornate Detroit Fox is the largest of the nation's Fox Theatres with 5,045 seats. The Fox Theatre (St. Louis) is its slightly smaller architectural twin with 4,500 seats. The city has been a place for operatic, symphonic, musical and popular acts since the first part of the twentieth century, but during the 1960s and 1970s many theatres closed. During the late 1980s the great old motion picture screens and live performance stages began to be restored. The Fox Theatre, Detroit Opera House, and The Fillmore Detroit were three of the most notable. Other places were modernized and expanded such as Orchestra Hall, the home of the world renowned Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Smaller sites with long histories in the city were preserved by physically moving the entire structure. The Gem Theatre and Century Theatre were taken in total to a new address when Comerica Park was being constructed. The Detroit Institute of Arts contains the 1200 seat Detroit Film Theatre. The ornate Spanish styled Hollywood Theatre (1927 - 1963) at the corner of Ferdinand and Fort St. was demolished. When the Hollywood opened, it was the city's second largest with 3,400 seats.[1] The Hollywood Barton theatre organ was saved.

Along with Wayne State University’s Hilberry Theatre, the only graduate repertory theater in the nation, Detroit has enjoyed a resurgence in theatrical productions and attendance. In the 2000s, shows ranging from touring musicals to local theatre happen nightly and the theatres have sparked a significant increase in nightlife; hospitality ventures serving the area have increased accordingly. Along with sports teams and casinos, the Detroit Theatre District has revitalized neighborhoods like Foxtown, Greektown, the Cultural Center and New Center. Nevertheless, the VJ Waier & Company designed Eastown Theatre at 8041 Harper, a popular 2,500 seat rock concert venue in the 1970s, is still in need of redevelopment.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Steven Ball. The Story of The Hollywood Barton.[1] Journal of the American Theatre Organ Society (November/December), citing The Hollywood Theatre, Detroit, MI Detroit News March 17, 1963.

References

  • Hauser, Michael and Marianne Weldon (2006). Downtown Detroit's Movie Palaces (Images of America). Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 0-7385-4102-8.
  • Hill, Eric J. and John Gallagher (2002). AIA Detroit: The American Institute of Architects Guide to Detroit Architecture. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 0-8143-3120-3.
  • Meyer, Katherine Mattingly and Martin C.P. McElroy with Introduction by W. Hawkins Ferry, Hon A.I.A. (1980). Detroit Architecture A.I.A. Guide Revised Edition. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 0-8143-1651-4.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  • Sharoff, Robert (2005). American City: Detroit Architecture. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 0-8143-3270-6.
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