Detroit Theatre District
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Detroit Theatre District is a designation used to describe more than a dozen performing arts venues in Detroit, Michigan. Ranked as the second largest theatre district in the United States after Manhattan's Broadway,[1][2] the stages and old time film palaces are generally located along Woodward Avenue, the city's thoroughfare, between the downtown and New Center area. The Detroit Theatre District is among the exclusive circuits in the United States featuring Broadway theatre performances.
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[edit] Overview
Detroit has a long theatrical history, with many venues dating back to the 1920s. The Detroit Fox Theatre (1928) was the first to have live sound. Commissioned by William Fox and built by architect C. 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.[3] The city has been a place for operatic, symphonic, musical and popular acts since the first part of the twentieth century. Portions of Leonard Bernstein's music for Westside Story, produced by the Nederlander Organization, were composed on the piano that resides in the library at Cranbrook in the Detroit suburb of Bloomfield Hills, MI. James T. Nederlander's career began after purchasing a 99 year lease on the Detroit Opera House. Today, the Nederlander organization operates Detroit's Fisher Theatre, the Detroit Opera House, and several theatres in other major cities on the Broadway theatre circuit.
During the late 1980s the great old motion picture screens and live performance stages began to be restored. The Fox Theatre, Detroit Opera House (formerly the Grand Circus Theatre), and The Fillmore Detroit (formerly the State Theater) are notable restorations. Other venues were modernized and expanded such as Orchestra Hall, the home of the world renowned Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Next to the Detroit Opera House is the restored 1,700-seat Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts (1928) at 350 Madison Avenue, designed by William Kapp and developed by Matilda Dodge Wilson. The Detroit Institute of Arts contains the renovated 1,150-seat Detroit Film Theatre. Smaller sites with long histories in the city were preserved by physically moving the entire structure. In a notable preservation, the Gem Theatre and Century Theatre were moved (off their foundation) to a new address across from the Music Hall Center in order to construct Comerica Park. Detroit's 1,571-seat Redford Theatre (1928), with its Japanese motifs, is home to the Motor City Theatre Organ Society (MCTOS).[4][5]
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. With its sports venues and casinos, the Detroit Theatre District has revitalized neighborhoods like Foxtown, Greektown, the Cultural Center and New Center area anchored by the 2,089-seat Fisher Theatre.
Nevertheless, the VJ Waier & Company designed the Neo-Renaissance styled Eastown Theatre at 8041 Harper, a popular 2,500-seat rock concert venue in the 1970s, which is still in need of redevelopment. 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 closed in 1985 and has since operated as a retail store. The ornate Spanish styled Hollywood Theatre (1927) at the corner of Ferdinand and Fort St. was demolished in 1963.[6] When the historic Hollywood opened, it was the city's second largest with 3,400 seats.[6] The Hollywood Barton theatre organ was saved and awaits restoration.[7] There were over 7,000 such organs installed in American theatres from 1915 to 1933, but fewer than forty remain in their original location such as the Barton theatre organ in Ann Arbor's Michigan Theatre.[8]
[edit] Venues
[edit] See also
- Casino Windsor
- Greektown Casino
- MGM Grand Detroit
- Motor City Casino
- Music of Detroit
- Michigan Theater
- United Artists Theatre Building
- Nederlander Organization
[edit] Notes
- ^ Firsts and facts Detroit Tourism Economic Development Council. Retrieved on July 20, 2007.
- ^ Arts & Culture: Theatres Detroit Economic Growth Corporation. Retrieved on July 20, 2007. "Detroit is home to the 2nd largest theatre district in the USA."
- ^ Hodges, Michael H. (September 8, 2003).Fox Theater's rebirth ushered in city's renewal. Michigan History, The Detroit News. Retrieved on November 23, 2007.
- ^ AIA Detroit Urban Priorities Committee, (January 10, 2006).Top 10 Detroit Interiors.Model D Media. Retrieved on November 23, 2007.
- ^ a b Redford Theatre Building. Michigan State Historic Preservation Office. Retrieved on January 14, 2008.
- ^ a b The Hollywood Theatre, Detroit, MI. The Detroit News (March 17, 1963). Cited at StevenBall.com. Retrieved on January 14, 2008.
- ^ Hooray for Hollywood. Journal of the American Theatre Organ Society (November/December [1998]). Cited at StevenBall.com. Retrieved on January 14, 2008.
- ^ Aldridge, Henry B. (September/October 1998).The Michigan Theatre Celebrates Twenty-Five Years of Organ Overtures. Journal of the American Theatre Organ Society. Cited at StevenBall.com. Retrieved on January 14, 2008.
- ^ Orchestra Hall restoration. State Historic Preservation Office. Retrieved on December 10, 2007.
[edit] References and further reading
- 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.
- Sharoff, Robert (2005). American City: Detroit Architecture. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 0-8143-3270-6.
[edit] External links
- Detroit Entertainment District
- Detroit Symphony Orchestra - Orchestra Hall
- Detroit Opera House - Motopera Theatre
- Hilberry Theatre - Wayne State University
- Nederlander Detroit - Fisher and Masonic Theatres
- Olympia Entertainment - The Fox Theatre and the City Theatre
- Studio Theatre - Wayne State University
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