The performing arts in Detroit include
orchestra,
live music, and
theater, with more than a dozen
performing arts venues.[1] The stages and old time film palaces are generally located along
Woodward Avenue, the city's central thoroughfare, in the
Downtown,
Midtown, and
New Center areas. Some additional venues are located in neighborhood areas of the city.[2][3] Many of the city's significant historic
theaters have been revitalized.[3][4][5][6]
History
Detroit has a long theatrical history, with many venues dating back to the 1920s.[7] The
Detroit Fox Theatre (1928) was the first theater ever constructed with built-in film sound equipment. 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.[8][9] 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 West Side Story, produced by Detroit's
Nederlander Organization, were composed on the piano that resides in the library at
Cranbrook in the Detroit suburb of
Bloomfield 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, including West Side Story,
Hello, Dolly!, The King and I, and Fiddler on the Roof.[10] Today, the Nederlander Organization operates Detroit's
Fisher Theatre, the
Detroit Opera House, and several theaters in other major cities on the
Broadway theatre circuit. Organizations such as the
Mosaic Youth Theatre support the city's theater community.[11]
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; Broadway Capitol Theatre; Paramount Theatre; Capital Theatre), and
The Fillmore Detroit (formerly the State Theater; Palms Theater) are notable restorations. The Fillmore Detroit is the site of the annual
Detroit Music Awards held in April. 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).[12][13]
Along with
Wayne State University’s
Hilberry Theatre in
Midtown, 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 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 surrounding
Grand Circus Park and its nearby Foxtown,
Greektown, the
Cultural Center and
New Center area anchored by the 2,089-seat
Fisher 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 the
Beaux Arts styled National Theatre (1911) with its
Moorish 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 futuristic
Cadillac Centre begins construction on Detroit's historic Monroe block, once a collection of eight
antebellum commercial buildings demolished in 1990.[15]C. Howard Crane designed the
Neo-Renaissance styled
United 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 the
West Vernor-Junction Historic District has operated as a retail store since 1985. The ornate Spanish styled
Hollywood 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 Hollywood
Bartontheatre 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's
Michigan Theatre.[18]
^"Arts & Culture". Detroit Economic Growth Corporation. Archived from
the original on October 9, 2013. Retrieved July 24, 2008. Detroit is home to the second largest theatre district in the United States.
^Marzejka, Laurie J. (January 25, 1998).
"Detroit's Historic Fox Theatre". Michigan History. The Detroit News. Archived from
the original on January 21, 2013. Retrieved July 9, 2009.
^AIA Detroit Urban Priorities Committee (January 10, 2006).
"Top 10 Detroit Interiors". Model D Media. Archived from
the original on July 23, 2008. Retrieved November 23, 2007.
^"Hooray for Hollywood". Journal of the American Theatre Organ Society. November–December 1998. Archived from
the original on April 20, 2008. Retrieved January 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.