Majestic Theater (Detroit, Michigan)

This article is about the Detroit theatre. For other uses, see Majestic Theatre.

Majestic Theatre
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Majestic Theatre from across Woodward
Location:	Detroit, Michigan  United States
Coordinates:	42°21′5″N 83°3′37″W / 42.35139°N 83.06028°W / 42.35139; -83.06028Coordinates: 42°21′5″N 83°3′37″W / 42.35139°N 83.06028°W / 42.35139; -83.06028
Built:	1915
Architect:	C. Howard Crane
Architectural style:	Art Deco
Governing body:	Private
NRHP Reference#:	08000577[1]
Added to NRHP:	July 02, 2008

The Majestic Theatre is a theatre located at 4126-4140 Woodward Avenue in Detroit, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.^[1]

Today, the theatre is mainly a music venue. It hosts a variety of musical concerts in three separate areas of the building: The Majestic, The Majestic Cafe, and The Magic Stick.

History

The Majestic Theatrer, designed by C. Howard Crane, opened on April 1, 1915.^[2] The theatre originally seated 1,651^[2] people (at the time the largest theatre in the world built for the purpose of showing movies^[3]), and the facade was designed in an arcaded Italian style.^[2] In 1934, the front 35 feet of the theatre were removed when Woodward Avenue was widened to its present size. The entire facade was redesigned into its current striking Art Deco motif. The theater now boasts the largest enameled metal panel Art Deco facade in the Detroit metropolitan region.^[2]

The theatre eventually closed, and the building was used as a church for a time, and later as a photographic studio.^[3] It lay vacant for ten years. The present owner purchased the building in 1984.^[3]

There is a myth that legendary magician Harry Houdini gave his last performance on stage here, on Halloween night 1926. In fact, Houdini last performed at the Garrick Theatre in Detroit and died a few days later of peritonitis at Detroit's Grace Hospital on October 31, 1926.

Current use

The Majestic Theatre operates as part of the Majestic Theatre Centre, which includes the nearby Garden Bowl, Majestic Cafe, the Magic Stick, and Sgt. Pepperoni's.^[4] The Majestic houses live music acts, a bar, and you can also bowl or play Billiards.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2008-04-15. http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreg/docs/All_Data.html. 
2. ^ ^{a b c d} "Seven Michigan Properties Added to the National Register of Historic Places," press release, Michigan Department of History, Arts and Libraries (HAL), Aug. 7, 2008
3. ^ ^{a b c} Leyland DeVito, "Joe Zainea: A Conversation," The Detroiter, May 31, 2007
4. ^ The Majestic Theater Center

External links

• Majestic Theatre