- Howard Theatre
Infobox_nrhp | name = Howard Theatre
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location = 620 T St., NW,Washington, D.C.
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built = 1910
added =February 15 ,1974
refnum=74002162
architecture=Beaux-Arts
architect=J. Edward Storck
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governing_body = Howard Theatre Restoration, Inc.The Howard Theatre is a historic
theatre inWashington, D.C. . Opened in 1910, it was added to theNational Register of Historic Places in 1974. [cite web
accessdate=2007-03-08
url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/writeups/74002162.aa.pdf
format=PDF
title=National Register of Historic Places writeup] In its heyday, the theatre was known for catering to anAfrican-American clientele, and played host to many of the great black musical artists of the early and mid-twentieth century. The Howard was billed as the "Theater of the People", and played host to two theatrical organizations, the Lafayette Players and theHoward University Players.The theatre was founded and owned by the National Amusement Company, a white-owned group; when built it had a capacity of more than 1,200. It was designed by J. Edward Storck . There were orchestra and balcony seats as well as eight
proscenium boxes, and the interior was lavishly decorated. No less extravagant was the exterior, which combined elements of the Beaux-Arts,Italian Renaissance , and neoclassical styles; the whole was surmounted by an over-lifesized statue ofApollo playing hislyre .Andrew Thomas served as the theatre's manager during its early years, and beginning in 1922 it was leased and run by actor, producer, and enterpreneur Sherman Dudley. It was taken over in 1926 by Abe Lichtman, the white owner of a chain of movie theatres that were frequented by blacks. With the onset of the
Great Depression , the building became achurch for a time. In 1931, as part of the venue's return to its original purpose,Duke Ellington appeared with his band at the Howard, helping also to cement the theatre's reputation as an entertainment hotspot. This rebirth was helped along by Shep Allen, the building's new manager; in the 1930s he introduced an amateur contest that was used as a springboard to stardom byBilly Eckstine andElla Fitzgerald .The Howard lost its original ornate facade in 1941 when it was redone in the then-fashionable
Streamline style.Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his wife Eleanor would attend balls at the theatre duringWorld War II ; such balls featured performers likeDanny Kaye ,Abbott and Costello andCesar Romero , among others. Also in the 1940s,Pearl Bailey made her debut at the Howard.The Howard turned into a house for
rock 'n' roll andrhythm and blues during the 1950s and 1960s, and many important acts from both genres played there. Among the acts to grace the stage wereBuddy Holly ,Sarah Vaughn ,Dinah Washington ,Sammy Davis, Jr. ,Lena Horne andLionel Hampton . The 1968 riots which followed theassassination ofMartin Luther King, Jr. caused the venue a great deal of harm; these, coupled withdesegregation , forced the theatre's closure in 1970. Three years later the Howard Theater Foundation was organized to reopen the Howard; it was this organization which succeeded, in 1974, in gaining the building a National Register nomination. In 1975,Redd Fox andMelba Moore were among the acts featured at the theatre's reopening. Later in the decade, numerousgo-go bands played the venue.Chuck Brown and the Soul Searchers also performed numerous times at the Howard throughout the 1970s and 1980s. In 1980, the theatre closed again; at the time it was the oldest venue in the country that featured black artists. [In 2009] , the theater will be restored. It will be reopened in August of 2010 in time for it's 100th birthday.The DC Preservation League listed the Howard as one of its Most Endangered Places in the city in 2002.
Notes
References
*cite web|accessdate=2007-03-04
url=http://www.culturaltourismdc.org/info-url3948/info-url_show.htm?doc_id=204895&attrib_id=7970
title=Howard Theatre
work=African American Heritage Trail Database*cite web|accessdate=2007-03-04
title=Howard Theatre
publisher=Cinema Treasures
url=http://cinematreasures.org/theater/7630/*cite web
title=Most Endangered Places for 2002: Historic Theaters
publisher=DC Preservation League
url=http://www.dcpreservation.org/endangered/2002/theatres.html |accessdate=2007-03-04
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