Howard Theater

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Howard Theater was the first big theater that was built for African American audiences and entertainers in the United States.

The Howard Theater was located in Washington D.C. at 7TH and T street. The theater first opened on August 22,1910 with WH. Smith as the first manager. The entertainment that was performed was for musicals, theatrical and comedy. The theater had 1,200 seats and there was also a balcony and eight boxes. The backstage also held dressing rooms for up to 100 performers. Some of the regular performers in the Howard Theater would include many famous people such as Cab Calloway, Ella Fitzgerald, Billy Eckstine, Nat king Cole, Louis Armstrong, Sara Vaughan, Lionel Hampton, Count Basie, Lena Horne, Billy Holiday, Ethel Water and many others. There were about eight shows a day that were performed. The cost was forty cents and you could see cartoons, movies, newsreel and live performances. The theater closed after twenty years of entertainment which included road shows, vaudeville acts and musicals, after the stock market had crashed in 1929. The space was leased out, and did not open back up until 1931 were Duke Ellington had performed for a week for the reopening. During the 1930s-1950's the Howard Theater was known for the art of jazz. The Howard theater was also a place were there was no segregation and no color barriers, and 25% of the audience was white. During the 1960s there was a new vibe which was from Motown’s music which was very soulful. Due to the desegregation in the city of Washington D.C. in the 1960s the Howard Theater lost a lot of business when many other businesses moved. The Howard theater depended mainly on discovering new talent such as James Brown to compete with the other theaters.

In the 1907's there was many attempts to renew the Howard Theater, in 1975 with many stars in attendance but failed to bring back its glory and eventually closing. Howard Theater is currently closed and there are plans for renovations in the future.