Regal Theater was a night club, theater, and music venue, popular among African-Americans. Located in the Bronzeville neighborhood in Chicago, Illinois.Best, Wallace ''The Encyclopedia of Chicago''
/ref> The theater was designed by Edward Eichenbaum. and opened in February 1928. Part of the Balaban and Katz chain, the lavishly decorated venue, with plush carpeting and velvet drapes, featured some of the most celebrated African-American entertainers in America. On what for a time was known as the

Chitlin' Circuit The Chitlin' Circuit was a collection of performance venues throughout the eastern, southern, and upper Midwest areas of the United States that provided commercial and cultural acceptance for African American musicians, comedians, and other enterta ...

, the Regal also featured motion pictures and live stage shows.

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, and

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performed frequently at the theater through the 1920s and 1940s.The Regal Theater and Black Culture By C. Semmes
/ref> Other acts to appear at the Regal over the years have included such performers as

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, Gladys Knight & The Pips,

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& The Famous Flames, The Isley Brothers, John Coltrane, Dorothy Dandridge,

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, Peg Leg Bates,

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and

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. Closed in 1968, the theater was later demolished in 1973.

History

The Regal was a major complex that featured films, dance, music, and comedy. The theater was a prominent entertainment venue for over four decades in Chicago, Illinois. This theater opened on February 4, 1928, located in “Bronzeville” at Congress Parkway and State Street. The theater was designed by Levy and Klein and was influenced by the Harlem Savoy Ballroom located in New York City. It was owned by a white business association in Chicago, and seated . about 3,000 people. The theater was one of the first entertainment complexes available for black audiences, and which employed black staff members (other than the musical acts). In its early uears, the Regal featured silent films, we'll known black musicians of all types of genres—mainly jazz and blue. Performers included Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Stevie Wonder, Ella Fitzgerald, The Temptations, Miles Davis, Nat “King” Cole, Duke Ellington, Paul Robeson, the Jackson Five, and B.B. King. Typically shows consisted of an opening musical act followed by a film. The theater was situated near two pppular black venues: both a nightclub (the Savoy Ballroom) and a major retailer (the South Center Department store). The Regal was a lavish spot. It featured velvet seating, large pillars, and grand spaces. Costing $1.5 million in 1928 dollars to construct, the Regal opened new doors for African Americans in the entertainment business. eventually had a black manager, hired and featured black entertainers, ushers, dancers (although generally only lighter-skinned women), and coat checkers. One of the house bands recruited for the Regal was Fess Williams and his Royal Flush Orchestra. They had been an opening act at the Savoy Ballroom and had begun to gain a following. Aware of their increased popularity, Balaban and Katz hired them as the house band. Often compared to the Apollo in Harlem, the Regal actually opened six years earlier, and had double the seating capacity. Both theaters were able to attract several big names, but the Regal was arguably able to book even bigger acts due to its size and central location. Prior to the opening of the Regal, Chicago endured The Great Migration, which brought a large number of blacks from the south into the city looking for a new life and work. After the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, blacks began to slowly move from their southern homes. Once blacks had the ability to move away from their slave owners and find industrial jobs, the north was able to provide this “new life” for them. Over a 20-30 year period, waves of thousands of blacks left the south and entered major cities like Chicago, New York City, Detroit, and so on. For most of its time, the Regal thrived with business by bringing in musical talents from across the country. People had some of the best times at the theater which helped spread the word about it and bring in more business. Eventually, with developments in technology like with the radio and TV, business began to decline. With the repercussions of all these factors, the Regal began losing more and more business which eventually led to the owner having to file bankruptcy and close down the theater in 1968. The building was later demolished in 1973. The site is now occupied by the

Harold Washington Cultural Center Harold Washington Cultural Center is a performance facility located in the historic Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago's South Side. It was named after Chicago's first African-American Mayor Harold Washington and opened in August 2004, ten ye ...

Notable events

In June 1962, "Little" Stevie Wonder recorded his famous live version of the number-one hit single " Fingertips" at a

Motortown Revue The Motortown Revue was the name given to the package concert tours of Motown artists in the 1960s. Early tours featured Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, Mary Wells, The Marvelettes, Barrett Strong, and The Contours as headlining acts, and gave then ...

there that included

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...

Smokey Robinson & The Miracles The Miracles (also known as Smokey Robinson and the Miracles from 1965 to 1972) were an American vocal group that was the first successful recording act for Berry Gordy's Motown Records, and one of the most important and most influential groups ...

, Mary Wells, and

The Marvelettes The Marvelettes were an American girl group that achieved popularity in the early to mid-1960s. They consisted of schoolmates Gladys Horton, Katherine Anderson, Georgeanna Tillman, Juanita Cowart (now Cowart Motley), and Georgia Dobbins, who wa ...

. In May 1964, during a performance at the theater,

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the " Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in ''Rolling Stone''s "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". With ...

was crowned, "the Queen of Soul" by music promoter Pervis Spann.

recorded his famous live album '' Live at the Regal'' at the theater in November 1964. Gene Chandler appeared many times at the theater, and recorded a live album there in 1965 (variously titled ''Live at the Regal'' and ''Live On Stage In '65''). From August 12–27, 1968, The Jackson 5 opened for

Motown Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...

acts Gladys Knight & The Pips and Bobby Taylor & the Vancouvers.

Notes

References

Green, Adam (2007). Selling the Race: Culture, Community, and Black Chicago, 1940–1955. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Moore, D. "CineWiki - Regal Theater and African-American Exhibition in Chicago, the." CineWiki - Regal Theater and African-American Exhibition in Chicago, The. N.p., 14 Dec. 2008. Web. 23 Apr. 2013. Semmes, Clovis E. (2006). The Regal Theater and Black Culture. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Bibliography

*Ottley, Roy. "Regal Theater, Frayed but Imposing, Tailored for the Community", ''Chicago Tribune'', February 27, 1955. *"Once Majestic Regal Awaits Wrecker", ''Chicago Tribune'', September 6, 1973. hehe {{DEFAULTSORT:Regal Theater (Chicago, Illinois), The Jazz clubs in Chicago Music venues in Chicago Defunct jazz clubs in Illinois Music venues completed in 1928 Theatres completed in 1928 1928 establishments in Illinois Historically African-American theaters and music venues Demolished buildings and structures in Chicago Buildings and structures demolished in 1973