It was in 1960 that United Detroit poured over $100,000 into remodeling the theater, completely changing its facade and slightly reducing its seating capacity. For most of the 50s, the Broadway-Capitol featured second-run films and double-features, and unlike many other area theaters, did not convert to the widescreen format to attract audiences. In the 40s and 50s, management of the theater passed back and forth between various parties, but it was managed by United Detroit once again beginning in 1960. Fields, Fatty Arbuckle, and Guy Lombardo and his Orchestra.Īs a result of the Depression, the theater closed in 1932, but only until 1934, when it reopened under United Detroit Theaters with another new name, this time the Broadway-Capitol. Stars who appeared on the Paramount's stage in those days included W.C. The theater's name was changed to the Paramount in 1929, when it was taken over by the Paramount-Publix chain, and featured live stage shows and vaudeville acts.

On screen, 'The Lotus Eater' was shown, as well as footage of guests entering the theater two hours earlier, much to the audience's amazement and delight.

The 35-piece 'Great Capitol Wonder Orchestra', led by Eduard Werner, was on hand opening day, and remained a popular feature of the theater until he left the Capitol for the Michigan in 1926. The Capitol is said to have cost over $2 million to build. Its interior was even more ornate, with several kinds of marble, Tiffany mosaics, sculpture and gilt decorating its lobby and other areas. Howard Crane, designed the Capitol in the style of the Italian Renaissance, and its facade, with its soaring Corinthian columns, loomed over Broadway like a royal palace.

The Capitol was considered Detroit's first official movie palace, and when it opened in 1922, it sat about 3500, the fifth largest ever built in the US at the time.

Detroit opera house seating views