Historic Howard Theatre reopens in Washington, D.C.

WASHINGTON — Before there was the Apollo in Harlem, there was the Howard Theatre in the nation's capital.

The nearly 102-year-old Howard officially lifted its curtain this month for a reopening gala after a $29 million renovation that began in 2010. Smokey Robinson, Savion Glover, and Madeleine Peyroux performed along with Chaka Khan, Boyz II Men, and others.

From the red carpet, actress and singer Leslie Uggams said she last performed at the Howard when she was 10 years old in the 1950s. She said it was part of a circuit of top-ranked black theaters and she remembers saying, "Wow!" as she walked inside.

"You played the Apollo, you played the Royal Theater in Baltimore, and you played the Howard Theatre in Washington, D.C.,"' she said. "If you were asked to play there, that meant you had arrived."

Comedian Dick Gregory said returning to the Howard was a reminder of an era of segregation. But the Howard welcomed black performers well before the Apollo and other places because it was in a majority black neighborhood.

"You had some acts that could work in Vegas, but you couldn't stay in the hotels," Gregory said. "Here, you felt like you were with family."

Fifty years ago, Dionne Warwick performed her first album, Don't Make Me Over, at the Howard. She said it had taken too long to bring the cherished venue back.

Motown records founder Berry Gordy said he remembers coming to the Howard with Smokey Robinson, and they've been best friends ever since. Gordy was honored at the theater's reopening.

Robinson said he remembers being "scared to death" when he first sang at the Howard when he was about 16.

"I grew up in this theater, so I've had some really wonderful times here," he said.

When Washington's U Street corridor was known as the "Black Broadway" in an era of segregation, the Howard was a crown jewel through the 1960s. It opened in 1910, touted as the "largest colored theater in the world." It launched careers for Duke Ellington, Marvin Gaye, the Supremes, and Ella Fitzgerald, among others. It began to suffer, though, after the 1968 riots following the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. damaged much of the neighborhood, and competitors built newer and larger venues. The Howard closed in 1980.

It was left neglected and shuttered for 30 years and fell into disrepair, its roof caving in, allowing water to destroy much of the historic interior.

Still, pieces of history remain. The stage is the same size and in the same place as it was when Fitzgerald won an early Amateur Night contest. So is the balcony, where audiences listened to Sammy Davis Jr., Billie Holiday, Miles Davis, Louis Armstrong, and Lena Horne, and the words of Booker T. Washington, Redd Foxx, and Moms Mabley.