Melvin Deal, founding director of the African Heritage Dancers and Drummers, holds his arms up in praise and recognition of the ancestors following the libation offering at the grand opening of the newly renovated Howard Theatre in Washington, D.C. on Monday, April 9, 2012. (Barbara L. Salisbury/The Washington Times)
Those who used to frequent the Howard Theatre in Washington, D.C. back in the day are very impressed with the newly renovated space, which opened to the public Monday, April 9, 2012. Names like Duke Ellington, Marvin Gaye and Diana Ross used to play the club, which many residents remember cutting school to go to as well. The theater will now offer a full-scale kitchen, bar and of course, live acts. (Barbara L. Salisbury/The Washington Times)
Melvin Deal, center, in white, founding director of the African Heritage Dancers and Drummers, leads the crowd in a libation, an offering of water and acknowledgement to the ancestors, at the grand opening of the newly renovated Howard Theatre in Washington, D.C. on Monday, April 9, 2012. (Barbara L. Salisbury/The Washington Times)
Melvin Deal, center, founding director of the African Heritage Dancers and Drummers, dances at the grand opening of the newly renovated Howard Theatre in Washington, D.C. on Monday, April 9, 2012. (Barbara L. Salisbury/The Washington Times)
Councilman Marion Barry dances with Elizabeth Hicks at the opening celebration for the Howard Theatre in Washington, D.C. on Monday, April 9, 2012. Barry said he had heard about the Howard before moving to Washington in 1965, but once he arrived in town he had to go check it out. Hicks, who has lived in the District since the 1970s, said she used to see shows here all the time. (Barbara L. Salisbury/The Washington Times)
Rev. Ivy Hylton sings The Lord's Prayer during the opening of the newly renovated Howard Theatre in Washington, D.C. on Monday, April 9, 2012. (Barbara L. Salisbury/The Washington Times)
Mayor Vincent Gray has a private conversation with Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton during the opening of the newly renovated Howard Theatre in Washington, D.C., on Monday, April 9, 2012. Names like Duke Ellington, Marvin Gaye and Diana Ross used to play the club, which many residents remember cutting school to go to as well. The theater will now offer a full-scale kitchen, bar and of course, live acts. (Barbara L. Salisbury/The Washington Times)
Edward Kennedy Ellington Jr. and his sister April Ellington, children of the late Duke Ellington, told the crowd gathered for the re-opening of the Howard Theatre that they are excited to see the new theater and know their dad would love it too. The theater, which has a sculpture of Duke Ellington outside of it, officially re-opened on Monday, April 9, 2012. (Barbara L. Salisbury/The Washington Times)
Mayor Vincent Gray and Councilman Jim Graham join others for the ribbon-cutting at the newly renovated Howard Theatre in Washington, D.C., on Monday, April 9, 2012. The theater, which originally opened in 1910, was one of the first places African-Americans could see live musical acts. The club promises to offer live acts again, this time with a full-scale kitchen and bar as well. (Barbara L. Salisbury/The Washington Times)
Bricks such as this are available for purchase from the Howard Theatre Restoration project. The bricks and pavers, which are also available for purchase, will be used to pave the sidewalk area immediately outside the theater. Bricks are $250 each and pavers are $1,000 each. The theater held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Monday, April 9, 2012 in Washington, D.C. (Barbara L. Salisbury/The Washington Times)
Crowds wait outside to come in and get a tour of the newly renovated Howard Theatre in Washington, D.C. on Monday, April 9, 2012. The theater, which originally opened in 1910, was one of the first places African-Americans could see live musical acts. Performers such as Duke Ellington, Chuck Berry, Marvin Gaye and Diana Ross all played here. (Barbara L. Salisbury/The Washington Times)
Lipia Gereau, who says she loves Diana Ross, has her picture taken with a huge likeness of the star inside the women's restroom at the newly renovated Howard Theatre in Washington, D.C., on Monday, April 9, 2012. (Barbara L. Salisbury/The Washington Times)
JB Shoatz, a neighborhood commissioner in Ward 8, gets directions to the elevator in the newly opened Howard Theatre so that he can bring his conga drum up to the reception area, where he later played for guests touring the newly renovated space on Monday, April 9, 2012. (Barbara L. Salisbury/The Washington Times)
The public tours the newly renovated Howard Theatre in Washington, D.C. on Monday, April 9, 2012 following a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The theater, which originally opened in 1910, was one of the first places that African-Americans could see live musical acts. (Barbara L. Salisbury/The Washington Times)
Patricia Ferguson-Smith, a member of the D.C. Cameo Club, looks out a window at the newly renovated Howard Theatre in Washington, D.C., on Monday, April 9, 2012. Names like Duke Ellington, Marvin Gaye and Diana Ross used to play the club, which many residents remember cutting school to go to as well. The theater will now offer a full-scale kitchen, bar and of course, live acts. (Barbara L. Salisbury/The Washington Times)
A woman and man work at the bar underneath a picture of James Brown at the newly renovated Howard Theatre on T Street Northwest in Washington, D.C. on Monday, April 9, 2012. The space is filled with photographs of the many famous acts that used to play here. (Barbara L. Salisbury/The Washington Times)
Arisemma Okrah, 5, drinks a soft drink while playing on the sculpture of Duke Ellington outside the newly renovated Howard Theatre in Washington, D.C., on Monday, April 9, 2012. (Barbara L. Salisbury/The Washington Times)
James Patterson, who has run a home improvement business next door to the Howard Theatre for 44 years and worked for the theatre from 1961 until it closed its doors sits in his office surrounded by photographs of friends and family, Washington, D.C., Thursday, April 5, 2012. The redesigned historic Howard Theatre is set to reopens with a ribbon cutting Monday and an opening night gala on Thursday. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)
James Patterson, who has run a home improvement business next door to the Howard Theatre for 44 years and worked for the theatre from 1961 until it closed its doors, points to a photograph of musical legend James Brown when he visited his office while playing at the Howard Theatre, Washington, D.C., Thursday, April 5, 2012. The redesigned historic Howard Theatre is set to reopens with a ribbon cutting Monday and an opening night gala on Thursday. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)
The redesigned historic Howard Theatre is set to reopen with a ribbon cutting Monday and an opening night gala on Thursday, Washington, D.C., Thursday, April 5, 2012. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)
Gena Biganzoli of Tulum, Italy, left, checks out a newly installed stainless steel statue of D.C. native and jazz legend Duke Ellington in front of the redesigned historic Howard Theatre which is set to reopen with a ribbon cutting Monday and an opening night gala on Thursday, Washington, D.C., Thursday, April 5, 2012. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)
A photograph of Billie Holliday, center, sits in the middle of the lobby of the redesigned historic Howard Theatre which is set to reopen with a ribbon cutting Monday and an opening night gala on Thursday, Washington, D.C., Thursday, April 5, 2012. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)
Sofalé Ellis, owner of Sofalé Artistic Designs, second from left, and her mother Phyllis Ellis of Glendale, Md., left, set up the downstairs green room of the redesigned historic Howard Theatre which is set to reopen with a ribbon cutting Monday and an opening night gala on Thursday, Washington, D.C., Thursday, April 5, 2012. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)
A photograph of Lena Horne can be seen in the mens room of the redesigned historic Howard Theatre which is set to reopen with a ribbon cutting Monday and an opening night gala on Thursday, Washington, D.C., Thursday, April 5, 2012. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)
Ron Hazel, assistant project manager with Whiting-Turner construction walks through the lobby of the redesigned historic Howard Theatre is set to reopens with a ribbon cutting Monday and an opening night gala on Thursday, Washington, D.C., Thursday, April 5, 2012. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)
Posters of James Brown and B.B. King hang above the bar on the main level of the redesigned historic Howard Theatre which is set to reopen with a ribbon cutting Monday and an opening night gala on Thursday, Washington, D.C., Thursday, April 5, 2012. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)
Ronnie Childress, left, and Jeff Johnson, second from left, with Precision Installation out of Cincinnati, Ohio, installs seats in the second floor balcony as the redesigned historic Howard Theatre is set to reopen with a ribbon cutting Monday and an opening night gala on Thursday, Washington, D.C., Thursday, April 5, 2012. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)
The redesigned historic Howard Theatre is set to reopen with a ribbon cutting Monday and an opening night gala on Thursday, Washington, D.C., Thursday, April 5, 2012. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)
Painter Gino Garcia adds final touches to a second floor window next to a large photograph of Ella Fitzgerald as the redesigned historic Howard Theatre is set to reopen with a ribbon cutting Monday and an opening night gala on Thursday, Washington, D.C., Thursday, April 5, 2012. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)
The redesigned historic Howard Theatre is set to reopen with a ribbon cutting Monday and an opening night gala on Thursday, Washington, D.C., Thursday, April 5, 2012. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)
Roy "Chip" Ellis, President and C.E.O of Ellis Development Group, center, speaks to a television news crew about the redesigned historic Howard Theatre which is set to reopen with a ribbon cutting Monday and an opening night gala on Thursday, Washington, D.C., Thursday, April 5, 2012. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)
The redesigned historic Howard Theatre is set to reopen with a ribbon cutting Monday and an opening night gala on Thursday, Washington, D.C., Thursday, April 5, 2012. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)
Thomas A. Hart, Jr., a local property owner, left, and Michael Hood of Washington, D.C., second from left, looks at Charles Ramsey's poster design of a newly installed stainless steel statue of D.C. native and jazz legend Duke Ellington with music legends super imposed into it while outside the redesigned historic Howard Theatre which is set to reopen with a ribbon cutting Monday and an opening night gala on Thursday, Washington, D.C., Thursday, April 5, 2012. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)
James Patterson who has run a home improvement business next door to the Howard Theatre for 44 years and worked for the theatre from 1961 until it closed its doors, looks at the redesigned historic Howard Theatre which is set to reopen with a ribbon cutting Monday and an opening night gala on Thursday, Washington, D.C., Thursday, April 5, 2012. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)
A newly installed stainless steel statue of D.C. native and jazz legend Duke Ellington sits in front of the redesigned historic Howard Theatre which is set to reopen with a ribbon cutting Monday and an opening night gala on Thursday, Washington, D.C., Thursday, April 5, 2012. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)
The redesigned historic Howard Theatre is set to reopen with a ribbon cutting Monday and an opening night gala on Thursday, Washington, D.C., Thursday, April 5, 2012. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)
A worker sweeps the stage of the redesigned historic Howard Theatre which is set to reopen with a ribbon cutting Monday and an opening night gala on Thursday, Washington, D.C., Thursday, April 5, 2012. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)
Those who frequented the Howard Theatre back in the day are impressed ... more >
The scene at the heart of D.C.’s Shaw neighborhood Monday afternoon might well have been taken out of the early 20th century.
The sound of music, seemingly carried down the block on a cool breeze, prompted passers-by to sing and dance, and a line stretched around the corner to get into the Howard Theatre.
The concert hall, which opened in 1910, officially reopened Monday, raising the curtain once again on a legendary stage where Ella Fitzgerald crooned, James Brown wailed and Redd Foxx made ‘em laugh.
“It won’t be the Howard Theatre of the jazz days, it won’t be the Howard Theatre of the rhythm-and-blues days, it’s going to be the Howard Theatre of the 21st century,” said D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray, as he stood in the shade of the building’s front entrance. “It’s going to be a theater we can be proud of.”
A community event Monday was the culmination of more than a decade of fundraising and planning for the theater at the intersection of T and Wiltberger streets in Northwest.
In its day, the hall played host to some of the country’s most famous black musicians and served as a cultural center of the District.
As he waited to get through the entrance, Hyattsville resident Preston Walker, 72, remembered his first time at the Howard Theatre.
“My grandma brought me to see Lionel Hampton,” said Mr. Walker, referring to the famous jazz musician. “I was 10 years old. People with tickets stretched out to one side and people without tickets stretched around on Wiltberger Street.”
In its heyday, the lively theater on Friday nights packed in audiences for shows that lasted into the early hours of Saturday morning.
The theater began to founder after it was damaged in the 1968 riots that shook the city after Martin Luther King’s assassination. In 1974, it was put on the National Register of Historic Places. It hosted a smattering of go-go shows, but in 1980 the curtain fell on the D.C. institution.
More than 20 years and $29 million later, the theater has been transformed with gleaming marble and glass, fresh paint and framed photographs of the glory days.
D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton warned a crowd of spectators who turned out for a “community day” that the theater’s new look might not be what older fans remember, but there was cause for celebration because “D.C. is back now that Howard is back.”
James Patterson, who worked for 15 years as a maintenance man at the theater and counted “Godfather of Soul” James Brown as a friend, said he already had taken a tour and didn’t see the new look being a problem.
“I love it just like I did,” said Mr. Patterson, 76, who has run a home-improvement business next to the theater for more than 40 years. “People are going to like what they see. They couldn’t have done a better job.”
While the crowd swarmed to get a first glimpse of the redeveloped theater, Lenton DeVore, 84, paused for a quiet moment at the foot of a statue dedicated to native Washingtonian Duke Ellington. The installation depicts Ellington playing music that jumps off a keyboard and spirals toward the sky.
View Entire Story© Copyright 2013 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.
Meredith Somers is a Metro reporter for The Washington Times. She can be reached at msomers@washingtontimes.com.
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