30 Dec rare graven and mayger theater dedication booklet latest additon to bld. 51 archive and museum

an original dedication booklet, dated november 15, 1928, documents the opening of mayger and graven’s 2,700-seat mayan revival theater, located in albert kahn’s art deco fisher building at 3011 west grand blvd., detroit, mi. the kunsky circuit theater was designed to accommodate both vaudeville performances and motion pictures, featuring luxurious seating, two balconies, an orchestra pit, and a large four-manual, 36-rank wurlitzer organ. the lobby included distinctive amenities such as a goldfish pond, live banana trees, and macaws which patrons could feed while awaiting performances.

in the early 1930s, paramount-publix managed the fisher theatre, presenting elaborate stage shows with musicians like the 40-piece sam benavie orchestra. by the 1950s, stage performances had ceased in favor of film screenings alone. the wurlitzer organ was removed in 1956 and relocated to the senate theatre. during its final years as a movie house in the late 1950s, the fisher theatre operated as a second-run venue, showing its last film, “the magnificent seven,” in 1960.

in 1961, the nederlander theatrical corporation acquired the theater and commissioned rapp & rapp to remodel it for $3.5 million. the revitalized theatre reopened on october 1, 1961, with the musical “the gay life” prior to its broadway debut. the redesigned midcentury interior featured black marble, walnut paneling, imported chandeliers, and decorative metalwork. seating capacity was reduced to just under 2,100 to enhance audience comfort. notably, the aztec statues from the original theatre are now privately displayed northwest of port huron, mi.

for more than four decades, the fisher theatre has been recognized as detroit’s premier venue for touring broadway productions, hosting acclaimed artists including joel grey, lynn redgrave, bernadette peters, and mary martin.

digitized fisher theater dedication booklet – from front to back – provided below in sequential order:

additional images of kahn’s fisher building exterior, taken by eric j. nordstrom in october, 2025:

images courtesy of eric j. nordstrom and the bld. 51 archive, al rights reserved. 2025.