Royal Theatre

10799 W. Seven Mile Road,
Detroit, MI 48221

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The Royal Theatre opened on January 30, 1941, one of Detroit’s larger neighborhood houses, located on Seven Mile Road. It was designed by Charles N. Agree, and could seat close to 2,500. Built in Streamline Moderne style, the Royal Theatre was duplicated (by half its size) a half year later, in Agree’s Dearborn Theatre in Dearborn.

The Royal Theatre contained a small stage, but no dressing rooms or orchestra pit. Its oval-shaped lobby housed four groups of sculpture by Thomas di Lorenzo, who previously collaborated with Agree on the Harper Theatre (1939), now Harpo’s.

Operated jointly by Wisper and Wetsman and United Detroit Theatres, the Royal Theatre cost nearly $300,000 to erect, and its early ads hailed it as having one of the biggest parking lots in the country, with room for over 800 cars.

The Royal Theatre had a relatively short career, however, closing in the late-1960’s. In 1969, the property was sold to Grace Hospital, and the theater was demolished.

Contributed by Bryan Krefft