Michigan Theater
603 E. Liberty Street,
Ann Arbor,
MI
48104
603 E. Liberty Street,
Ann Arbor,
MI
48104
18 people
favorited this theater
Showing 26 - 38 of 38 comments
The Michigan Theatre opened on 5th January 1928 with the movie “ Hero For a Night” starring Glenn Tryon, a stage show called ‘From Rags to Riches’ and Floyd Hoffman on the Barton 3Manual/13Rank theatre pipe organ. The original seating capacity was for 1,829.
Yes Joshua, I’m from Chattanooga.
Just drove by this theater today, I love the exterior, the archtiecture on the exterior is great. The photo above doesn’t do it justice, and it has a better looking marquee to it.
To follow up on what Henry said, I understand that the organ actually saved the Michigan. An organ-enthusiast society formed the core of the group that rescued and restored the theater.
Henry, you don’t happen to be from Chattanooga, do you?
I actually liked all the marquee’s I have seen on this site. The original marquee is the most attractive but I also liked the neon marquee. The 1950’s was the last decade where they constructed beautiful marquees. When they started to use plastic like the fast food joints it was the arrival of the ugly marquees from the 1960’s.A movie palace is not complete unless it has a decent marquee such as the Michigan.brucec
The new vertical is a bit smaller than the original which was actually too big for the facade of the theater. The new vertical is a better size.
I like the marquee and vertical, but they do not appear to really match the originals. Comparing the photos on this page, http://michtheater.org/theater_history.php, and http://michtheater.org/theater_today.php?id=0, the vertical appears to be somewhat smaller and lower than the original. Note that the I on the new vertical is in line with the arch, where on the original the G is in this line. Also, this entry says that the new marquee shows more of the building than the previous, but it looks to me like the current one is an adaptation of the one shown on this page, as it seems to have the same dimensions. That said, the new one does suit the facade better, and all the prior marquees for the Michigan seem to be unusually attractive, even the 1940s version http://michtheater.org/theater_history.php?id=5 This place has had an awful lot of looks! The 1950s one was pretty unfortunate, though…
The Michigan Theater has an original three manual thirteen rank Barton Theater Pipe organ. This instrument is maintained in excellent condition and is played prior to most film screenings. It is also used to accompany silent films to fill organ parts in compositions performed by the Ann Arbor Symphony. There are five staff organists.
Pictures of the Michigan
It was definitely a great idea to change the marquee. Hats off to U of M!
The new restored Michigan Theatre vertical sign has arrived and is being installed. The planned lighting of the new vertical sign, on the spot where the old vertical removed in 1956 was, is Friday night.
The Michigan Theatre in Ann Arbor MI was originally operated by W.S. Butterfield Theatres.
The Michigan Theatre in Ann Arbor MI recently restored its front facade and replaced the 1950s marquee with one that’s more appropriate for the theater’s restored facade. You can see it on their web site at http://www.michtheater.com/