Casino Royale Theatre

806 14th Street NW,
Washington, DC 20005

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sassyshash
sassyshash on July 16, 2018 at 10:05 pm

Hungrylawyer, I used to work for your father in 1963 at the Speakeasy. When the Four Seasons played upstairs at the Casino Royale. They sang “Sherry” to me on stage. It was a great time and I had fun. I was a cocktail waitress and also swung on the swing. The peanuts they threw hurt like holy heck. lol The wooden floors and peanut shells all over. It was a hoot. The fishnet stockings didn’t feel too good on the feet after 8 hours. It brings back memories.

hungrylawyer
hungrylawyer on October 25, 2017 at 1:07 pm

Hello, everyone. THANK YOU, EastDCite, for your comments. I am the son of LEON ZEIGER who was the owner of the Casino Royal, the Speakeasy, and the Blue Mirror, all on 14th Street during that wonderful era.

When either SALLY RAND or MAE WEST appeared, we always notified the Metropolitan Police Departments Vice Squad, hoping for a raid that would serve to increase publicity.

Those were the days!

EastDCite
EastDCite on June 18, 2016 at 9:21 am

Great site. Just to add a bit more perspective, before the venue’s life as a rock venue, and then burlesque (which coincided with the decline of DC’s downtown core in the mid ‘60’s). The Casino Royale opened in 1953, and operated as one of DC’s first-rank nightclubs for about a decade. A friend of mine has a photo of his parents celebrating an anniversary there in the mid-1950’s, everyone in white dinner jackets and gowns. The opening act was Ella Fitzgerald(!). Other headlining performers included: Tony Bennett, Johnny Mathis, Joyce Bryant, Peggy Lee, Dinah Washington, Mae West and many more. Fascinating story. There’s a great article in Washingtonian magazine from 2007. Here’s a link: https://www.washingtonian.com/2007/10/01/the-celebrity-filled-past-of-h-street/

TLSLOEWS
TLSLOEWS on July 19, 2010 at 7:58 pm

Thanks for the info Local619.

Local619
Local619 on November 17, 2009 at 8:09 pm

Casino Royale Theatre was not a “real” theatre.. it was a porn house that had no beginnings as a legitimate movie house. In the 60s 14th St was lined with nightclubs. The Casino Royale was on the second floor on the NW corner of 14th & H St NW (the Speakeasy was on the first floor. The Casino Royale was a rock & roll club that catered to GIs on liberty. As Viet Nam wound down so did the GIs and the club was turned into a “theatre” for a few years.