History of the Wayne Theatre

Part One

The Wayne Theatre is one of the few remaining vaudeville houses in Michigan. it's a true treasure. Help us save it from the wrecking ball and preserve a part of our heritage for future generations.

This is a story of a theatre that once was the talk of western Wayne County. Today, it's all but forgotten. The final chapter, however, is yet to be written. If a group of concerned citizens are successful, the story will tell of a theatre that literally returned from the grave to live again with laughter and applause.

Back in 1926, when most of the area was rural farmland, when Michigan Avenue was the main highway between Detroit and Chicago and when the village of Wayne was the hub of activity, local businessmen built a theatre and hotel complex. It included five stores along Michigan Avenue with a bowling alley in the basement.

The Wayne Theatre, by all accounts, was one of the most beautiful ever built in a small town. It seated 875 (650 on the main floor, 225 in the balcony) and featured excellent acoustics, a full orchestra pit and a fly loft for stage curtains. Ads called it "The Pride of Wayne". They promised the latest in photo plays (that's what they called movies in those days) and the best in vaudeville on Saturday and Sunday.

Opening night was August 27,1927. Newspaper articles tell of patrons lined up for more then a block when the when the doors opened at 6:30 p.m. A standing-room-only audience saw Marion Davis in "Tillie the Toiler," an our gang comedy, 'Yale vs. Harvard," a Paramount News short, and five vaudeville acts. The shows were a hit. Soon, it was the most popular Theatre in town. The Woodward Theatre Company, headed by Henry S. Koppin, operated the theatre and 26 other theatres in Michigan that were popularly known in the Midwest as the Koppin Vaudeville Circuit. Many big acts such as Mickey Rooney and Fred Astaire, touring in Detroit and also played the Wayne Theatre. Special radio nights included a broadcast of Jack Dempsey - Gene Tunney fight and radio station WJR regularly presented "The Oklahoma Cowboys" live from the stage.

But, alas, the stock market crash of 1929 caused Koppin to close his chain of theatres. A few months later, Walter Shafer reopened the Wayne Theatre and operated it with his sons, Charles and Martin, as a movie house until 1953, when it was again closed. The Shafer's had recently opened the larger, more modern State Theatre down the street. As with the vaudeville that was once so popular, the Wayne Theatre soon became but a fond memory.

The lobby of the Wayne was eventully converted into a music store. Occasionally, high schools used the stage. Eventually, however, the seats were removed, a flat floor was added, and the auditorium was partitioned into music and dance rehearsal rooms. It remained that way until April 1985, when a fire destroyed the theater lobby and the stores along Michigan Avenue at a cost of one million dollars. 57 fire fighters fought the fire. 5000 feet of fire hose was used on the fire ground and it took one million gallons of water to extinguish the fire. The theatre itself sustained only minor smoke and water damage. It sat vacant and fenced for nearly two years until a group of theatre buffs, formed a nonprofit corporation called The Wayne Theatre Corp to restore the theatre to its former glory.

An open house was held August 27,1987 (60 years after opening night) to announce restoration plans. These plans include rebuilding of the lobby, refurbishing the auditorium to its former splendor and creating a performing arts center for the Western Wayne County area.

The Wayne Theatre is one of the few remaining vaudeville houses in Michigan. It is a true historic treasure. We want to save it from the wrecking ball and preserve a part of our heritage for future generations.