Powers Theatre: A Century of Entertaining

by Jim Winslow

More than thirty years ago in May 1979 the last of the once great Powers’ Theatre and Office Building came crashing down, not by fire, but by the force of the wrecking ball to make way for yet another parking lot. Many today may remember Powers’ as the Midtown Theatre that showed “The Sound of Music” for a record 78 weeks. What began as a legitimate stage theatre, later became a premiere movie house, the first of John “Jack” Loeks family dynasty.

Pearl Street looking west toward Grand River shows Powers Opera House on right shortly after it opened in 1874.

Photo Credit: © Grand Rapids History & Special Collections, Archives, Grand Rapids Public Library, Stereo Card Collection 76-2-65.2R. Grand Rapids, MI.

Even before the foundation of the opera house was laid in the winter of 1873 the world-renowned Shakespearean actor, Edwin Booth, the older brother of notorious John Wilkes Booth, while performing in town, gave William T. Powers a letter of instruction as how to build the grand theatre. Booth would again return to Grand Rapids and play the opera house over the next couple decades which also saw such thespian legends as, Joseph Barrett, Joseph Jefferson, Edwin Milton Royle, John Drew, Mrs. John Drew, Helena Modjeska, and so many more.

Completely destroyed by fire twice, the theatre was rebuilt even grander than its former glory. The latest interior constructed in 1902 would usher in the new century with a variety of entertainment including, vaudeville, lantern slideshows, silent films and eventually the talkies.

The 1920s brought William H. Wright’s resident stock company, Broadway Players, later renamed, Wright Players. In June 1924 William H. Wright’s Broadway Players introduced its newest member, a young 24 year old Spencer Tracy. It is through Tracy’s interactions with key Royle family players in Grand Rapids that he makes his big break on to Broadway and out to Hollywood.

Grand Rapids was also introduced to world-renowned actress and drama coach, Maude Fealy through one of these resident stock companies. Maude Fealy and her actress mother, Margaret decided to permanently settle GR and would play key roles in the formation of Grand Rapids' own “Civic Players”.

Powers Theatre at 123 Pearl St. NW at Monroe Ave about 1900.

Photo Credit: Grand Rapids Public Museum Archives Collection

Although Powers' Theatre is gone, imagine the rich dramatic history on that small plat of ground where Ellis Parking stands today on Pearl Street, awaiting to be revealed.

Speaker, Jim Winslow, is a creative director, photographer, and local historian. He is a sixth-generation Grand Rapidian whose Powers family began arriving in 1847. He has researched the Powers and Ball families, their businesses and involvement in early Grand Rapids for more than 30 years. He is currently researching an extensive project on Powers' Theatre, it being at the heart of Grand Rapids entertainment for over a hundred years from 1873–1979.

“Powers Theatre: A Century of Entertaining” Wednesday, October 9, 2013, 7 p.m. Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum presented by Jim Winslow