Detroit Cinema History:
The Senate Theatre
6424 Michigan Ave - Detroit
OPEN: 1926 | CLOSED: 1955 (as a Film Theatre)
SEATS: 1200 (originally); reduced to 900
The Vertical Sign & part of the marquee at the Senate Theater
The Senate Theater, designed by architect Christian W. Brandt, opened October 7, 1926. Brandt was known for designing a number of smaller Detroit houses like the Times Square and LaSalle Garden, most of which have not survived.
It had about 1200 seats and a full working stage. There had been a washing-machine factory here (Martin Brothers) that was demolished to make way for the new theater.
The Senate was mainly a movie theater, and it also presented some young comedians and entertainers on their way to later stardom, including performances by Amos Jacobs, later known as Danny Thomas. The theater once had a small Robert Morton theater organ often played by Thelma Boomhower.
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1950's view of Michigan & Livernois with the Senate at the Right
It was remodeled sometime in the 1930s in an Art Deco style, including a new facade and tall vertical marquee. The Senate Theater was remodeled again in 1949, this time in an Art Moderne style by architect Ted Rogvoy. The Senate continued to operate as a film-showing theater until 1955 when it was closed after a short period of showing some horror and x-rated films. The building was used for church services for a short time, then abandoned. The empty building soon became a derelict with its seats gone, glass and mirrors broken, a flooded basement and a large part of the roof blown off.
That is how the Detroit Theater Organ Society members found it in 1962. Following 2 years of restoration, many hours of intense labor, the installation of some 900 seats and the installation of the Mighty Wurlitzer 4/34 Organ, it became an anchor site for the neighborhood and a Michigan Avenue landmark. There has been much pride in this location, as well as preserving a bit of Detroit history.
Interior view of the seating and back of the auditorium at the Senate.
The dedicatory concert on April 11, 1964 featured the celebrated New York organist, Ashley Miller, at the console. In December of
2007, the 642nd concert was performed on the Mighty Wurlitzer.
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Interior view of the Senate Theater (recent)
Since then, the Senate has featured only organ concerts because it no longer has its projection equipment, unlike the Redford Theater, which features organ concerts and classic motion pictures.
1964 View of the Senate
About the Mighty Wurlitzer 4/34 Organ at the Senate
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The Mighty Wurlitzer 4/34 at The Senate when it was at the Fisher Theatre.
The Mighty Wurlitzer 4/34 Theater Pipe Organ is a throwback to an era when cutting edge music technology meant an instrument with enough gadgets to fill six rooms and enough wire to stretch from Detroit to California.
The console
This "instrument" (actually many instruments controlled by the console) is one of three left in Metro Detroit. The other two are at the Fox Theatre and the Redford Theater.
The theater pipe organ was the killer app of its day -- that day being the time of silent movies of the late 1920s and early 30s. Its goal was to replace a full orchestra and provide the soundtrack for movies.
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The Aztec artwork on the side of the Mighty Wurlitzer Console
This particular theater organ was built for the Fisher Theatre, where it debuted Nov. 11, 1928. It contains four keyboards, hundreds of pipes ranging in size from a pencil to a flagpole, a glockenspiel, a xylophone, a police siren, a 4-foot Chinese gong, sleigh bells, a harp and a Wurlitzer grand piano. All of which can be played by one skilled theater organist. Theater organs were only made for about 20 years, and they have elaborate mechanisms, which is one of the many reasons why they are a very unique and unusual treasure.
When the Fisher was set to be remodeled, the Fisher Brothers decided to sell the organ. George Orbits placed a bid for it and moved it to a temporary home at the Iris Theater on West Grand Boulevard. It was then finally moved here to the Senate in 1961-62 where the organ was installed in four new chambers built on the old stage, and in the two original organ chambers on either side of the stage.
The "Solo Chamber" with Pipes shown in this picture:
Tuba Mirabilis, English Post Horn, Solo Tibia
The organ itself works with nothing more than air and wire as there is no real "electrical" part to the instrument (i.e.: no amplifier), which is why it takes up so much space. There are over 300 stop-tabs on the console of the organ. The organist pulls a tab and it pushes an air line that connects to a wire, which then operates one of the instruments.
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The restored Stop Action Pull Down Pneumatics
There are about a dozen foot-pedals that help to control the volume. Some folks have stated that watching a theater organist perform resembles a puppet whose feet and hand strings are being pulled because their hands jump from keyboard to keyboard and their feet are constantly tapping the foot-pedals.
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One of the pipe chambers
They are very different than a church organ in that the theater organ has been noted to be more romantic and sweeping, with the capability of providing sound-effects to enhance the motion-picture experience. They are a very rare and enjoyable thing to behold and the experience is not soon forgotten.
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Concert Flute instrument of the Wurlitzer at the Senate
Sadly, these magnificent pieces of musical history have not always been preserved and many of the classic theater organs simply were dismantled, or their pieces sold, and that was the end of their story...never to be heard from again.
This one, of course, was saved, to be enjoyed for a very long time.
At many of the concerts that the theater organ has played, some have been holiday-themed and have included all the bells and whistles and other sounds that the Mighty Wurlitzer can provide. They are sounds that sound old; having been far outpaced by decades of modern technology. And the sounds pale in comparison to a real orchestra, which it never fully killed.
Overhead view of the Relay Room at the Senate
The Mighty Wurlitzer has been said to be sounding better than especially after recently being professionally releathered and redone including the electro-pneumatic relay. Its been noted that the Senate's organ has now been playing longer in it's "new" home than it's original home at the Fisher. This remarkable organ has been featured at many concerts and many folks have enjoyed it's sounds over the years that it's been here.
It is truly an amazing instrument, and an incredible experience to see, hear...
....and feel.
A "PoP"-note, as this is a Past-or-Present place for me:
When i was growing-up, my great-grandparents and grandmother would bring me here...but i didn't understand why this was so special. There was no motion pictures, no animation, no people acting on the stage. I understand now, 30+ years later, how special this really was.
If you've never heard a Theater Organ like the one at the Senate, it is absolutely an incredible experience to behold.
IF you have any more information or details on this theatre,
please email me and i will include it in the description.
Thank you.
BE AWARE OF YOUR SURROUNDINGS HERE.
MUGGLES ARE AROUND DAY/NIGHT/24-7.
THIS CACHE IS BEST FOUND DURING DAYLIGHT HOURS.