Entertainment
Pennsylvania Avenue’s Jewels

Royal Theatre, ca. 1949

Between World War I and II, Old West Baltimore’s Pennsylvania Avenue came of age as an entertainment district and a “must play” venue for both known and aspiring African American stars. It was a lively stretch of performance venues, department stores and specialty shops crowded with Baltimoreans and out-of-town shoppers. Parades were numerous with marching bands moving ahead of Elks and Masons. Thousands—both black and white—cheered them on along the way. At night the avenue’s clubs and cabarets pulsated from the sound of jazz, bee bop, and blues, as long lines of patrons waited to enter packed houses beneath brightly lit marquees. Theatres, taverns, dancehalls, and brothels were wedged between pawn shops and second-hand stores at the southern end of the avenue.

Regent Theatre, ca. 1950

Further north nightclubs, restaurants, theatres and hotels lined the avenue. The Royal and the Regent theatres dominated the 1300 and 1600 blocks respectively. The Regent opened in 1916, and was rebuilt in 1920 as a vaudeville-styled movie house. While the exact seating capacity varied, reaching as high as 2,200, there is no doubt that after the theatre was rebuilt it was one of the largest performing venues catering to African American performers on the East Coast.

The Douglas Theatre was renamed the Royal in 1926 and featured the City’s first “talkie” movie, Hello Dixie. The Royal gained fame as part of the Chitlin’ Circuit, a group of African American entertainment venues throughout the country. Patrons thronged the Royal to see stars including Ethel Waters, Pearl Bailey, Cab Calloway, Blanche Calloway, Louis Armstrong, Fats Waller, Earl “Fatha” Hines, the Temptations, James Brown, Stevie Wonder, and Tommy Hunt, among others.

Cab Calloway

Smaller cabarets and ballrooms like Perry’s Inn and Gamby’s flourished, as well as many nightclubs, such as the New Albert, Savoy, and Strand. Jazz drummer Ike Dixon opened his Comedy Club in 1934. Stars honed their acts here during afternoon jam sessions before show time at the Royal. Pennsylvania Avenue remains a monument to African American artistic and business achievement. Although the Royal, the Regent, and other buildings are now gone, echoes of the avenue remain as a monument to African American artistic and business achievement. Its promise endures through new businesses and shoppers seeking authenticity and style. All are buoyed by the dreamers longing to restore and rebuild its historic performance venues.