Pennsylvania Avenue
The Street of Royalty

Ellington, Armstrong and others
The Royal Theatre with seating for more than 1,000 became Pennsylvania Avenue’s biggest jewel. Boxer Jack Johnson gave a boxing exhibition on stage, and Charlie “Yardbird” Parker was a “house” orchestra member.

Writing for the Afro-American since 1949, journalist James “Biddy” Wood describes in a final 1992 piece the Royal Theatre as “a citadel for the finest black entertainers, who could not showcase their exceptional talents elsewhere in Jim Crow America.”

Built as the Douglass in 1921, the theatre was renamed The Royal in 1926, becoming a “must play” venue for African American “stars,” and attracting greats such as Nat King Cole, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, and Redd Foxx. Pearl Bailey debuted as a lead singer for the Sunset Royal Band here as did comics such as Moms Mabley and Slappy White. Later groups such as the Platters, Temptations and Supremes played the Royal.

Ritz and glitz day and night
The Ritz, Club Casino, Sphinx, Comedy Club, Gamby’s, and The Avenue Café opened on The Avenue as well. These venues comprised a lively, world-renown entertainment “Avenue.” Comedy Club manager Ollie Wise, and owner Ike Dixon helped The Avenue evolved into a twenty-four hour feature, with daytime shopping and professional services, and nighttime clubs, theatres and restaurants. Pennsylvania Avenue was black Baltimore’s “downtown” and “Broadway” combined, featuring extravaganzas such as the Easter Parade.

Jazz greats abound along The Avenue
Old West Baltimore also nurtured some of America’s most important jazz musicians. Elmer Snowden, Cab Calloway, and Billie Holliday called this area home. Local performers with loyal followings, such as Pee Wee Wooten, lit up stages on The Avenue, alongside better-known players such as Thomas W. “Fats” Waller. Headlining the Royal during the ‘30s, Waller was best known for his “Ain’t Misbehavin,” and “Honeysuckle Rose.” Other Baltimore greats such as pianist Eubie Blake, and percussionist “extraordinaire” Chick Webb played “The Avenue,” identifying Baltimore as an important jazz town. In Cab Calloway’s autobiography, Minnie the Moocher and Me, he describes the early 1920s Regent Theatre’s acts: “The costumes were always out of sight, colorful and flamboyant, and the guys in the band always dressed formally, in black tuxedos with white shirts and bow ties. It was something to see.”