The Whitney Theater was located at the corner of Main and Ann St. in downtown Ann Arbor. It was torn down in May 1955. The site is now a parking lot.
More information
- Whitney Theatre on Cinema Treasures
The Whitney Theatre opened in a building which was constructed in 1871, and also contained the Milner (later Earle) Hotel. Its designer was Herman Pipp. The theater could seat over 1500 in its auditorium, which contained two balconies and 35 boxes.
- The Whitney Theater, Grace Shackman, Ann Arbor Observer, August 1994
The Whitney was originally Hill's Opera House, built in 1871 by George D. Hill, a local entrepreneur, after another building he owned on the site burned down. When he replaced the food and clothing stores and the hotel that the older building had housed, Hill decided to make room for a theater upstairs.
When this photo was taken in 1893, "Lost in New York" was playing at Hill's Opera House at the southwest corner of Main and Ann Streets. Down the block, Charles J. Shetterly, barber, offered billiards and hot and cold baths, and students and townspeople shopped at George Wahr's popular bookstore.
In 1908, entrepreneur B. C. Whitney purchased Hill’s Opera House, remodeled the theater, and added two stories to the building. In February Michigenda, Michigan Union Opera’s first production, opened there to a packed house. Written and performed by students, using all-male casts including popular campus athletes, these annual extravaganzas were a great hit and soon took to the road, delighting alumni as far away as New York and Chicago.
