Luciano Pavarotti and Dame Joan Sutherland were just a few of the big names who jetted into Motown [1] in 1996 to attend the opening of the restored Detroit Opera House (1526 Broadway St., 313/237-7464, www.motopera.org [2]).
Designed in 1922 by C. Howard Crane as a vaudeville stage, the 7,000-square-foot theater served as a parking garage for most of the 1970s. David Di Chiera, the former university professor who founded the Michigan Opera Theatre in 1971 as a way to bring opera to kids, did the seemingly impossible when he raised $36 million for the opera’s 2,700-seat new home.
Today, the Detroit Opera House acts as an important cultural resource, luring Broadway musicals as well as opera and ballet productions to Detroit [1].
Links:
[1] http://www.moon.com/destinations/michigan/detroit
[2] http://www.motopera.org