Overview

The 3,000-seat Oriental Theatre was built by C.H. Miles, longtime figure in the Detroit entertainment business. The theatre opened in late September 1927 with The Blood Ship (1927)  starring Hobert Bosworth Jacqueline Logan, and Richard Arlen, in addition to several vaudeville acts and the Oriental Concert Orchestra conducted by Frank Musial.

The Oriental Theatre was the only theatre to be designed in the Atmospheric style in downtown Detroit. The “Hindu motif” was inspired by Ancient India and said to be very pleasing to the eye, with the auditorium’s side walls giving way to the sky ceiling by virtue of minarets, temple walls, and snow-capped mountains.

The theatre was equipped with a 3-manual, 15-rank Kimball theatre organ, and for many years was under the control of organist Charles Boomhower.

In August 1930 the theatre was acquired by RKO and renamed the RKO Downtown Theatre, reopening as the Downtown Theatre with Dixiana (1930)  starring Bebe Daniels.

The theatre closed in 1950. Three years later it was demolished to make way for a parking lot, although the lobby was spared and became a restaurant. That too met a similar fate as the theatre when it was demolished to make way for housing in later years.