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16-510: The theater opened in 1928 by entrepreneur John H. Kunsky . Originally opening to serve as a movie theater , in 1976, the theater that had now been closed, was reopened as a concert and comedy venue by Detroit native and concert promoter Paul Stanley of PS Productions. The very first concert was Maria Muldaur and Martin Mull on April 3, 1976. The second concert was billed as 'The Martins are coming' starred Martin Mull and Steve Martin for $ 5.50

32-475: A log beam hotel, a golf course, swimming beaches, stables, an airport, ice skating and a ski chalet with a 93-foot ski jump. On June 24, 1947, King, then a widower, married Sarah (Sug) DeMers, a local girl he had met while visiting his resort. John King died January 2, 1952, and his widow continued to operate the resort complex until Feb. 17, 1961. The property was then sold to Walter Williamson. Adolph Zukor Too Many Requests If you report this error to

48-539: A lot of money operating these small theaters, but decided it was time for something bigger. John Kunsky hired architect C. Howard Crane to design the first true movie house in Detroit. The Columbia opened in 1911 and could seat over 1000. It contained a pipe organ and had facilities for its own orchestra . This was only the second large movie house in the United States . The Strand with nearly 1400 seats and

64-535: A mansion that would incorporate many of the symbols of theater. He hired noted theater architect C. Howard Crane to design his Tudor mansion. About 1936-37, John Kunsky (now John King) decided to build a resort in Land o' Lakes, Wisconsin in the region on the border between the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and Wisconsin . The King's Gateway Hotel complex included a restaurant, bowling and gambling facilities,

80-439: A ticket, and the third concert featured a new act; Hall & Oates . In July 1978 Prism recorded a live album, “ Live Tonite ”, at the theatre during one of their shows. It was privately owned until being purchased in 2004 by Worldwide Entertainment, LLC, then Off Broadway and musicals were brought as forms of entertainment into the venue. AEG Live began operating the theatre in 2007. There are three set ups available at

96-512: The Alhambra, with about 1475 seats were designed by C. Howard Crane, and both opened in 1915. The Adams Theater was built in 1917. John Kunsky dreamed of building larger and grander movie palaces. Kunsky once again hired C. Howard Crane to design his first such theater. The 1806 seat Madison was completed in 1917, costing $ 500,000 to build. It was not certain if movies would be a passing fad of if such large theaters could be profitable. To insure

112-669: The Detroit Opera House in 1996 and seating was reduced to 2,765). The 4050-seat Michigan Theater was built by the architectural firm of Rapp & Rapp and opened in August 1926 The Birmingham Theatre and the Royal Oak Theatre opened in 1927. The 2,051-seat Redford Theatre, which still features its original Barton organ , opened in January 1928. The Fisher Theatre Designed by the firm of Graven & Mayger

128-666: The King-Trendle Broadcasting Company and its radio stations for $ 3.65 million. This sale was for the broadcast facilities (including WOOD, WXYZ and the Michigan Regional Network), but did not include ownership of Trendle's radio programs. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved ABC's purchase on July 18, 1946. In 1952, Paramount Theaters, owner of Kunsky's former theaters, purchased ABC, including WXYZ. John Kunsky earned his wealth by building movie theaters and wished for

144-623: The focus of an antitrust suit initiated by the Society of Independent Motion Pictures (SIMPP). As part of the deal, Trendle and Kunsky were required never to re-enter the movie business in Detroit. Trendle and Kunsky formed the Kunsky-Trendle Broadcasting Company in 1929, after purchasing Detroit radio station WGHP. The radio station's call letters were changed to WXYZ . Trendle was the President and Kunsky

160-420: The project would make money, a five-story office building was built around the theater. This was the start of a Detroit tradition of building movie theaters as part of an office block development. The Madison was a success and Kunsky and Crane built ever larger and more lavish theaters. The Capitol Theater opened in 1922. Although Kunsky boasted it had 4,250 seats, it actually had more like 3,384 seats (it became

176-410: The theater with a maximum capacity of 1700; general admission , cabaret , and theatre. General admission holds up to 1700 patrons, cabaret holds 782, seating 562 on the main floor and 200 in the mezzanine, and the theatre set up holds 1000, 718 on the floor and 282 in the mezzanine. Comedian shows have 1500 with standing room, but 1050 with seats. John H. Kunsky John H. Kunsky (1875–1952)

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192-487: Was a Detroit area businessman who made his fortune by investing in movie theaters . He later became partners with George W. Trendle and invested in radio. Kunsky had been an early investor in Nickelodeons beginning in 1905. During the first decade of the 20th century, small vaudeville style theaters were used for stage and film. The Bijou was one of several small nickelodeon theater owned by Kunsky. Kunsky made

208-486: Was driven out of the theater business when Adolph Zukor acquired the Detroit area film exchange known as the Cooperative Booking Office and began pressuring local theater owners to sell out to Paramount . Trendle negotiated to sell Kunsky's theatres for six million dollars. Zukor transferred the theaters to a Paramount subsidiary named United Detroit Theatres . In 1948, Paramount's monopoly became

224-517: Was on the air from 8am to Noon, and WOOD from Noon to Midnight. WOOD-WASH became an NBC Red affiliate in 1935. King and Trendle decided to drop the WASH license in 1942, keeping the WOOD identification. Kunsky legally changed his name to King in 1936 and the 'Kunsky-Trendle Broadcasting Company' became the 'King-Trendle Broadcasting Company'. In 1946, the newly formed American Broadcasting Company purchased

240-447: Was the last of Kunsky's theaters, opening in 1928. It could seat 2,975 in its plush auditorium seats. The interior featured two balconies, an orchestra pit, a 4-manual/36-rank Wurlitzer organ . In the lobby, there was a goldfish pond, real banana trees , and macaws which patrons could feed by hand. By 1928, Kunsky owned twenty movie theaters, including four of the largest first-run theaters in Detroit. Kunsky Theatres included: Kunsky

256-588: Was the vice president of the company. Trendle was active as the station manager. Kunsky is rarely mentioned, except as co-owner. WXYZ was initially affiliated with the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) but became an independent station within a year. In 1931, Kunsky-Trendle acquired WASH and WOOD in Grand Rapids, Michigan . The two stations merged facilities, including studios and transmitters but retained both station licenses. WASH

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