Royal Theater, ca. 1940

Maryland Historical Society

Over the years Baltimore's theatres and concert halls have presented a wide range of events and entertainments ranging from grand opera to prize fights.

Band concerts at the Maryland Institute's hall at Gay and Baltimore streets went on in the 19th century over the din emanating from the market below. George Kunkle renovated the second Peale Museum (later the Baltimore Museum) at East Baltimore and Calvert Streets and operated it as a showcase for his Ethiopian Opera. The hall later fell into use as a drinking house and dance hall until it burned down in 1873. In the 1870s, the Front Street Theatre catered to popular tastes, offering comics, ballet and theatre productions. The Fifth Regiment Armory hosted concerts.

The Academy of Music, built in 1874 by architects Niernsee and Nielsen in the 500 block of North Howard Street, served as a site for fancy dress balls, grand opera, theatre productions and band concerts. "The Diamond," a popular bar with bowling alleys in the basement, conveniently located across the street, was a popular intermission gathering place.

Ford's 2,000-seat Grand Opera House on West Fayette Street, operated by John T. Ford, opened its doors in 1871. The hall hosted a variety of theatrical productions and concerts. Its manager, John T. Ford, had been involved in the theatre since the age of twenty when he turned his back on the family's tobacco-manufacturing business. Ford's theatre was designed by architect James J. Gifford.

A group of civic leaders gathered in the 1890s to begin planning for a new concert hall for Baltimore. Frank Frick, President of the Board of Trade of Baltimore, sensibly proposed a building that could comfortably seat 3,000 concert goers. Although Baltimore's Mayor Ferdinand C. Latrobe favored a large hall that could double as a convention center, others, contemplating empty seats, lobbied for a smaller hall. The plan eventually adopted provided a comfortable middle ground with the opening of The Lyric (originally The Music Hall) in 1894.

Note: Much of the information for this entry comes from original source material, including newspaper and microfilm, from the archives of The Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University, the Maryland Historical Society, and the vertical files at the Enoch Pratt Free Library. The following secondary sources may be of help for general background information on American and Baltimore theater:

Engle, Ron and Tice L. Miller, eds. The American Stage: Social and Economic Issues from the Colonial Period to the Present. England; New York: Cambridge University Press, 1993.

Koenig, Linda Lee. The Vagabonds: American’s Oldest Little Theater. London and Toronto; East Brunswick, N.J.: Associated University Presses, Inc., 1983.

Greenfield, Mildred Albert. “Early History of the Theatre in Baltimore.” Master’s essay, Johns Hopkins University, 1953.

Haims, Lynn. “First American Theatre Contracts: Wall and Lindsay’s Maryland Company of Comedians, and the Annapolis, Fell’s Point, and Baltimore Theatres, 1781-1783,” Theatre Survey: The American Journal of Theatre History 17 (November 1976): 179- 194.

May, Alonzo J., comp. May’s Dramatic Encyclopedia of Baltimore 1750-1904. Baltimore. Microfilm.

Ritchey, David, ed. A Guide to the Baltimore Stage in the Eighteenth Century: A History and Day Book Calendar. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1982.