The Regent Theater
*The Regent Theater opened on this date in 1916, in Baltimore, MD.
As a Family operation, the Regent Theater was owned by Louis Hornstein and his two sons, Simon and Isaac, who opened the theater on the former site of a coal yard at 1629 Pennsylvania Avenue. Advertised as the "largest, coolest, best-ventilated house in the city," the theater was in a one-story brick building designed by Baltimore architectural firm Sparklin & Childs.
For the next 50 years, the Hornstein family owned and operated the Regent. The family later acquired the Lenox and the Diane theaters, also on Pennsylvania Avenue. The Regent's seating capacity was 500. It programmed 'high-class photo-plays and vaudeville.' In 1920, adjacent lots were purchased, and the theater was enlarged to 2,250, using the original entrance. A balcony was added, and there were box seats. It reopened on January 31, 1921. The theater catered to an African American audience. In June 1922, a Robert Morton organ was installed and played by organist Jerome Carrington.
Artists who appeared on stage at the Regent Theater include Cab Calloway, Sisle & Blake, Lena Horn, and Ethel Waters. The Regent Theater began screening 3D movies in April 1953; by then, the seating capacity had been reduced to 1,474. It was closed in December 1974 and was demolished.
