Regal Theater, South Side

Regal Theater

Location	47th and Grand Boulevard (renamed South Parkway that year) South Side Chicago, Illinois, USA
Type	Nightclub
Genre(s)	Blues Jazz Bebop Rhythm and blues Soul
Opened	1928
Closed	c. 1970

The Regal Theater, located in the heart of Bronzeville,^[1] was an important night club and music venue in Chicago.

Part of the Balaban and Katz chain, the lavishly decorated venue, with plush carpeting and velvet drapes featured some of the most celebrated black entertainers in America.^[1]

The Regal also featured motion pictures and live stage shows.

Performers

Nat "King" Cole, Cab Calloway, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Lena Horne, Dinah Washington, Miles Davis, Sammy Davis Jr., Lionel Hampton, Dizzy Gillespie, and Duke Ellington performed frequently.

Other acts who have performed at the Regal over the years have included such icons as The Supremes, The Temptations, The Four Tops, Herbie Hancock, Della Reese, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Lola Falana, Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five, Solomon Burke, International Sweethearts of Rhythm, Dionne Warwick, James Brown, The Isley Brothers, John Coltrane, Dorothy Dandridge, Revella Hughes, Five Stairsteps, Peg Leg Bates and Dave Peyton.

"Little" Stevie Wonder recorded his famous live version of the number-one hit single "Fingertips" at a Motortown Revue there in June 1962 that included Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, Mary Wells, and The Marvelettes. B. B. King recorded his famous live album Live at the Regal there in 1964. From August 12–27, 1968, The Jackson 5 opened for Motown acts Gladys Knight & The Pips and Bobby Taylor & the Vancouvers.

References

Bibliography

• Ottley, Roy. "Regal Theater, Frayed but Imposing, Tailored for the Community", Chicago Tribune, February 27, 1955.
• "Once Majestic Regal Awaits Wrecker", Chicago Tribune, September 6, 1973.