Morton Theatre
About The Theatre:
The most visible enterprise located in the Morton Building was the Morton Theatre, which opened on the evening of May 18, 1910, with a classical piano concert by Alice Carter Simmons of the Oberlin, Ohio Conservatory, attended by both black and white patrons.
The history of the Morton Theatre is the history of many obscure, unassuming men and women who performed there as well as the history of those whose names became household words. Of many of the performers, nothing remains as evidence of their skill and their talent except a faded photograph or a few brief minutes of a scratchy phonograph recording made fifty years ago.
The most vivid documentation of performers who visited the Morton is found in the graffiti scrawled on backstage dressing room walls. In chalk, Bob White's Dark Town Swells recorded their appearance in the Morton, April 1 I-29, 1919; in paint, Charles "Fats" Hayden left a lasting record of his 1923 appearance. Joe Johnson's Brown Babies apparently got an extension of their engagement in June, 1931 - their appearance recorded in pencil on the back of a dressing room door with "3 nights" scratched through and changed to "6 nights." M. B. Morton, Jr. recorded his position as "switchboard operator" in now-faded paint on a backstage wall. Other undated names found painted on backstage walls include: Rags Honey Troupe, Nora B. Johnson, and Eva Reese as well as a very graphic statement concerning smoking regulations.
