Powers' Opera House/Midtown Theatre

03/17/2026

“Of all artists the actor’s fame is the most transient. The author lives in his books; the painter speaks from his canvas; the composer thrills our hearts today and may thrill hearts a hundred years from now, but the actor lives not in years or days or hours, but in seconds, feverish seconds. Be generous with your praise, your applause, the flowers you throw at his feet, for he is king only for a beautiful and glorious moment, and — ‘The rest is silence.’”

— Edwin Milton Royle, “Edwin Booth as I Knew Him”, Harper’s Magazine, May 1916

Edwin Milton Royle toured with the renowned Edwin Booth near the latter part of his career in the 1880s. Father to actresses, Selena and Josephine Royle.

03/08/2026

Sunday Evening, October 24, 1881 ... The first Chinese-American

https://www.mcny.org/event/past-event-hidden-voices-new-york-city-wong-chin-foo-educator-workshop

03/01/2026

My 7-year-old grandma, Lucille Mae Cunningham, as Kurt in The Enemy, performed at Hope College, Holland, Michigan, in June 1927.

The photo has always bothered me because it was so out of focus on her. Adobe Firefly Gemini 3.1 (Nano Banana 2) fixed the focal range and even provided an alternate colorized, up-close-and-personal version. She played opposite Maude Fealy, who also played a male role as a doctor.

https://powersbehindgr.wordpress.com/.../maude.../the-enemy/

The photo was taken in their backyard on Corinne St SW, Grand Rapids, just off South Division. Most houses on that street were less than 10 years old at that time.

02/28/2026

Leading Men and Ladies

02/28/2026

William H. Wright’s, Introduces The Wright Players rebranded for the 1926–27 Season with the opening play “Under Cover” in late October 1926.

I will just say, one of the stock players is not who they say they are; in fact, they are undercover as well. Actress “Susan Freeman” is not Susan Freeman, and it may be her best role ever.

10/16/2025

April 1925, when Broadway moved to town for the season ... William H. Wright’s, The Broadway Players.

— Grand Rapids Herald April 12, 1925

10/16/2025

Dismantling Powers Theatre stage, December 12, 1978. Curious, whatever happened to Magician Blackstone’s patented trapdoor?

— photo by Grand Rapids Press Photographer, Fred Barnes

08/27/2024

Wow I am impressed at what Restless Viking has put together with my research and the research of Grand Rapids Public Museum. Well done! https://www.restless-viking.com/2024/08/27/a-7000-pound-grand-river-discovery/?fbclid=IwY2xjawE657pleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHZJR2jvrv8Vkcx-IFtq0Sp5EMi5Jy2zMOJz-d80SvO_5D-lvKSxFzlNd3A_aem_qa56BQGaaZvQ49DxibBgtA

A 7,000 Pound Grand River Discovery – Who created the world's first commercial electric power? It happened in Grand Rapids, Michigan!

08/21/2024

A little more William T. Powers family history dug up on the site of GRPM.

A couple of white porcelain insulators found while excavating the south lawn of Grand Rapids Public Museum. The is the site of the world’s first hydroelectric power plant.

These insulators date to between 1880 and 1917. Possibly used in William T. Powers Grand Rapids Electric Light & Power company offices and hydroelectric power plant. They did not just supply electricity but apparatus for every sort of lighting need. As early as 1882 they produced their own incandescent lighting system for local businesses.

Marked U.P.W. and an eagle head with something in its beak stands for Union Porcelain Works.

03/14/2024

Wow, more than 11 years ago already ...

12/10/2022

It’s hard to believe it was 150 years ago in December 1872 that great-great granduncle William T. Powers and Charles Rood were cleaning up after the fire of October 30, 1872 to build Powers Opera House and rebuild The Rood block along The Arcade/Exchange Place. The Powers' Opera House/Midtown Theatre was demolished in March 1979 (44 years ago) to make way for a surface parking lot to support the newly constructed DeVos Performance Hall. The Rood Block still stands today since completed in 1873. It now houses Flanagan’s Irish Pub and Pearl St. Apartment Lofts. William T. Powers will be the first tenant and set up his offices in the newly completed Rood Block in 1873 to oversee the construction of his opera house.

The photo dates 1874 as construction on The Fourth National Bank Block and clocktower has not begun. Courtesy Grand Rapids Public Library Collection 76-2-65-2r.

05/28/2021

Jack Loeks FotoNews 1944–48.