WMMS Average White Band concert - 1980 print ad

The Front Row Theater was a 3,200-seat performance space in Highland Heights,

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

, which operated from 1974 to 1993.

Construction and opening

The Front Row was located in

Highland Heights, Ohio Highland Heights is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. A suburb of Cleveland, Highland Heights is part of the Cleveland metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 8,719. History Highland Heights was original ...

, in suburban

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U ...

, on Wilson Mills Road just west of

Interstate 271 Interstate 271 (I-271) is an auxiliary Interstate Highway in the suburbs of Cleveland and Akron in the US state of Ohio. The highway is officially designated the Outerbelt East Freeway but is rarely referred to by that name by locals, inste ...

. Its construction was completed in 1974, at a cost of $3 million (). Its architect was Richard R. Jencen. The Front Row was a

theater-in-the-round A theatre in the round, arena theatre or central staging is a space for theatre in which the audience surrounds the stage. Theatre-in-the-round was common in ancient theatre, particularly that of Greece and Rome, but was not widely explored ag ...

, with the stage rotating during each performance, and absence of pillars that ensured clear views. Its capacity was 3,200. Nate Dolin, a former vice president of the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive ...

, was a leader of the partnership that founded and ran the theater. The Front Row opened July 5, 1974, with a performance by

Sammy Davis, Jr. Samuel George Davis Jr. (December 8, 1925 – May 16, 1990) was an American singer, dancer, actor, comedian, film producer and television director. At age three, Davis began his career in vaudeville with his father Sammy Davis Sr. and the ...

Performances

The Front Row was primarily a music venue. Musicians and comedians advertised or reported as performing there included (in rough order of their first performance there): Sammy Davis, Jr., the

Jackson 5 The Jackson 5 (sometimes stylized as the Jackson 5ive, also known as the Jacksons) are an American pop band composed of members of the Jackson family. The group was founded in 1964 in Gary, Indiana, and for most ...

, the

Pointer Sisters The Pointer Sisters are an American pop and R&B singing group from Oakland, California, that achieved mainstream success during the 1970s and 1980s. Their repertoire has included such diverse genres as pop, jazz, electronic music, bebop, blu ...

Marlene Dietrich Marie Magdalene "Marlene" DietrichBorn as Maria Magdalena, not Marie Magdalene, according to Dietrich's biography by her daughter, Maria Riva ; however Dietrich's biography by Charlotte Chandler cites "Marie Magdalene" as her birth name . (, ; ...

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, the

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and Chaka Khan,

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, Spinners,

David Ruffin David Eli Ruffin (born Davis Eli Ruffin;Ribowsky, p. 88 January 18, 1941 – June 1, 1991) was an American soul singer and musician most famous for his work as one of the lead singers of the Temptations (1964–68) during the group's "Cla ...

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, the

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, James Brown,

Bill Cosby William Henry Cosby Jr. ( ; born July 12, 1937) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and media personality. He made significant contributions to American and African-American culture, and is well known in the United States for his eccentri ...

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Johnny Mathis John Royce Mathis (born September 30, 1935) is an American singer of popular music. Starting his career with singles of standard music, he became highly popular as an album artist, with several dozen of his albums achieving gold or platinum s ...

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, Peter Tosh,

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of musi ...

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Lou Rawls Louis Allen Rawls (December 1, 1933 – January 6, 2006) was an American record producer, singer, composer and actor. Rawls released more than 60 albums, sold more than 40 million records, and had numerous charting singles, most notably his s ...

, the

Righteous Brothers The Righteous Brothers are an American musical duo originally formed by Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield but now comprising Medley and Bucky Heard. Medley formed the group with Hatfield in 1963. They had first performed together in 1962 in the Los ...

Tom Jones Tom Jones may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Tom Jones (singer) (born 1940), Welsh singer * Tom Jones (writer) (1928–2023), American librettist and lyricist *''The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling'', a novel by Henry Fielding published in ...

, George Clinton,

Bobby Womack Robert Dwayne Womack (; March 4, 1944 – June 27, 2014) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. Starting in the early 1950s as the lead singer of his family musical group the Valentinos and as Sam Cooke's backing guit ...

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Roy Ayers Roy Ayers (born September 10, 1940) is an American funk, soul, and jazz composer, vibraphone player, and music producer. Ayers began his career as a post-bop jazz artist, releasing several albums with Atlantic Records, before his tenure at Po ...

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, the

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, the

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, the

Four Tops The Four Tops are an American vocal quartet from Detroit who helped to define the city's Motown sound of the 1960s. The group's repertoire has included soul music, R&B, disco, adult contemporary, doo-wop, jazz, and show tunes. Founded as the F ...

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, Jeff Dunham and

Salt-N-Pepa Salt-N-Pepa (also stylized as Salt 'N' Pepa or Salt 'N Pepa) is an American hip-hop group formed in New York City in 1985, that comprised Salt (Cheryl James), Pepa (Sandra Denton), and DJ Spinderella (Deidra Roper). Their debut album, '' Hot ...

. The Front Row also hosted lectures by luminaries including former President

Gerald Ford Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. ( ; born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 38th president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. He was the only president never to have been elected ...

, as well as wrestling matches. Many local high schools held their graduations at the Front Row. The

Michael Stanley Band Michael Stanley (born Michael Stanley Gee; March 25, 1948 – March 5, 2021) was an American singer-songwriter, musician, radio and television personality. Both as a solo artist and with the Michael Stanley Band (MSB), his brand of heartland r ...

ended its 13-year career with a sold-out run of 12 performances at the Front Row between December 16, 1986, and January 3, 1987. Roy Orbison performed his last concert at the Front Row on December 4, 1988, two days before his death.

Closing

The Front Row closed in 1993, when it merged with the Playhouse Square Foundation, which operates the then-recently renovated and revitalized

Playhouse Square Playhouse Square is a theater district in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is the largest performing arts center in the US outside of New York City (only Lincoln Center is larger). Constructed in a span of 19 months in the early 1920s, ...

theaters in downtown Cleveland. Luther Vandross closed down the venue with a pair of sold-out concerts on June 22 and 23 of that year. Acts that would have played the Front Row now perform at the Playhouse Square theaters. The building was torn down in 1995. A

Home Depot The Home Depot, Inc., is an American multinational corporation, multinational home improvement retail corporation that sells tools, construction products, appliances, and services, including fuel and transportation rentals. Home Depot is the l ...

is now on its site.

References

External links

1993 local TV news story of Front Row's closing announcement

Partial list of Front Row performances (Google doc)
{{coord missing, Ohio Theatres in Ohio Performing arts centers in Ohio Buildings and structures in Cuyahoga County, Ohio Theatres completed in 1974 Buildings and structures demolished in 1995 Demolished buildings and structures in Ohio