![]() ![]() The curved wood paneled walls, silk drapes, specially designed seats and carpet, and multi-tiered lobby were opulent for the time and remain so. Kapp and his team from Smith, Hinchman & Grylls designed the 1701-seat theater to be built at a cost of $3 million, with luxurious, beautiful, state-of-the-art attributes. Today, Music Hall stands as Detroit's premier venue for jazz, theater, and dance. Her enduring example of inclusion and opportunity remain central to our work today. ![]() The Wilson Theater opened on Decemwith a production of Florenz Ziegfeld’s “Rosalie.” Matilda’s vision went beyond these four walls, as her original mission specified welcoming men and women of all ethnicities to the theater’s audience and its stages. It was the age of the talkies and everyone believed that the movie industry would edge theatrical presentations out of the market, but she knew better. Wilson chose to build a ‘legitimate’ theater - a theater designed for live stage and theatrical presentations. With architect William Kapp in tow, they toured Europe and the great theaters of the day, intent on learning all they needed to know to create a state-of-the-art house here in Detroit. They sold it in 1925, becoming two of the wealthiest women in the country. his brother Horace would die less than twelve months later, leaving the widows in charge of the firm. In 1920, while in New York City on business, John contracted influenza and died. The professional relationship between John and Matilda developed into a personal one and in 1907, they married. In 1902 she graduated from the Gorsline Business College and went to work for the Dodge brothers, John and Horace, at their Hamtramck firm. Matilda Rausch Dodge Wilson, visionary founder of music hall, was born in Walkerton, Ontario in 1883, moving with her family to Detroit at the age of 1. ![]()
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