Houdini played the Hanna in November 1925, so this would have been a return engagement. I've not seen any advance publicity for his 1926 show nor any notice of cancellation. I am curious what played that week in Houdini's place? I once heard it said that Hardeen finished out Houdini's tour, but I've never been able to confirm that. Houdini's 1926-27 tour was to have been "Coast to Coast."
The Hanna opened March 28, 1921 and was the premiere legitimate theater in Cleveland for many decades. It went dark in 1989. But it survived demolition and reopened in 2008 as the new home of the Great Lakes Theater. It survives today at 2067 East 14th Street between Prospect and Euclid Avenues in Cleveland's Playhouse Square.
"Houdini Coast to Coast Tour" sign from the American Museum of Magic in Marshall, Michigan.
UPDATE: The next, next stop.
If the tour had continued, was HH heading to the West Coast?
ReplyDeleteI assume so, yes.
DeleteGood article. I pass by the Hanna theater often, wondering what could have been. --Dale from Cleveland.
ReplyDeleteBut you can also think about how Houdini was there in 1925. :)
DeleteIndeed--Silverman noted that HH traveled a familiar route when he began his last season. The Majestic Theater in Chicago would have also been a possible stop.
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