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Famous people's places / Detroit – Downtown

City Theatre

A 400-seat downtown Detroit theater, opened in 2004 inside the Hockeytown Café, where Mitch Albom's play Ernie premiered in 2011.

01 / The story of this place

Make time for these

Built in 2004 inside the Hockeytown Café entertainment complex on Woodward Avenue, the 400-seat City Theatre (originally called Second City Theater) is owned and run by Olympia Entertainment, the company behind the neighboring Fox Theatre. Sportswriter and author Mitch Albom's play "Ernie," a tribute to longtime Tigers broadcaster Ernie Harwell, had its world premiere here on April 28, 2011, one block from Comerica Park; more than 30,000 people saw it in its first season, and the play returned for a second run in 2012. The venue today hosts concerts, comedy shows, plays and corporate events as part of downtown Detroit's District Detroit entertainment district.

  1. Opened in 2004 inside the Hockeytown Café building
  2. 400-seat theater owned by Olympia Entertainment
  3. Mitch Albom's play "Ernie" premiered here April 28, 2011
  4. One block from Comerica Park
  5. Hosts concerts, comedy and theater today

Famous Detroiters

Famous people tied to this place 1

Lexicon entries for the people who lived, worked, performed or liked to spend time here.

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Sources & fact check · Checked: 2026-09-25

An independently written bilingual guide. This collection is not an attendance-based ranking.

03 / Events

Events at this place

Published events automatically linked from our event guide. Times are local to the venue.

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We have no published upcoming events linked to this place yet. That does not mean the venue has no events; check its official calendar too.

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