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Resident Artists and Theater Companies: Michigan Classical Repertory Theatre Some of our friends and colleagues: Ypsilanti Downtown Development Authority Ypsilanti Convention and Visitors Bureau Ann Arbor Area
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Riverside Arts Center, Fall, 2007, Newsletter Ypsi’s theaters make history The Martha Washington theater underwent several formats as well. Named for America’s first First Lady––and the street on which it stood––this movie house was shortened to the “Martha” and then, when it specialized in adult entertainment, the M, H, and second A were removed from both sides of the marquee and the name shortened to “ART I & II.” Ypsilanti Players had the longest run of all local theatre companies Years later, Quirk donated the first addition to St. Luke’s Episcopal Church with a new “Players” theatre on the third floor. Long noted as the “third oldest community theatre company in America” (after Boston and Philadelphia), the Ypsilanti Players’ last peformance was at the Riverside Arts Center in 1995, the Center’s first year of operation.
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The Ypsilanti Opera House was blown apart by a tornado in 1893. When rebuilt, it became the Wuerth Theater––still remembered by many as a movie house with a dingy balcony and cowboy movies every Saturday. Only the entry remains today; the theater/stage section was removed to allow parking behind the Wolverine Restaurant. 
Daniel Quirk Sr. established the Ypsilanti Players in 1915, settling them into his carriage house that backed up to today’s Riverside Park. Tableau Vivants were a popular production for this company, with nude actors painted to resemble classical marble statuary and the papers never complained.