Howard Theatre reopens to big crowd, fanfare

The street in front of the District’s Howard Theatre is hopping once again. On Monday before a crowd of several hundred jazzed-up onlookers, the 102-year-old theater reopened its doors after a massive restoration and renovation.

“I am proud to be here, it reminds me of being so proud to grow up in the District of Columbia,” Mayor Vincent Gray said to a crowd that spilled out from the sidewalk in front of the theater, onto T Street NW and beyond into the adjacent plaza. “Some days I spent here when I should have been somewhere else, but I was having a good time, y’all!” Gray shouted.