and Gem theaters, proposed a renovation project. These plans were never fully realized, but in 1988 the theater was acquired by new owners, Mike and Marian Ilitch, who fully restored the Fox at a cost of $12 million. Their company, Ilitch Holdings, Inc., is headquartered in the Fox Theater Office Building. The downtown area near Grand Circus Park which encompasses Fox Theatre is sometimes referred to as Foxtown after the theater. In 2000, Comerica Park opened and helped to revitalize the neighborhood along with the construction of Ford Field in 2002, and Little Caesars Arena in 2017. Productions The gala opening took place September 21, 1928, and featured the silent film Street Angel starring Janet Gaynor. The live show depicted a history of Detroit from its settlement in 1701 to the present. Productions included feature-length movies, shorts and newsreels, and performances by the 60-piece Fox Theatre Grand Orchestra, a 50-voice choir and a 32-member chorus line called the Tillerettes. This was Fox's version of producer Samuel "Roxy" Rothafel's Roxyettes. In the 1930s, Shirley Temple made appearances when the theater showed her films. During World War II, like many theaters in the area, the Fox operated 24 hours a day to accommodate defense plant workers on afternoon and evening shifts. The theater routinely grossed $75,000 a week when admission was 35 cents. In 1953, the theater was the first in Michigan equipped for CinemaScope and premiered the epic picture The Robe. In May 1956, the theater hosted three performances by Elvis Presley. During the 1960s, the theater hosted performances by many Motown recording artists, but by the 1970s the theater was showing its age. Unlike other downtown Detroit theaters in the 1970s, such as the Michigan and United Artists, the Fox was able to remain open by programming Blaxploitation and martial arts films. The first production at the Fox after restoration was a November 19, 1988, concert with Joe Williams and the Count Basie Orchestra. Since then, notable performances include a concert with Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr. and Liza Minnelli which was recorded and broadcast on the Showtime cable network in 1989 and a 1990 performance by Victor Borge which was recorded for broadcast on PBS and later incorporated into his DVD Victor Borge: Then and Now. The theater hosted the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony on March 31, 2007, the night before WrestleMania 23 was held at nearby Ford