Bijou Theatre

As you drive, look to your right—you’ll see Municipal Auditorium. But more than a century ago, this block was home to the heartbeat of Black culture in downtown Nashville. Between Gay Street and Charlotte Avenue stood the once-magnificent Bijou Theatre.

Originally built in 1904 on the site of the old Grand Opera House, the Bijou opened as a playhouse theater for White audiences. But everything changed in 1916, when Jewish brothers Milton and Michael Starr converted it into a first-class movie house for Nashville’s Black community. 

The Bijou soon became the flagship of the Bijou Amusement Company (a chain of premiere venues for African American audiences in the Southern United States) and The Theater Owners Booking Association (the largest booking agency for African American talent in the country). It was a key stop on the Chitlin’ Circuit, a nationwide network of venues that welcomed Black performers and audiences during segregation.

Spaces like the Bijou offered the opportunity for Black musicians, comedians, and entertainers to perform and thrive. Bessie Smith, Cab Calloway, Ethel Waters, Louis Armstrong, and Josephine Baker all performed here. Many would later star in groundbreaking films like Stormy Weather (1943), helping Black talent leap from vaudeville to the silver screen.

But the Bijou was more than music and movies—it was a stage for resistance and representation. During the silent era, it screened Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1914), featuring Sam Lucas—the first Black actor to star in a leading film role. It also featured films from Black-owned studios like Lincoln Motion Picture Company, which told stories that celebrated Black heroism and everyday life. One blockbuster was The Trooper of Company K (1917), starring Noble M. Johnson.

Bijou Theater launched careers, too. Nashville natives Irvin and F.E. Miller—sons of Nashville Globe editor W.L. Miller and graduates of Fisk University—got their start on the Bijou stage alongside their longtime collaborator, Aubrey Lyles. F.E. Miller later starred in all-Black Westerns like Harlem on the Prairie (1937) and co-created Shuffle Along with Lyles—the first Broadway show to center African American performance.

When Bijou Theater closed in 1956 and was demolished the following year, its physical presence was lost, but its legacy lived on. The Bijou was a powerhouse of Black film, music, and community—a story that still deserves the spotlight. For more on Black music and entertainment take our Jefferson Street driving tour!

Continue on Rep. John Lewis Way, crossing over James Robertson Parkway. Turn RIGHT onto Jefferson Street then LEFT onto 4th Ave N. Look for the Little Hats Market, the former site of the Peafowl Theater, will be on the right at 1120 4th Ave N. Find parking and head inside if you’d like—this Italian market and sandwich shop still has the theater’s original tile floor.