Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre in Indianapolis, IN

The Madame Walker Theatre Center is in the Indiana Avenue Cultural District and celebrates African-American arts and culture.  It is dedicated to C.J. Walker who was America's first female millionaire.  Born Sarah Breedlove, of parents who were former slaves, she left the cotton fields to launch her own hair product the 'Wonderful Hair Grower'.  From these beginnings her new found business took her all over the U.S., where she sold her products and expanded the company by setting up hair salons and training schools.

The Theatre Center is housed in the Madame C.J. Walker Building.  The construction of the venue started during Walker's lifetime but following her death in 1919 her daughter A'Lelia continued with the development, and the Center was open to the public in 1927.  It was a a popular venue for the African-American community until the 1950s, but by the late 1970s it had fallen into decline.  It the early 1980s it was renovated, and opened as the Madam Walkers Urban Life Center.  It later became the Madame Theater Center and is now a National Historic Landmark.

The venue hosts a full and varied program of theater, music and dance.  Performances include ballet, DJ nights, gospel, and musicals.  The bi-monthly Jazz Series brings musicians to the Main Stage and Cabaret.

The Center's education programs feature the Youth in Arts project for 5-13 year olds, the Reader's and Writer's Symposium Series based on the work of local, regional and national authors, and the Walker Film Series, that focuses on film and video from African, and African-American perspectives.