Here is an ad that appeared in the 1911 Pawtuxet Valley business directory for the Royal Theatre, William Brown, proprietor. I am confused by this, because the ad says Natick, whereas the listing on another page is coded “RP” -which means Riverpoint-, and the address is given as Main Street, “next to Iron Bridge,” Daily’s Block. Could Riverpoint have been considered part of Natick? Was this Royal the same as the Star? Different? In the same spot? Was Providence Street ever known as Main Street? Was “Iron Bridge” the bridge over Providence Street in what is now Natick or does it refer to the one on Main Street in Riverpoint? (Providence Street didn’t seen to be a street name at the time.) If it was in Riverpoint, why would someone have built a movie theatre just a few doors down from Thornton’s?
Here is a photo of the exterior of the theatre when it was known as the Imperial in its first years. You can see why Roger Brett refers to the front as “a jungle of fire escapes and ladders.”
My June 18 posting above of the time-line of name changes for this theatre (as filed on a PPL card) doesn’t include the name Shubert, which it was called from 1906 for few years.
Social drama! In 1934 there was a textile workers' strike in Woonsocket. Here national guardsmen are on hand to prevent trouble. In the background we accidentally get a glimpse of the Laurier Theatre vertical marquee. The scene is Cumberland Street.
Here is one of the photos I took last night before seeing Enron: the Smartest Guys in the Room. The Orpheum is a 32 minute drive from where I live. The village common across from the theatre is very pleasant.
The book Westerly’s Gold by Thomas A. O'Connell mentions the Bliven briefly and indicates that the admission prices for the 1901 shows The New Minister and Sag Harbor were 25, 50, 75 cents and $1. He says that the Bliven was also used for graduations.
Folk singer Pete Seeger performed at the Empire in the 1960s at a sold-out concert. It was to benefit his campaign to rid the Hudson River of pollution. Don McLean performed in the same concert. I didn’t find a date for this performance.
Thumbnail sketch of the Stadium Theatre from Statewide Preservation Report – Woonsocket, R.I., 1976, by the R.I. Preservation Commission:
The Stadium Theatre (1926): The Stadium Theatre is a large and beautifully maintained movie house of the 1920’s, equipped to handle the live stage shows and musical performances which were part of a movie theatre presentation of that time. Entrance to the theatre is through an elegantly designed shopping arcade, and the Stadium lobby is ornamented with fancy tilework and a small fountain. The theatre itself is in the Adamesque manner, and the entire complex, including the Stadium Building facing Monument Square, was built for Arthur Darman, a local industrialist with a love for the vaudeville theatre. [See entries about Darman here.] The building was designed by Perry & Whipple of Providence who also did the adjacent 4-story Stadium office building. Decoration of the theatre was handled by Watts & Hutton of Providence and Abraham Anthony of Boston.
Thumbnail sketch of the Woonsocket Opera House from The Rhode Island Guide, 1976, by Sheila Steinberg and Cathleen McGuigan:
Woonsocket Opera House, 37-45 North Main Street (recently destroyed by fire). When it was erected in 1888 this was the largest theater in Rhode Island and the only legitimate theater ever built in this area. Here factory workers and tradesmen gathered to see the melodramas popular at the time. Ingomar, the Barbarian, a play of uncontrolled lust and simple virtue starring Miss Maude Banks, played to enthusiastic crowds when the theater opened in September 1888.
The theater was built by twelve civic-minded Woonsocket businessmen and was designed by Willard Kent, a civil engineer and superintendent of the local water works. With the Harris Institute, the Woonsocket Opera House added an educational and cultural dimension to what might have been a city devoted solely to industry.
D'accordo! For me the best Fellini films are Le notti di Cabiria, La strada, I vitelloni… and I bow to his somewhat later film Amarcord.
I like the name “Absinthe” for a theatre. Wonderfully decadent.
Here is an ad that appeared in the 1911 Pawtuxet Valley business directory for the Royal Theatre, William Brown, proprietor. I am confused by this, because the ad says Natick, whereas the listing on another page is coded “RP” -which means Riverpoint-, and the address is given as Main Street, “next to Iron Bridge,” Daily’s Block. Could Riverpoint have been considered part of Natick? Was this Royal the same as the Star? Different? In the same spot? Was Providence Street ever known as Main Street? Was “Iron Bridge” the bridge over Providence Street in what is now Natick or does it refer to the one on Main Street in Riverpoint? (Providence Street didn’t seen to be a street name at the time.) If it was in Riverpoint, why would someone have built a movie theatre just a few doors down from Thornton’s?
Here is a photo of the former Somerset Theatre and former furniture store.
Here is a crowd of mostly men beneath the marquee of Loew’s State in 1928.
Better image than I posted earlier of the interior and stage of the Majestic.
Slightly better image of the above famous photo of the 1931 closing night.
Audience at the final gala show at the Providence Opera House on March 14, 1931.
La Strada, 1956.
Here is a photo of the exterior of the theatre when it was known as the Imperial in its first years. You can see why Roger Brett refers to the front as “a jungle of fire escapes and ladders.”
My June 18 posting above of the time-line of name changes for this theatre (as filed on a PPL card) doesn’t include the name Shubert, which it was called from 1906 for few years.
Social drama! In 1934 there was a textile workers' strike in Woonsocket. Here national guardsmen are on hand to prevent trouble. In the background we accidentally get a glimpse of the Laurier Theatre vertical marquee. The scene is Cumberland Street.
Here is one of the photos I took last night before seeing Enron: the Smartest Guys in the Room. The Orpheum is a 32 minute drive from where I live. The village common across from the theatre is very pleasant.
I don’t remember what year I took this photo, but the theatre was clearly closed at the time.
The last movie I saw here was Gloomy Sunday in May, 2004. In fact, it was the first movie I saw here too.
When this theatre was the Shubert in 1906, there was a renowned performer who played here.
And a view from 1919 or so. Note the two vertical marquees, one on Washington Street, the other on Union Street. No horizontal marquee appears yet.
The book Westerly’s Gold by Thomas A. O'Connell mentions the Bliven briefly and indicates that the admission prices for the 1901 shows The New Minister and Sag Harbor were 25, 50, 75 cents and $1. He says that the Bliven was also used for graduations.
Here is a 1928 photo of the Hope Theatre.
And a view of the old screen from the balcony as the seats are about to be removed in 1978.
And in 1956.
Here is the Strand in 1941.
Folk singer Pete Seeger performed at the Empire in the 1960s at a sold-out concert. It was to benefit his campaign to rid the Hudson River of pollution. Don McLean performed in the same concert. I didn’t find a date for this performance.
Here is a 1930 photo of the Strand when it was called the Paramount Theatre.
Thumbnail sketch of the Stadium Theatre from Statewide Preservation Report – Woonsocket, R.I., 1976, by the R.I. Preservation Commission:
The Stadium Theatre (1926): The Stadium Theatre is a large and beautifully maintained movie house of the 1920’s, equipped to handle the live stage shows and musical performances which were part of a movie theatre presentation of that time. Entrance to the theatre is through an elegantly designed shopping arcade, and the Stadium lobby is ornamented with fancy tilework and a small fountain. The theatre itself is in the Adamesque manner, and the entire complex, including the Stadium Building facing Monument Square, was built for Arthur Darman, a local industrialist with a love for the vaudeville theatre. [See entries about Darman here.] The building was designed by Perry & Whipple of Providence who also did the adjacent 4-story Stadium office building. Decoration of the theatre was handled by Watts & Hutton of Providence and Abraham Anthony of Boston.
Thumbnail sketch of the Woonsocket Opera House from The Rhode Island Guide, 1976, by Sheila Steinberg and Cathleen McGuigan:
Woonsocket Opera House, 37-45 North Main Street (recently destroyed by fire). When it was erected in 1888 this was the largest theater in Rhode Island and the only legitimate theater ever built in this area. Here factory workers and tradesmen gathered to see the melodramas popular at the time. Ingomar, the Barbarian, a play of uncontrolled lust and simple virtue starring Miss Maude Banks, played to enthusiastic crowds when the theater opened in September 1888.
The theater was built by twelve civic-minded Woonsocket businessmen and was designed by Willard Kent, a civil engineer and superintendent of the local water works. With the Harris Institute, the Woonsocket Opera House added an educational and cultural dimension to what might have been a city devoted solely to industry.