Abbey Cinema
600 Commonwealth Avenue,
Boston,
MA
02215
600 Commonwealth Avenue,
Boston,
MA
02215
2 people
favorited this theater
Showing 26 - 34 of 34 comments
I looked through some early 1975 microfilm of the weekly Boston Phoenix, and saw the Loew’s Abbey 1&2 advertised there. At that time, they were a $1 house. By the time I arrived in the neighborhood in September 1975, the Abbey had closed.
The next thing I want to find out is when the first Nickelodeon opened in its place — I think it was in 1978.
From an interview with former BU president John Silber, published in the BU student newspaper Daily Free Press on October 27, 2003:
“the Metcalf [Science] Center was a comprehensive renovation of three industrial buildings owned by Sonny Monosson. One of them had the former Nickelodeon Theatre in it, and we had to build a new building for the theater, which was also used as a classroom building, in order to persuade Monosson to sell us the building he had because he had a lease with the Nickelodeon. We did that, and then we — and that enabled us to build the Metcalf Center. Now, after two decades of dual use, [the second Nickelodeon has] been demolished in order to provide the ground space for the new Life Science Building which is going up on that site."
When I arrived in Boston in 1975, this (then-closed) theatre had signs that said Loew’s Abbey. I don’t know if it started out as part of the Loews chain. If anyone knows when it first opened, when it closed as the Abbey, and when it reopened as the first Nickelodeon, that would be useful information to add here.
I just noticed that Gerald asked his question in two listings but I only answered it in the other one.
The Nickelodeon moved from this old location to the new one on July 15, 1983, according to the Boston Globe archives.
One memorable bit of programming at this theatre in 1981, after it became the first Nickelodeon, was Hans-Jürgen Syberberg’s “Our Hitler,” which had a running time of over seven hours! (The film posits that Hitler was the answer to the Germans' most profound dreams.) It was shown in two parts, with a long dinner break between the parts. It started out as a Sunday matinée. My two friends and I then had dinner at the Dolphin Restaurant in Cambridge and afterwards returned for the evening portion.
Blandford Street, not Brandford. The Abbey (first Nickelodeon) has been converted to office or lab space in a BU science building. The second Nickelodeon was torn down within the past year to make way for another BU science building.
On May 29, 1981 I brought a group of Italian students to the (first) Nickelodeon (formerly Abbey) by bus from Providence to see Federico Fellini’s CITY OF WOMEN with Marcello Mastroianni. Anyone have an idea exactly when this theatre closed and was replaced by the newer Nickelodeon?
The Abbey was actually located on Brandford Street, at the corner of Cummington Street. “600 Commonwealth Avenue” was the address given in newspapers so that people could more easily find where it was. The Green Line stop was at the corner of Brandford St. and Commonwealth Ave. The theatre building and entrance were on that side street. There was a parking lot between the theatre and Commonwealth Avenue along Brandford Street. In time the theatre became the (first) Nickelodeon, then was closed a few years later. The second Nickelodeon, replacing the Abbey/ first Nickelodeon, was constructed about a hundred feet away on Cummington Street and is listed as a separate theatre on Cinema Treasures.
By 1975 when I arrived in the neighborhood, this had been first converted to a twin-screen, and then closed. It reopened a couple years later as the Nickelodeon.