Theatre 1 & Space 57
200 Stuart Street,
Boston,
MA
02116
200 Stuart Street,
Boston,
MA
02116
7 people
favorited this theater
Showing 51 - 75 of 101 comments
On a bigger ‘art’ release (like the new Coen Bros film) they would have to compete with Loews/Regal, and on a smaller release usually there is only one run of a film, and Landmark is a powerful chain with a local outlet (Kendall) with proven success. It would be great if they could play WITH Landmark (I mean, it makes sense to me personally) but that is not always how it works. I really hope this theater is a success; the Bramante’s are good operators, and it would be nice to see an alternative downtown.
Would they be able to book a first-run at the same time as Landmark? Downtown Boston is a different market from Cambridge or Waltham.
That should be “beat” not “bear”.
That’s not a good sign; that movie has been playing at the Kendall Square for a few weeks now, so that is a second-run booking. Maybe they are doing a soft opening. I hope once they are on their feet they are able to bear Landmark Theaters out of a first-run art film regularly.
The Boston Herald ran an article today “New Venture hoping to reel in Indie fans” which says that the Stuart Street will reopen on Friday Oct. 23 with the Cedric Klapisch film “Paris”. It says that the “one-screen” venue has 435 seats and will keep its current name. The new operator, David Bramante, was asked about turning it back into a 2-screener and said “There’s some space available. I don’t know right now, but I wouldn’t rule it out”. Ed Symkus wrote the article.
I see no ad in today’s Boston Globe, and nothing on the theatre’s website, so I doubt that it actually opened today.
Looks like the golf school has closed, as it’s no longer on the hotel’s web site. If it’s not going to become a second screen again, I wonder what is going to happen to that space?
I hope it succeeds, too. Two recent examples of other single-screen cinemas opening in eastern-MA are the Plimoth Cinema in Plymouth and the Cape Ann Community Cinema in Gloucester. The latter is run by a film society and the former is run by a museum. Both are “art houses”.
According to this article in yesterday’s Globe, the theatre will reopen on October 9, will be a single screen, and will keep the name ‘Stuart Street Playhouse’.
I hope this succeeds. I don’t know of anyone else trying to open single-screen cinemas these days.
This is great news! I think this is probably the only location in downtown Boston that can be reconverted back into a movie theater. The other old movie houses were either converted into performance spaces or entombed in cement (like the old RKO Boston/Cinerama).
I still have a ticket stub for Close Encounters of the Third Kind that played at the Sack 57 the winter of 1977. They had printed up fancy, special reserve tickets for that presentation.
Another piece of trivia is that in 1979 Francis Ford Coppola wanted “Apocalypse Now” to play at the Charles (he had a rivalry with George Lucas and wanted the film to play many of the original locations that “Star Wars” did.) Fox films were locked in there, so Sack Theaters installed a brand new sound system in the “smaller” 57 theater with speakers every 10 feet or so along the walls to appease the director. The sound was very good in that theater from then on.
Sack Theaters channeled most of the action pictures there throughout the 1980s. It was not unusual to see lines going from the outside ticket office in the garage, down along the garage wall, and curving around the corner and stretching down the side street. In the 1990s, Loews threw all the R-rated violent action and urban films there which brought some very tough crowds, and I guess neither the hotel nor Loews wanted the lease renewed.
From the two articles I’ve read, and the speed in which the brothers were promising to have the theater opened, it sounds like they’re not planning any extensive renovations and they’re only going to use the one auditorium that the Stuart Street Playhouse people used.
But Boston hasn’t had independent movies since the Nick closed, and this is welcomed news!
Will it be a single screen (like the current Stuart St Playhouse) or a twin (like the original 57)?
A friend who lives in downtown Boston and is a big film buff can’t wait for this new operation to begin. He pointed out that it will be the third movie venue for the new operators since they also run the Studio Th. in Belmont as well as the West Newton Cinema.
Looks like the 57 is about to become a movie theatre again:
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The Boston Courant breaks the news that Boston is about to get a new movie theater. Or, should I say, new-old movie theater.
The Stuart Street Playhouse vwill reopen in September as a “art and independent movie house under a new ownership group led by Dave and Jim Bramante, the brothers who run the West Newton Cinema.â€
I don’t know how “Sack 57th Street” got into the Description above, but it is not correct. It was the “Sack 57” or the “Cinema 57”.
Also, only one of the former two cinemas is now the Stuart Street Playhouse. As mentioned several times in the comments, the other former cinema is now an indoor golf school.
Just a thought – and correct me if I’m wrong: Shouldn’t this be listed as “Stuart Street Playhouse” with “Sack 57 Cinemas” as a “aka”, because it’s not known by that name anymore?
Just wondering.
According to an item in the entertainment section of today’s Boston Herald, the theater recently purchased lighting and sound equipment and will begin booking music acts in concert. It has 443 seats.
I was there for Clockwork Orange and still have the thin newspaper-style handout, called “Orange Times,” Vol.2, No. 001, Spring/Summer 1972.
It does say “Sack’s Cinema 57,” but again, we referred to it differently.
BTW: I always called it a “World Premiere.” My sister has the embossed cake box and invitation that I kept. When she gets back to town I will ask her what it says on the top of the box. We never called it an “American Premiere.”
It wasn’t until I Googled the film recently that I found out it had shown in England first. I still don’t understand that!
-Kat
Far be it for me to contradict someone’s diary notation. I’m thinking more about this now, considering your statement.
I know that I took no money that night. It’s possible that while I accepted the invitations for admission that night, that another cashier sold high-priced tickets, earlier. So maybe my hitchhiker/hippie cinema buff not only didn’t have an invitation but no $10. I recall I opened my booth door and held his backpack for him until he left, so he could mingle.
Since we had a 900 seat theatre and a 1500 seat theatre, I can’t now really imagine filling one theatre at those capacities, with just big-wigs. :–) Also, I did not take in minimum 900 invitations as free passes. I might have taken maybe 250 letters.
I recall I tossed them on the floor of my booth, after the box on the floor filled up. I was giving entrance as fast as possible- to keep things moving out front.
We were all dressed up in our best clothes.
Also, I did not see the film that night, and can’t exactly place the timing as to when I was introduced personally to Hitchcock. My assistant manager (Frank, I think his name was) pulled me off the front box office to be presented to the director. Also, what events transpired in the theatre itself prior to, during, or right after the showing, I have no knowledge of. I was still at work- at work until closing- that means walking the theatres, restrooms, and lobby, checking for cleanliness or anything unusual, or helping a patron in some way.
I would have to say that you are very probably correct.
Sorry if this caused confusion. I can say you are jogging my memory and that is always good. :–) This is over 35 years ago!
It’s funny- I thought people might be more interested in the Cocoanut Grove fire and the odd occurrences while I worked at Sack57. I did also wish to back up the person who gave that as the name we called it: Sack57.
At other times I also worked at the Garden Cinema and the Symphony Cinema. [That’s not a place I usually talk about! :–) ] But The Garden Cinema was really nice- my favorite!
-Kat
KatK,
Are you sure about the “invitation only” for the Frenzy premiere? Were there two events, one invitational and one public? I went for what was billed as the American premiere (not world premiere) at the Sack57 on June 20, 1972. I wrote about it in my diary. I had no problem buying a ticket for $10 that afternoon for the evening premiere. That was a high admission price at the time but it was a benefit of some sort, as I recall. The show began at 8:30 with Hitchcock introducing the film. He accepted a Paul Revere award from the sponsoring group. Amusingly, he commented, “I’d have trouble getting on the horse.”
Someone just directed me to this site, as I was about to recount my experiences in the haunted portions of the Cinema on my LizzieAndrewBorden Discussion Forum.
I started to read the rules here and admit my eyes crossed! I will try to read the rest of “Terms of Use” in a bit.
I was head cashier at Sack57 Cinema, which is what it was called, at the time Frenzy premiered. Met Alfred Hitchcock. Reddest human being I ever saw still walking upright. I guess high blood pressure? It was called a “World Premier” although later I found it had opened in Great Britain first. We had the edited version- the Boston Blue Laws saw to that! So maybe they considered this the World Premier of the edited edition, which removed the “skin” shots.
We had a cake with a doll on top with a man’s necktie around it’s neck. We were given clear plastic boxes with our piece of cake inside, embossed on the top with the info on the movie. It was by invitation only. Guests had to bring their invitation to get in. It had Hitchcock’s profile DRAWN as his signature on a printed invitation. Luckily I saved my box and one attendees invitation.They relinquished them at the box office, to me. I believe it’s possible the director signed these himself, because all the Boston Big Wigs were the invitees. I mean Senators, Congressmen, people like that. There were no civilians.
Actually, I did let in one young man who did not know it was by invitation only, as he had hitched from, I think New Hampshire, to be there.
The haunting stories are something else again!
I personally encountered several instances of what might be paranormal activity, with my projectionist as witness to 2 incidents with me.
I’m glad to have found this site- thanks Doug-Oh!– it brings back memories!
-Kat
I saw a handful of crummy movies there in the early 1990s, including The Shadow (Alec Baldwin) and National Lampoon’s Loaded Weapon 1. In its last few years it became a ghetto for “black” movies- notice Ron Newman’s comment that it’s last movies were Original Gangstas and The Great White Hype.
I’ve lived in the Boston area since coming here for college in 1981. Over the years I saw a number of movies at this and several other now-closed theaters. My most vivid memory of the 57 is going with a friend to see Scarface on opening weekend in ‘83. The theater (presumably the larger of the two) was filled to capacity with a very rowdy crowd of inner-city teens. While waiting for the movie to start, we heard a crashing sound from the lobby, followed by a distant shout of “Free popcorn!” We found out when the movie was over that someone had smashed the glass in the concession stand.
As if that wasn’t enough weirdness for one night, while walking home along the Comm. Ave. mall, we were accosted by two or three drunk kids from Southie who challenged us to tell them how to get to South Boston. We had a small argument, and eventually they admitted they were just looking for some “rich, stuck-up college kids to beat up.” We were able to convince them that we were neither rich nor stuck-up, and we were not looking for trouble. I have to wonder if there was a full moon that night. In all my years living here, that’s the only brush with trouble I’ve ever had.
yes
At the time it closed was it a Loews house ?