In the entertainment section of today’s Quincy (MA) Patriot Ledger there is mention of the musical “Memphis” which it says is now playing “at the Citi Performing Arts Center Emerson Colonial Theater”. How’s that for a mouthful !
The underground passageway which Nataloff mentions was only one story underground. It ran from the north side of the inner lobby of the Plymouth/Gary down Allen’s Alley alongside the Majestic. There was an exit into the north side of the Majestic lobby. The passageway then made a sharp left turn to run northward under Tremont Street. There was an exit into the lobby of the Little Building (Tremont & Boylston), then it continued northward into the Boylston Street trolley station. This passageway was completely intact, with lights which still worked, as of 1983, although it was out of use long before then. The section alongside the Majestic was busted open and filled in around 2001 as a prelude to the construction of the Emerson Tufte Building at the head of Allen’s Alley (site of the Gary auditorium).
DotRat- you can contact the Archives at the Theatre Historical Soc in Illinois (Kathy): They have a black & white photo of the exterior taken in April 1941; it’s on the MGM Theatre and Photograph Report. But it’s expensive, about $50. Or contact me at ; I can help you out.
In the Ledger Archives section of the Quincy Patriot-Ledger of Nov. 5, 2012, there is an item from the Ledger of Nov. 10, 1937 which reported that the old Fogg Opera House was “doomed” because the building owner had decided to completely remodel the space occupied by the theater and convert it into apartments. This work was probably done in 1938.
The State Theatre in Farmington is listed in the 1942-43 Motion Picture Almanac as being part of the Lockwood and Gordon circuit of Boston.
Note the “I-O-O-F” logo at the top of the facade in the streetview photo. This building was an Odd Fellows Hall, so the Broadway/State was almost certainly created from the Odd Fellows auditorium.
I can’t remember the titles, but they are two touring shows, both musicals, I think. One is booked in Dec., and the other in Feb. Both are part of the Broadway in Boston line-up. Ads for them have run in the Quincy Patriot-Ledger; it was in these ads that I noted the change in the theater name.
The Colonial has been closed since early-summer 2011. Now there are at least 2 touring shows booked for this 2012-2013 theatrical season. The theater’s name as printed in the ads for those shows is: “Citi Emerson Colonial Theatre”. Oh, barf.
Having a nice sign out front (very nostalgic) just isn’t enough when patronage falls. Why should Cottage Grove “resist” WalMart? Who knows, perhaps WalMart was invited there. The drive-in’s owner has had the property for sale for 5 years now with no takers. He’s smart to sell to WalMart. The increase in property tax to the town is huge (from both WalMart and the planned adjacent mall). Hey, it all boils down to $$$$. Because of declining patronage and interest, the drive-in, nice sign notwithstanding, has become obsolete.
The Boston Globe report of the fire in 1917 states that it was believed that the walls would have to be demolished. But that did not happen. The facade was saved, and possibly parts of the side and rear walls. The auditorium that Thomas Lamb designed right after this fire did not look anything like the original auditorium. I wish I had known more about the history of this building back circa-1953 when it was still standing. I would have gone over there and looked all around the place.
Mpol- you should get together with Michael Moore and make a docu about this awful monster. Gotta go, am on my way to my local WalMart with a long shopping list. And good luck to Cottage Grove; the new WalMart and adjacent mall will provide much needed prop tax revenue as opposed to the peanuts that the drive-in was generating.
Same old story: declining patronage and revenues; can’t afford to go Digital; theater for sale for 5 years with no buyers. Time to reuse the land for something else. A WalMart and a new mall adjacent to it make sense in this situation.
The pair of 1939 photos from Boxoffice trade paper illustrate why the Boston Landmarks Commission around 1985 did not consider this theater for inclusion, despite its great age. They felt that the theater interior had been ruined by renovations, and these
photos prove their point.
In the 1942-43 Motion Picture Almanac, the State in Manchester is listed as part of the Shea Circuit, run by Shea-Chain Inc & Affiliates of 1540 Broadway in New York City. Other Manchester NH theaters run by Shea at that time were the Palace, Strand, Crown and the Vitaphone. Shea also ran 2 theaters in Nashua.
In the long lists of theater chains in the 1942-43 Motion Picture Almanac, the Gem and the Capitol in Willimantic are both listed under Warner Brothers Circuit Management of New York. However, the Gem is listed as “Closed” at that time.
The photo posted above must have been made after a renovation project – the entrance is somewhat different than the original. That had a center boxoffice with a double door on each side, but it was wider, and also had 2 or 3 steps up from the sidewalk. The newer entrance seems to be at street level.
Renovation work continues according to a press report. In July, the lobby and concession stand were finished. Three of the screens reopened on August 17. In November, the new addition will open with 5 screens, including a 400-seat RPX screen. The cinema will be larger with more square feet, but will remain at 14 screens.
The Archives section of Aug.20 Quincy Patriot-Ledger reproduced an ad for the Weymouth Drive-In from August 1937. The ad copy says “Sit in your Car – See and Hear the Movies! New England’s Only open air auto theatre” (I don’t know how accurate that claim was.) Below that it says: “Drive-In Theatre Weymouth. Continous Nightly, rain/shine. Last Show 10PM” Movie playing was “Here Comes Carter”. Located on “South Shore Route 3A to Nantasket”.
The People’s Theatre is listed under Evansville in the 1897-98 edition of the Julius Cahn Official Theatrical Guide. Thomas J. Groves was Mgr; the seating capacity was 1,426. The proscenium opening was 32 feet wide X 26 feet high, and the stage was 36 feet deep. The theater was on the ground floor and had electric illumination. There were no less than 5 daily newspapers and 4 hotels for show folk. There was also a Grand Theatre in Evansville which had 1,899 seats. The 1897 population of Evansville was 65,000.
Just south of the Noel Coward Theatre there is a wide alley which connects Saint Martin’s Lane with Charing Cross Road. Halfway down the alley, on the south side, there was in the 1980s a wonderful old quaint shop which sold second-hand books and other memorabilia pertaining to theaters and to cinemas, as well as Film and Stage. I think that the pleasant man who ran it was named “David”, not sure of that. At that time, the stage door at the Albery also served Wyndham’s Theatre. There was a covered footbridge which connected the rear stage wall of the Albery with the rear stage wall of Wyndham’s about 15 feet above ground level. Anyone who had business at the stage end of Wyndham’s could only access it via the Albery.
One of the Boston TV stations, Ch. 5, ABC, recently did a profile of the Mendon Drive-In on a local news feature. It was pointed out that digital projection has been installed and that sometimes the place is so busy that cars have to be turned away.
The dollhouse was probably put on display in the Warren’s lobby. The theater didn’t have any windows, although the building to the right did. In the lobby it would have attracted a great deal of attention.
The owners of the Palladium building have gotten very ticked-off over recent property tax increases. They say their tax has now tripled. They want to demolish the building. This news appeared in the business page of the Quincy Patriot-Ledger, and also in the THS Readerboard theater news line.
Yes, it was a Shubert house when I first knew it circa-1948 or so. It was the least-used of their Boston theaters. Dark most of the time, it presented both plays and films but very infrequently. So when Sack took it over and renamed it “Capri”, it was a real re-launch.
In the entertainment section of today’s Quincy (MA) Patriot Ledger there is mention of the musical “Memphis” which it says is now playing “at the Citi Performing Arts Center Emerson Colonial Theater”. How’s that for a mouthful !
There are 330 seats when there is a band in the orchestra pit, otherwise, the seating capacity is about 370 seats.
The underground passageway which Nataloff mentions was only one story underground. It ran from the north side of the inner lobby of the Plymouth/Gary down Allen’s Alley alongside the Majestic. There was an exit into the north side of the Majestic lobby. The passageway then made a sharp left turn to run northward under Tremont Street. There was an exit into the lobby of the Little Building (Tremont & Boylston), then it continued northward into the Boylston Street trolley station. This passageway was completely intact, with lights which still worked, as of 1983, although it was out of use long before then. The section alongside the Majestic was busted open and filled in around 2001 as a prelude to the construction of the Emerson Tufte Building at the head of Allen’s Alley (site of the Gary auditorium).
DotRat- you can contact the Archives at the Theatre Historical Soc in Illinois (Kathy): They have a black & white photo of the exterior taken in April 1941; it’s on the MGM Theatre and Photograph Report. But it’s expensive, about $50. Or contact me at ; I can help you out.
In the Ledger Archives section of the Quincy Patriot-Ledger of Nov. 5, 2012, there is an item from the Ledger of Nov. 10, 1937 which reported that the old Fogg Opera House was “doomed” because the building owner had decided to completely remodel the space occupied by the theater and convert it into apartments. This work was probably done in 1938.
The State Theatre in Farmington is listed in the 1942-43 Motion Picture Almanac as being part of the Lockwood and Gordon circuit of Boston. Note the “I-O-O-F” logo at the top of the facade in the streetview photo. This building was an Odd Fellows Hall, so the Broadway/State was almost certainly created from the Odd Fellows auditorium.
I can’t remember the titles, but they are two touring shows, both musicals, I think. One is booked in Dec., and the other in Feb. Both are part of the Broadway in Boston line-up. Ads for them have run in the Quincy Patriot-Ledger; it was in these ads that I noted the change in the theater name.
The Colonial has been closed since early-summer 2011. Now there are at least 2 touring shows booked for this 2012-2013 theatrical season. The theater’s name as printed in the ads for those shows is: “Citi Emerson Colonial Theatre”. Oh, barf.
Having a nice sign out front (very nostalgic) just isn’t enough when patronage falls. Why should Cottage Grove “resist” WalMart? Who knows, perhaps WalMart was invited there. The drive-in’s owner has had the property for sale for 5 years now with no takers. He’s smart to sell to WalMart. The increase in property tax to the town is huge (from both WalMart and the planned adjacent mall). Hey, it all boils down to $$$$. Because of declining patronage and interest, the drive-in, nice sign notwithstanding, has become obsolete.
The Boston Globe report of the fire in 1917 states that it was believed that the walls would have to be demolished. But that did not happen. The facade was saved, and possibly parts of the side and rear walls. The auditorium that Thomas Lamb designed right after this fire did not look anything like the original auditorium. I wish I had known more about the history of this building back circa-1953 when it was still standing. I would have gone over there and looked all around the place.
Mpol- you should get together with Michael Moore and make a docu about this awful monster. Gotta go, am on my way to my local WalMart with a long shopping list. And good luck to Cottage Grove; the new WalMart and adjacent mall will provide much needed prop tax revenue as opposed to the peanuts that the drive-in was generating.
Same old story: declining patronage and revenues; can’t afford to go Digital; theater for sale for 5 years with no buyers. Time to reuse the land for something else. A WalMart and a new mall adjacent to it make sense in this situation.
The pair of 1939 photos from Boxoffice trade paper illustrate why the Boston Landmarks Commission around 1985 did not consider this theater for inclusion, despite its great age. They felt that the theater interior had been ruined by renovations, and these photos prove their point.
In the 1942-43 Motion Picture Almanac, the State in Manchester is listed as part of the Shea Circuit, run by Shea-Chain Inc & Affiliates of 1540 Broadway in New York City. Other Manchester NH theaters run by Shea at that time were the Palace, Strand, Crown and the Vitaphone. Shea also ran 2 theaters in Nashua.
In the long lists of theater chains in the 1942-43 Motion Picture Almanac, the Gem and the Capitol in Willimantic are both listed under Warner Brothers Circuit Management of New York. However, the Gem is listed as “Closed” at that time.
The photo posted above must have been made after a renovation project – the entrance is somewhat different than the original. That had a center boxoffice with a double door on each side, but it was wider, and also had 2 or 3 steps up from the sidewalk. The newer entrance seems to be at street level.
Renovation work continues according to a press report. In July, the lobby and concession stand were finished. Three of the screens reopened on August 17. In November, the new addition will open with 5 screens, including a 400-seat RPX screen. The cinema will be larger with more square feet, but will remain at 14 screens.
The Archives section of Aug.20 Quincy Patriot-Ledger reproduced an ad for the Weymouth Drive-In from August 1937. The ad copy says “Sit in your Car – See and Hear the Movies! New England’s Only open air auto theatre” (I don’t know how accurate that claim was.) Below that it says: “Drive-In Theatre Weymouth. Continous Nightly, rain/shine. Last Show 10PM” Movie playing was “Here Comes Carter”. Located on “South Shore Route 3A to Nantasket”.
The People’s Theatre is listed under Evansville in the 1897-98 edition of the Julius Cahn Official Theatrical Guide. Thomas J. Groves was Mgr; the seating capacity was 1,426. The proscenium opening was 32 feet wide X 26 feet high, and the stage was 36 feet deep. The theater was on the ground floor and had electric illumination. There were no less than 5 daily newspapers and 4 hotels for show folk. There was also a Grand Theatre in Evansville which had 1,899 seats. The 1897 population of Evansville was 65,000.
Yes, the sub base is on the east side of the Thames River in Groton, not in New London.
Just south of the Noel Coward Theatre there is a wide alley which connects Saint Martin’s Lane with Charing Cross Road. Halfway down the alley, on the south side, there was in the 1980s a wonderful old quaint shop which sold second-hand books and other memorabilia pertaining to theaters and to cinemas, as well as Film and Stage. I think that the pleasant man who ran it was named “David”, not sure of that. At that time, the stage door at the Albery also served Wyndham’s Theatre. There was a covered footbridge which connected the rear stage wall of the Albery with the rear stage wall of Wyndham’s about 15 feet above ground level. Anyone who had business at the stage end of Wyndham’s could only access it via the Albery.
One of the Boston TV stations, Ch. 5, ABC, recently did a profile of the Mendon Drive-In on a local news feature. It was pointed out that digital projection has been installed and that sometimes the place is so busy that cars have to be turned away.
The dollhouse was probably put on display in the Warren’s lobby. The theater didn’t have any windows, although the building to the right did. In the lobby it would have attracted a great deal of attention.
The owners of the Palladium building have gotten very ticked-off over recent property tax increases. They say their tax has now tripled. They want to demolish the building. This news appeared in the business page of the Quincy Patriot-Ledger, and also in the THS Readerboard theater news line.
Yes, it was a Shubert house when I first knew it circa-1948 or so. It was the least-used of their Boston theaters. Dark most of the time, it presented both plays and films but very infrequently. So when Sack took it over and renamed it “Capri”, it was a real re-launch.