By the way, do your references have any listing for a movie theatre in Porter Square, with an address of (or near) 2000 Massachusetts Avenue? A martial arts studio now occupies the building at that address, but people who know Cambridge history have told me it is a former theatre.
The article comes complete with two photos of Ian Judge, the theatre’s “genial, movie-loving general manager” who has contributed many comments to this page.
It was not printed in last week’s hardcopy newspaper, but presumably will be in this week’s issue.
I’m curious if this theatre was somehow related to the (still-open) Dedham Community Theatre? The names are similar, and they aren’t very far apart geographically.
This is actually a very old concept. Some theatres built in the first few decades of the 20th century also had bowling alleys. And of course, a show containing both movies and live entertainment on stage was once quite standard.
If this was in Roslindale, the street should be Belgrade Avenue, not Belgrave. Some might say it’s really in West Roxbury. The line between the two neighborhoods is fuzzy.
A Google search finds Julianne’s Dance Workshop at this address now. Whether it’s in the old theatre building or not, I don’t know. Maybe I’ll take a trip out there some time to look.
The final day’s movies at Assembly Square, before it closed its doors forever:'
Freedom Writers
Code Name: The Cleaner
Happily N'ever Afer
Black Christmas
Night at the Museum
Rocky Balboa
Charlotte’s Web
The Pursuit of Happyness
The Holiday
Unaccompanied Minors (matinees only)
Blood Diamond
Happy Feet
Casino Royale (one show only)
The last showings started between 7:00 and 8:15, and the final show finished a little after 10 pm. By that time, workers were already taking down letters from the marquee and handing them out to whoever wanted one.
Judy, the manager, told me that she had worked here since 1983. She wore a Sack Theatres badge on her final day. According to her, the theatre’s 25-year lease expires on January 31, and they have to remove everything from the building by then.
The mall is getting rid of everything that isn’t ridiculously upscale. See the article in today’s Herald.
A couple of the comments above mentioned Brentano’s bookstore, originally Lauriat’s, which was in the corridor leading to the cinema. The bookstore will close on January 26. Since Borders just opened a large new store a few blocks away, and Borders owns Brentano’s, this one had become redundant anyway.
King of the multiplex world in 1987? The Assembly Square Cinema in Somerville, MA, had 12 screens in 1983. (By the way, it is closing forever tonight.)
Last Friday evening, I attended Dance Across the City at the Strand. Before the show started, Mayor Menino announced that the Strand will close this coming Wednesday for renovations.
I called again today. The manager told me the last day of operation will be Monday, January 15 (MLK holiday), and that it will be demolished after it closes.
Flint has three theatres now? This is the same market where Michael Moore was unable to premiere one of his movies because it then had no movie theatre at all?
The entire city block that contained the Gaiety/Publix has now been demolished. The last two buildings to go were the Glass Slipper on Lagrange Street, and a two-story retail building just south of the theatre on Washington Street, whose most recent tenant was a Vietnamese gift shop.
The Glass Slipper has moved across Lagrange Street, to a building immediately abutting Boston’s other strip club, Centerfolds.
I don’t know what the specific agreement was in DC, but in other places, they were required to sell it to someone who would continue to operate it as a first-run cinema for some fixed number of years. AMC Fenway 13 in Boston, for instance, went to Regal.
he whole point was to ensure continued competition. Closing the theatre obviously doesn’t achieve that.
I think this was posted once before. I’m not at all convinced that members of the audience have an obligation to remain quiet during trailers. I enjoy hearing the crowd reaction to an especially great or awful preview.
The owner of this theatre is concerned about what will happen to him once National Amusements opens a new 16-screen cinema down the road in a new ‘lifestyle center’ to be called Legacy Place. From Saturday’s Boston Globe:
[quote]Scheduled to open in 2008, the Legacy Place lifestyle center in Dedham would be a short drive down Route 1 from downtown. In addition to about 70 national retailers and more than a half-dozen restaurants, the center will have a 16-screen movie theater, the flagship for media giant and Legacy Place developer National Amusements, which will have its corporate headquarters on the site.
This worries Paul McMurtry, the owner of Dedham Community Theatre, a 1927, two-screen movie house in Dedham Square.
Although National Amusements already operates a 12-screen theatre on the site, McMurty predicted the new 16-screen multiplex would kill his theater, which shows mostly independent films and is home to the whimsical Museum of Bad Art in its basement.
“If this is an anchor for downtown Dedham, we have to find some way for this theater to survive,” McMurtry said.[/quote]
By the way, do your references have any listing for a movie theatre in Porter Square, with an address of (or near) 2000 Massachusetts Avenue? A martial arts studio now occupies the building at that address, but people who know Cambridge history have told me it is a former theatre.
The Somerville Journal has an article online about recent renovations to the Somerville’s main auditorium, and about the return of the Boston Science Fiction Film Festival to this theatre next month.
The article comes complete with two photos of Ian Judge, the theatre’s “genial, movie-loving general manager” who has contributed many comments to this page.
It was not printed in last week’s hardcopy newspaper, but presumably will be in this week’s issue.
There was a General Cinema in Saugus, probably on Route 1. I don’t know whether it and the State were ever open at the same time.
A Century Bank branch now stands on this site. It is not a very good use of the land, being set back quite far from the street behind a parking lot.
I’m curious if this theatre was somehow related to the (still-open) Dedham Community Theatre? The names are similar, and they aren’t very far apart geographically.
This is actually a very old concept. Some theatres built in the first few decades of the 20th century also had bowling alleys. And of course, a show containing both movies and live entertainment on stage was once quite standard.
If this was in Roslindale, the street should be Belgrade Avenue, not Belgrave. Some might say it’s really in West Roxbury. The line between the two neighborhoods is fuzzy.
A Google search finds Julianne’s Dance Workshop at this address now. Whether it’s in the old theatre building or not, I don’t know. Maybe I’ll take a trip out there some time to look.
How did you find this theatre?
Some articles about the Strand this month, from one of the Dorchester local papers:
http://www.dotnews.com/strandedinuphamscorner.html
http://www.dotnews.com/strandstateofcity.html
http://www.dotnews.com/editorial.1.11.07.html
The status should be changed to “Closed/Renovating”.
Somebody at the Globe or AMC goofed up. The theatre is definitely closed, but today’s Globe still has an ad listing showtimes.
The final day’s movies at Assembly Square, before it closed its doors forever:'
Freedom Writers
Code Name: The Cleaner
Happily N'ever Afer
Black Christmas
Night at the Museum
Rocky Balboa
Charlotte’s Web
The Pursuit of Happyness
The Holiday
Unaccompanied Minors (matinees only)
Blood Diamond
Happy Feet
Casino Royale (one show only)
The last showings started between 7:00 and 8:15, and the final show finished a little after 10 pm. By that time, workers were already taking down letters from the marquee and handing them out to whoever wanted one.
Judy, the manager, told me that she had worked here since 1983. She wore a Sack Theatres badge on her final day. According to her, the theatre’s 25-year lease expires on January 31, and they have to remove everything from the building by then.
The mall is getting rid of everything that isn’t ridiculously upscale. See the article in today’s Herald.
A couple of the comments above mentioned Brentano’s bookstore, originally Lauriat’s, which was in the corridor leading to the cinema. The bookstore will close on January 26. Since Borders just opened a large new store a few blocks away, and Borders owns Brentano’s, this one had become redundant anyway.
King of the multiplex world in 1987? The Assembly Square Cinema in Somerville, MA, had 12 screens in 1983. (By the way, it is closing forever tonight.)
Last Friday evening, I attended Dance Across the City at the Strand. Before the show started, Mayor Menino announced that the Strand will close this coming Wednesday for renovations.
The manager of the Assembly Square Cinemas told me they will close on January 15.
Once this happens, the Somerville Theatre will be the only movie theatre in Somerville — for the first time in its 92+ year history.
I called again today. The manager told me the last day of operation will be Monday, January 15 (MLK holiday), and that it will be demolished after it closes.
Anything that encourages the use of cellphones and texting in a cinema is a very bad idea.
I phoned this theatre and asked, “are you closing soon?” The lady who answered the phone said, “We have no lease beyond the end of January.”
Flint has three theatres now? This is the same market where Michael Moore was unable to premiere one of his movies because it then had no movie theatre at all?
The entire city block that contained the Gaiety/Publix has now been demolished. The last two buildings to go were the Glass Slipper on Lagrange Street, and a two-story retail building just south of the theatre on Washington Street, whose most recent tenant was a Vietnamese gift shop.
The Glass Slipper has moved across Lagrange Street, to a building immediately abutting Boston’s other strip club, Centerfolds.
Simon owns Copley Place now, but I don’t think they owned it when it opened in 1984.
I don’t know what the specific agreement was in DC, but in other places, they were required to sell it to someone who would continue to operate it as a first-run cinema for some fixed number of years. AMC Fenway 13 in Boston, for instance, went to Regal.
he whole point was to ensure continued competition. Closing the theatre obviously doesn’t achieve that.
I thought AMC was required, by anti-trust agreement with the government, to sell this, not close it?
I think this was posted once before. I’m not at all convinced that members of the audience have an obligation to remain quiet during trailers. I enjoy hearing the crowd reaction to an especially great or awful preview.
Still with Loews signs, after three months?
The owner of this theatre is concerned about what will happen to him once National Amusements opens a new 16-screen cinema down the road in a new ‘lifestyle center’ to be called Legacy Place. From Saturday’s Boston Globe:
[quote]Scheduled to open in 2008, the Legacy Place lifestyle center in Dedham would be a short drive down Route 1 from downtown. In addition to about 70 national retailers and more than a half-dozen restaurants, the center will have a 16-screen movie theater, the flagship for media giant and Legacy Place developer National Amusements, which will have its corporate headquarters on the site.
This worries Paul McMurtry, the owner of Dedham Community Theatre, a 1927, two-screen movie house in Dedham Square.
Although National Amusements already operates a 12-screen theatre on the site, McMurty predicted the new 16-screen multiplex would kill his theater, which shows mostly independent films and is home to the whimsical Museum of Bad Art in its basement.
“If this is an anchor for downtown Dedham, we have to find some way for this theater to survive,” McMurtry said.[/quote]