Early in this discussion I mentioned the Institute for Contemporary Art (ICA), which initially used one of the Copley Place Cinema screens.
Tomorrow, the ICA officially reopens to the public at its new home on Fan Pier. The new ICA includes a 325-seat ‘Barbara Lee Family Foundation Theater’ that will present both films and live performances.
No parking at the cinema? No problem – take the train or the bus there instead! These theatres all seem to do quite good business in congested downtown areas with little or no parking:
Meanwhile, this nearby suburban multiplex with plenty of parking has fallen well out of favor and is likely to close soon: AMC Loews Assembly Square Cinemas
If it opened in 1950, it may be historically significant, but in no way is it “ first theater in the country to be designed with retail stores attached”. The Somerville Theatre had retail stores attached when it opened in 1914. Most of the storefronts are gone now, absorbed by lobby expansion and the construction of additional cinema screens, but one remains.
I don’t think there’s anything especially unusual about the Somerville, either, except that it has survived to the current day. It used to be quite common to build mixed-used structures containing a theatre alongside retail and office space. For another similar structure, see the Capitol Theatre in nearby Arlington, which opened in 1925 and has kept many more of its adjoining storefronts. In fact the stores have their own website: The Capitol Block.
In today’s Boston Globe, two ads for the Radio City Christmas Spectacular already call it the ‘Citi Wang Theatre’. An ad for Pilobolus still refers to ‘The Shubert Theatre’ and ‘The Wang Center’.
Off the Wall ran silents with live accompaniment? I never knew that.
Even in today’s ‘Googleplex era’, you’ll see such showings from time to time in the Boston area, at venues like the Somerville Theatre, Coolidge Corner Theatre, Museum of Fine Arts, or Harvard Film Archive. The Alloy Orchestra, which puts on some of these performances, is based in Cambridge. (But they started years after Off the Wall had closed.)
I wrote to Mudflat, asking if this month’s Holiday Open Studio and Sale would take place at the Broadway. They replied:
“Unfortunately, no, not yet.
We have finally resolved all the legal issues. And we are now finishing up our plans, getting bid sets together, and hopefully will get the construction underway in the new year.
So maybe next Holiday sale will be in our new building!"
“From recent newspaper reports, it sounds like Berklee is about to demolish and replace the Performance Center. Is this true? If so, what will be its last day of operation?”
Within minutes, I got this reply:
“The project is in the initial discussion phase. I believe it will be at least several years before actual demolition occurs. Thanks for your interest in our theater.”
The Performance Center is heavily booked by concert promoters such as World Music. If Berklee is allowed to demolish it, I hope the same promoters will be able to use its new theatre.
In today’s Boston Globe, I see many AMC theatres with ‘reduced’ weekday showtimes (that is, nothing starting after 8 pm) — not just Assembly Square, but also Braintree, Burlington, Chestnut Hill, and Tyngsboro. I doubt AMC is planning to close all of these, so there must be some other explanation.
If I click on the name of a state, I can still see the list of theatres in the state. But if I instead click on the name of a city, I get the “search disabled” page. Since there are a lot more theatres in a state than there are in a city, why is the city disabled but the state still OK?
This is not exactly the most deft public relations I’ve ever seen. Both Citibank and the Wang Center could have waited until all the details were in place before making a big public announcement.
Here’s the official press release. It says “The new official name for the center will be announced at a later date,” which is kind of lame. It also says “The Wang Theatre will retain its name”, but makes no such promise for the Shubert.
The online version of the Herald article says this in the third paragraph: “That will include renaming The Wang Theater as the Citibank Theater and underwriting performances.” I haven’t seen the print version yet. The online article also misspells the name of the Shubert Theatre.
Today’s Boston Globe reports that the Wang Center as an organization will today be renamed the Citibank Center for the Performing Arts. But the Wang Theatre will keep its current name.
On the other hand, today’s Boston Herald says the theatre will be renamed to Citibank Theatre. I guess we’ll find out this afternoon which paper has the story right.
It’s not even close to being the first theatre with stores attached; see my comment here.
Early in this discussion I mentioned the Institute for Contemporary Art (ICA), which initially used one of the Copley Place Cinema screens.
Tomorrow, the ICA officially reopens to the public at its new home on Fan Pier. The new ICA includes a 325-seat ‘Barbara Lee Family Foundation Theater’ that will present both films and live performances.
ICA Film Programs
ICA Performance series, which includes several silent films accompanied by the Alloy Orchestra
Once it’s open for a while, we should create a new CinemaTreasures page for this new theatre.
No parking at the cinema? No problem – take the train or the bus there instead! These theatres all seem to do quite good business in congested downtown areas with little or no parking:
AMC Loews Boston Common
AMC Loews Harvard Square
Somerville Theatre
Meanwhile, this nearby suburban multiplex with plenty of parking has fallen well out of favor and is likely to close soon:
AMC Loews Assembly Square Cinemas
If it opened in 1950, it may be historically significant, but in no way is it “ first theater in the country to be designed with retail stores attached”. The Somerville Theatre had retail stores attached when it opened in 1914. Most of the storefronts are gone now, absorbed by lobby expansion and the construction of additional cinema screens, but one remains.
I don’t think there’s anything especially unusual about the Somerville, either, except that it has survived to the current day. It used to be quite common to build mixed-used structures containing a theatre alongside retail and office space. For another similar structure, see the Capitol Theatre in nearby Arlington, which opened in 1925 and has kept many more of its adjoining storefronts. In fact the stores have their own website: The Capitol Block.
I’ll try to come up with a new Description, as the current one is now out of date and reads a bit awkwardly.
To my knowledge, Citicorp did not actually ‘buy’ the theatres.
In today’s Boston Globe, two ads for the Radio City Christmas Spectacular already call it the ‘Citi Wang Theatre’. An ad for Pilobolus still refers to ‘The Shubert Theatre’ and ‘The Wang Center’.
Is Citibank already reneging on its promise not to change the name of the Wang Theatre? Check out this photo.
Oops, if I’d read my own post from a few months earlier, I wouldn’t have written the first sentence above!
Off the Wall ran silents with live accompaniment? I never knew that.
Even in today’s ‘Googleplex era’, you’ll see such showings from time to time in the Boston area, at venues like the Somerville Theatre, Coolidge Corner Theatre, Museum of Fine Arts, or Harvard Film Archive. The Alloy Orchestra, which puts on some of these performances, is based in Cambridge. (But they started years after Off the Wall had closed.)
I wrote to Mudflat, asking if this month’s Holiday Open Studio and Sale would take place at the Broadway. They replied:
“Unfortunately, no, not yet.
We have finally resolved all the legal issues. And we are now finishing up our plans, getting bid sets together, and hopefully will get the construction underway in the new year.
So maybe next Holiday sale will be in our new building!"
I wrote to with this question:
“From recent newspaper reports, it sounds like Berklee is about to demolish and replace the Performance Center. Is this true? If so, what will be its last day of operation?”
Within minutes, I got this reply:
“The project is in the initial discussion phase. I believe it will be at least several years before actual demolition occurs. Thanks for your interest in our theater.”
The Performance Center is heavily booked by concert promoters such as World Music. If Berklee is allowed to demolish it, I hope the same promoters will be able to use its new theatre.
Berklee has announced plans for new buildings, which unfortunately appear to include tearing down this theatre and replacing it with a new one:
Berklee seeks to build dorm tower and theater
Looks like the new name is actually Citi Performing Arts Center. The theatres are still called the Wang and the Shubert.
That was probably demolished when the Red Line was built (1979-84). Where was Joe & Nemo’s?
Clarendon Avenue and Broadway. The building stood for many years after it closed as a theatre. The site is now a parking lot.
In today’s Boston Globe, I see many AMC theatres with ‘reduced’ weekday showtimes (that is, nothing starting after 8 pm) — not just Assembly Square, but also Braintree, Burlington, Chestnut Hill, and Tyngsboro. I doubt AMC is planning to close all of these, so there must be some other explanation.
Further discussion of this should probably go on the Assembly Square Cinemas page.
On the Somerville Theatre page there is now speculation that Assembly Square will soon close. The place certainly isn’t up to AMC’s usual standards.
If I click on the name of a state, I can still see the list of theatres in the state. But if I instead click on the name of a city, I get the “search disabled” page. Since there are a lot more theatres in a state than there are in a city, why is the city disabled but the state still OK?
This is not exactly the most deft public relations I’ve ever seen. Both Citibank and the Wang Center could have waited until all the details were in place before making a big public announcement.
Here’s the official press release. It says “The new official name for the center will be announced at a later date,” which is kind of lame. It also says “The Wang Theatre will retain its name”, but makes no such promise for the Shubert.
The online version of the Herald article says this in the third paragraph: “That will include renaming The Wang Theater as the Citibank Theater and underwriting performances.” I haven’t seen the print version yet. The online article also misspells the name of the Shubert Theatre.
Today’s Boston Globe reports that the Wang Center as an organization will today be renamed the Citibank Center for the Performing Arts. But the Wang Theatre will keep its current name.
On the other hand, today’s Boston Herald says the theatre will be renamed to Citibank Theatre. I guess we’ll find out this afternoon which paper has the story right.
I believe the Pixie is listed here as Fairmount Theatre. I don’t know its current status.