Greenliner- OK, I thought you were referring to Brownstone residential row houses. I agree with your comment above that in order to preserve the Modern intact, the efforts would have had to start a long time ago, circa-1980 or so.
The Modern was neither carnivorous or cavernous! It was a small cinema with a tiny lobby. Of course,its auditorium was large in comparison to a typical ‘plex screen of today. I don’t think that the original 1876 building in which it was constructed in 1914 was a “brownstone”; it was a commercial building. I don’t know what its facade looked like before Blackall adapted it for the Modern.
I’m not sure if the new, spacious street-level foyer would be considered Deco or not. But the chief Deco decoration is in the auditorium where an attempt has been made to replicate the original Deco design elements from 1932. The original Paramount was very definitely considered a “Movie Palace” by the Theatre Historical Society and by the Cinema Theatre Association (U.K.)
I did not realize that Julius Cahn was associated with this theater. I assumed that he worked out of an office in New York and that he was not involved in out-of-town endeavors. In an age long before computers it must have been a struggle for him to keep his Official Theatrical Guide current each year. Especially since publishing this Guide was a side-line for him.
The only parts of this building which are original are the facade and the right and left external sidewalls for the front half of the structure. Everything else is new. Supposedly, the paneling along the foyer staircases is original, and perhaps the decorative grill at the top-center of the proscenium. Those in charge were apparently quite smitten with the interior auditorium decoration of the original Paramount and so they have painstakenly emulated those design elements. I’m OK with it. The balcony (and boxes), by the way, are not original. Nor is the stadium-style main floor.
The Opera House in Lawrence is listed in the 1897-98 edition of the Julius Cahn Official Theatrical Guide. A.L. Grant was the Mgr. The seating capacity was listed as 1,532. The proscenium was 28 feet high, and the stage was 49 feet deep. The theater was on the second floor. Hotels for show folk were the Franklin, Central, Brunswick and the Vendome. The 1897 population of Lawrence was 53,000.
As the Grand Opera House, this theater is listed in the 1897-98 edition of the Julius Cahn Official Theatrical Guide. The seating was given as 1,600. The proscenium opening was 31 feet wide X 38 feet high, and the stage was 40 feet deep. Other theaters listed for Louisville were the Amphitheatre Auditorium (3,072 seats), Avenue Theatre (1,580 seats), Macauley’s Theatre (1,900 seats), and Temple Theatre (1,110 seats). The 1897 population of Louisville was 210,000).
Preserving only the facade of a building, either in situ or by dismantling and re-erecting it, is called “Facadism” and became a trendy approach some years back. It is a joke in the sense that casual visitors and observers are led to believe that what’s behind the facade is the actual building, renovated. The old Modern Theater is “totally gone” for sure, except for the rebuilt facade.
The Plymouth in Leominster was listed as being operated by the Peter D. Latchis theater circuit of Brattleboro VT in the 1942-43 Motion Picture Almanac. Latchis also ran the Rialto Theatre in Leominster at that time.
In the MGM Theatre Photograph and Report form for the Broadway Theater in Lawrence, the Capitol (and the Palace) is listed as a competing theater. Likewise, the Capitol (and the Broadway) is listed as a competing theater for the Palace. This was in May 1941. For some reason, the MGM agent did not fill out a seperate report for the Capitol.
The MGM Theatre Photograph and Report form for the Metropolitan Theater in Leominster lists the Plymouth Theatre there as a competing theater. But the MGM agent did not fill out a seperate form for the Plymouth; this was in April 1941,
I agree with Frank R; I have not seen the interior yet, only photos, but it looks great. Visitors today should realize that what survives is the front half of the original theater; the rear half, from in front of the old balcony to the rear stage wall, was demolished. The Paramount had a typical sloped floor, with a large balcony above. There was a tiny street-floor lobby with larger foyers above for the balcony and top-balcony. Today there is an ample lobby at street-level. The decorative elements inside today’s much smaller auditorium follow the original elements. There is a large stage today instead of the shallow stage of yore. The much smaller seating capacity today reflects what is realistic for this venue.
The MBTA parking lot at Wollaston station (near the theater) is for T passengers only, and is full all day on weekdays. One weekday in early afternoon a few years ago I drove to Wollaston to partonize a specialty shop there; I found the entire area choked with parked cars; drove round and round, and finally parked in the private lot of a business; hurried over to the store and back. Parking near the Wollaston Theater is a Big problem.
Anali’s recent interview posted above with Jeff Levien mentions what I think is a big problem for the Wollaston Theater: the lack of parking in that area. Years ago there was a huge parking lot across from the left (south) sidewall of the auditorium, but that now has buildings on it.
The Georgia in Columbus was a very nice theater. It was on a side street, downtown. I saw “Bridge on the River Kwai” there on Saturday evening, Jan. 31, 1959. Full house, not a seat open. It had a balcony, and 1,168 seats seems about right. I was in the US Army, stationed at Fort Benning nearby, at the time.
The section of Route 58 on which the drive-in was located is named Adams Street. The south end of the runways of the South Weymouth Naval Air Station were located just one-half mile east of the drive-in’s front gate. Must have been rather noisy there at times.
Counting the seats on that Celebrity Series seating chart, I get: Orchestra- 302, Balcony- 248, Boxes- 16; total: 566 seats, compared to 1,797 in the original Paramount.
tto Prov. and Jim Roy- what casts doubt in my mind that the 1929 Crown is the Crown/Allen in Lowell is the height of both the theater and the building to its left. They are both one story shorter than what’s there now. There was a very fancy building to the right, where Middlesex Supply is now. Looks like it could have been a bank building, for example. We know that it’s a NETOCO theater because the sign above the marquee says so. The Crown photos were with some old NETOCO company photos of Boston neighborhood theaters, with no info about where it was located. Someone I know says that there was no Crown Theatre in Boston and the only Crown was in Lowell.
Greenliner- OK, I thought you were referring to Brownstone residential row houses. I agree with your comment above that in order to preserve the Modern intact, the efforts would have had to start a long time ago, circa-1980 or so.
The Modern was neither carnivorous or cavernous! It was a small cinema with a tiny lobby. Of course,its auditorium was large in comparison to a typical ‘plex screen of today. I don’t think that the original 1876 building in which it was constructed in 1914 was a “brownstone”; it was a commercial building. I don’t know what its facade looked like before Blackall adapted it for the Modern.
I’m not sure if the new, spacious street-level foyer would be considered Deco or not. But the chief Deco decoration is in the auditorium where an attempt has been made to replicate the original Deco design elements from 1932. The original Paramount was very definitely considered a “Movie Palace” by the Theatre Historical Society and by the Cinema Theatre Association (U.K.)
I heard that it was demolished very recently.
Yes, it had been closed and neglected for too long, over 30 years, and was a ruin inside.
A comprehensive set of photos, Nicolas V.
I did not realize that Julius Cahn was associated with this theater. I assumed that he worked out of an office in New York and that he was not involved in out-of-town endeavors. In an age long before computers it must have been a struggle for him to keep his Official Theatrical Guide current each year. Especially since publishing this Guide was a side-line for him.
The only parts of this building which are original are the facade and the right and left external sidewalls for the front half of the structure. Everything else is new. Supposedly, the paneling along the foyer staircases is original, and perhaps the decorative grill at the top-center of the proscenium. Those in charge were apparently quite smitten with the interior auditorium decoration of the original Paramount and so they have painstakenly emulated those design elements. I’m OK with it. The balcony (and boxes), by the way, are not original. Nor is the stadium-style main floor.
The Opera House in Lawrence is listed in the 1897-98 edition of the Julius Cahn Official Theatrical Guide. A.L. Grant was the Mgr. The seating capacity was listed as 1,532. The proscenium was 28 feet high, and the stage was 49 feet deep. The theater was on the second floor. Hotels for show folk were the Franklin, Central, Brunswick and the Vendome. The 1897 population of Lawrence was 53,000.
As the Grand Opera House, this theater is listed in the 1897-98 edition of the Julius Cahn Official Theatrical Guide. The seating was given as 1,600. The proscenium opening was 31 feet wide X 38 feet high, and the stage was 40 feet deep. Other theaters listed for Louisville were the Amphitheatre Auditorium (3,072 seats), Avenue Theatre (1,580 seats), Macauley’s Theatre (1,900 seats), and Temple Theatre (1,110 seats). The 1897 population of Louisville was 210,000).
Preserving only the facade of a building, either in situ or by dismantling and re-erecting it, is called “Facadism” and became a trendy approach some years back. It is a joke in the sense that casual visitors and observers are led to believe that what’s behind the facade is the actual building, renovated. The old Modern Theater is “totally gone” for sure, except for the rebuilt facade.
Interesting photos, Nicolas V, of both the Modern (what a mess!) and the nearby vanished Publix.
The Plymouth in Leominster was listed as being operated by the Peter D. Latchis theater circuit of Brattleboro VT in the 1942-43 Motion Picture Almanac. Latchis also ran the Rialto Theatre in Leominster at that time.
In the MGM Theatre Photograph and Report form for the Broadway Theater in Lawrence, the Capitol (and the Palace) is listed as a competing theater. Likewise, the Capitol (and the Broadway) is listed as a competing theater for the Palace. This was in May 1941. For some reason, the MGM agent did not fill out a seperate report for the Capitol.
The MGM Theatre Photograph and Report form for the Metropolitan Theater in Leominster lists the Plymouth Theatre there as a competing theater. But the MGM agent did not fill out a seperate form for the Plymouth; this was in April 1941,
The Merrimac Park Drive-In in Methuen MA is listed under E.M. Loew’s Theatres in the “Theatre Circuits” guide in the 1942-43 Motion Picture Almanac.
I agree with Frank R; I have not seen the interior yet, only photos, but it looks great. Visitors today should realize that what survives is the front half of the original theater; the rear half, from in front of the old balcony to the rear stage wall, was demolished. The Paramount had a typical sloped floor, with a large balcony above. There was a tiny street-floor lobby with larger foyers above for the balcony and top-balcony. Today there is an ample lobby at street-level. The decorative elements inside today’s much smaller auditorium follow the original elements. There is a large stage today instead of the shallow stage of yore. The much smaller seating capacity today reflects what is realistic for this venue.
Is this the same as the Amesbury Theater, aka Strand, also on Main Street, Theatre # 4129 ???
Is this the same as the Strand, Newburyport, Theater # 28463?? That one is also on Green St.
The MBTA parking lot at Wollaston station (near the theater) is for T passengers only, and is full all day on weekdays. One weekday in early afternoon a few years ago I drove to Wollaston to partonize a specialty shop there; I found the entire area choked with parked cars; drove round and round, and finally parked in the private lot of a business; hurried over to the store and back. Parking near the Wollaston Theater is a Big problem.
Anali’s recent interview posted above with Jeff Levien mentions what I think is a big problem for the Wollaston Theater: the lack of parking in that area. Years ago there was a huge parking lot across from the left (south) sidewall of the auditorium, but that now has buildings on it.
The Georgia in Columbus was a very nice theater. It was on a side street, downtown. I saw “Bridge on the River Kwai” there on Saturday evening, Jan. 31, 1959. Full house, not a seat open. It had a balcony, and 1,168 seats seems about right. I was in the US Army, stationed at Fort Benning nearby, at the time.
The section of Route 58 on which the drive-in was located is named Adams Street. The south end of the runways of the South Weymouth Naval Air Station were located just one-half mile east of the drive-in’s front gate. Must have been rather noisy there at times.
Counting the seats on that Celebrity Series seating chart, I get: Orchestra- 302, Balcony- 248, Boxes- 16; total: 566 seats, compared to 1,797 in the original Paramount.
tto Prov. and Jim Roy- what casts doubt in my mind that the 1929 Crown is the Crown/Allen in Lowell is the height of both the theater and the building to its left. They are both one story shorter than what’s there now. There was a very fancy building to the right, where Middlesex Supply is now. Looks like it could have been a bank building, for example. We know that it’s a NETOCO theater because the sign above the marquee says so. The Crown photos were with some old NETOCO company photos of Boston neighborhood theaters, with no info about where it was located. Someone I know says that there was no Crown Theatre in Boston and the only Crown was in Lowell.