Key Theatre

In 1912, a second-floor space formerly known as American Hall was remodeled and opened as the Lyric Theatre on May 3 that year. It was a replacement for the Star Theatre, which had been operating in a building on Center Street since 1910. Unable to compete with the modern, ground-floor Park Theatre built nearby a few years later, the Lyric Theatre closed sometime around 1917.

In 1938, after investing $17,000 in renovations, the Middleboro Amusement Company reopened the house as the Key Theatre. They soon found that the house was still unable to compete with the Park Theatre, now renamed the Middleboro Theatre. The Key Theatre was still advertising in January, 1940, but by 1943 it had been closed.

The building is still standing, and the theatre space was occupied by a dance studio, which had closed by 2023.

Recent comments (view all 2 comments)

rsalters (Ron Salters) on February 21, 2014 at 2:11 pm

The MGM Theatre Report for the Middleboro Theatre in Middleborough, dated 1941, states under Competing Theatres “None”. So this implies that the Key was closed when the report was written.

Joe Vogel on September 25, 2017 at 8:37 pm

The Key Theatre was one of the houses noted in the “Theaters Under Construction” column of The Film Daily of April 9, 1938:

“Middleboro — Key, 500 seats, 6 S. Main St. (4-17-38); Owners: Pat McGee and Roy Heffner; Builder: C. Brent; Architect: C. Brent; Cost: $21,000; Operator: Middleboro Amusement Co.”

I’ve been unable to find out anything about builder/architect C. Brent. Most likely it was a small, local firm.