Uptown Theatre

You are right. It was the Symphony not the Uptown. Sorry for my confusion.

Prior to the opening of Chickering Hall on Huntington Avenue in 1901, there was an earlier, smaller Chickering Hall downtown. It was located, as of 1884, at 151 Tremont Street. I’m not sure if it was on the ground floor or upstairs. It had about 450 seats,with a balcony. Down at the right front, next to the stage, there was an exit out to Mason Street in back. An old seating chart says it was at 151 Tremont in the same building as the Chickering Piano sales showroom; but elsewhere on the chart it says “251 Tremont” which cannot be accurate if Mason Street was in back.

I was very familiar with the area having been born on Hemingway Street. I was only 8 or 9 at the time, but I had a weekly ritual where I went to a used book store near the Uptown to buy used comic books. Then I would go across the street to the Uptown News to get the newest comics. Then it was steamed burgers at Joe & Nemo’s before I would go to meet my grandfather at Crusher Casey’s.
The Strand Theatre was nearby as well, and was considered a step down from the Uptown. Indeed there was a Brigham’s next to the Uptown. Eventually this was merged with a Fanny Farmers, probably one of the earlier attempts at co-branding. I remember the Walton’s nearby having an automat at one point. There was a Howard Johnson’s nearby, but it was furthet up Huntington near Wentworth Institute.

This aerial photo includes a view from above of the Uptown Theatre, two buildings to the right of Symphony Hall on Huntington Avenue and on the close side of the Christian Science Center. You can make out the marquee as well as the scenery tower at the rear of the building.
View link
With some effort one can also make out Loew’s State on Massachusetts Avenue.

I Am Curious (Yellow) made the rounds of the art-house circuit in the late 60s, so is a plausible film for the Uptown. It came out in 1967, so dickneeds may be misremembering the year rather than the theatre he saw it in.

I came across a collection of photos of Boston buildings designed by the architectural firm of Peabody & Stearns which includes Chickering Hall, so that firm designed the original building as well as its 1912 expansion into the St. James Theatre. (This page is large. Not recommended for dial-up connections.)

This PDF of a scan of an article from a 1901 issue of The Music Trade Review has two drawings of Chickering Hall. The text says that the original 800-seat auditorium was 55x80 feet, and the stage 19x37 feet, so the alterations to convert the hall into a theater with over 1600 seats must have been extensive.

Well, I finally found the matchbook cover: http://www.kevingalvin.name/hojocover.htm I don’t suspect this store was open very long as this is the only mention of it I’ve seen.

Ok, let’s put it this way. I know for a fact there was a Brighams to the left of the Uptown (facing the Uptown) because I worked at that theatre for 3 years in the late 40’s and many a time I would go next door for a milk shake or a frappe.As far as a Howard Johnson being there at that time, like I said in my previous post, I don’t think there was, not in that time frame anyway.

cagey- Howard Johnson was a Quincy resident. His first HoJo’s was in Quincy, near the Wollaston Theatre in the 1920s; also another location in the Granite Trust Bldg (still standing) across from the Strand Theatre in Quincy center.

Here’s a link to the first store, View link and the page it’s from details the history of HoJos.

I’m going to have to find it, but I’m pretty certain I have a Howard Johnson match book cover with this address. This would be long ago, probably the early 1930’s.

No Howard Johnsons in my recollection but there was a Brighams right along side of the Uptown that sold ice cream, milkshakes, frappes, etc.

This was around the late 40’s, early 50’s.