State Theater
807 Washington Street,
Stoughton,
MA
02072
807 Washington Street,
Stoughton,
MA
02072
4 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Daytz Theatre Enterprises Corp.
Firms: Funk and Wilcox
Styles: Atmospheric, Italian Renaissance
Previous Names: South Shore Theatre, Stoughton Cinema Pub
Phone Numbers:
Box Office:
781.344.4566
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News About This Theater
The State Theater was opened in 1930. By 1970 it was operated by Daytz Theatre Enterprises Corp. This historic balconied theatre in the center of Stoughton recently functioned as a cinema pub, but with the bulk of the seating intact. Recent popular hits played here, generally for one or two week runs.
It closed December 2, 2007 and is now waiting for someone to buy the theatre and hopefully re-open it as the State Theater. It has since lost its marquee and blade sign and the decoration on the facade has been removed and is now bare brick.
Contributed by
Gerald A. DeLuca
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Recent comments (view all 37 comments)
A Facebook group: Save the State Theatre
The Quincy Patriot Ledger of Wed April 20 had an article “Stoughton Projects get a Closer Look” about a meeting which took place on Tuesday covering the reopening of the State Theatre and the reopening of the closed-up Stoughton railroad station. Those at the meeting were able to tour the theater. The article states that the STARS group is “using the theater and staging productions there now.” I don’t know how true that statement is.
The Quincy Patriot Ledger of Feb. 25, 2013 has an article “New Group Making Bid to reopen State Theatre” by Teresa Franco. Apparently, the Save the State Theatre group has morphed into the Friends of the State Theatre. (note how these groups use the old original theater name). The Friends has recently signed a 20-year lease with the building owner, C&V Realty Trust. The lease calls for no rent, in exchange for renovating the theater. They have a budget of $2M. The Friends group has 18 members, including the Little Theatre of Stoughton which gave the final performance at the theater in 2007. The Friends is led by town Selectman John Stagnone.
Someone Who Was There tells me that the name of the State’s architect on the surviving blueprints is Funk & Wilcox, the firm which designed the Strand Theatre in the Uphams Corner section of Dorchester.
I have some photos of the surviving blue prints, and the architects indeed were Funk and Wilcox. It’s interesting, as Ron stated, this firm designed the Strand Theater, as well as the Franklin Park Theater (also in Dorchester), the Ware (aka Cabot Street Cinema) in Beverly, and the Somerville Theatre in Somerville; all of which have a similar style. The Stoughton State, on the other hand, was an atmospheric style theater which utilized an Italian theme. It would be interesting to find some original photos of the auditorium to see how the firm designed their atmospheric theatre, and how it compares to these other venus.
There will be an open house at the State Th. on Sat. 6/18 from 10AM. They have open houses occasionally to maintain community support. Work continues on various projects inside waiting for the day when major financial help arrives. Meanwhile, Avocados, a popular new Mexican restaurant in Whitman, is about to open a location in Stoughton, right next to the State’s entrance.
Are they presenting any live shows or movies at this theatre while working on it?
Ron- I’m not sure about that- I have never seen anything listed here in recent years. One activity inside is “deconstruction” – removal of anything that does not fit in to a restored theater. Anyone who comes by while there is a work party inside is welcome to look around.
I recently visited the State Theatre – check out some photos and a short write up at After the Final Curtain
Bad news about the State appeared yesterday in the Quincy Patriot Ledger: an article “Stoughton May Seize Historic Theater” by Ben Berke. I had not realized that the State was sold about 2 years ago. The previous owner had been sympathetic to the “Friends of the State Theatre” group. But the new owner is tired of the stalled attempt (stalled due to lack of funds) to restore and reopen the house. He wants to demolish the building. The town is considering acquiring the theater thru eminent domain proceedings using Community Preservation funds. But this is a complicated procedure and requires voter approval. So the situation does not look good.