Huntington Theatre

Alternate name: Civic Repertory Theatre.

I suspect this name will be temporary until a donor comes along who wants to give enough to put his or her name on it.

The news that the new building next to the theater will have an open balcony for theater patrons, weather permitting, reminds me of another Boston theater which had such a feature: the Shubert across from the Wang Th. on Tremont St. At the north end of the corridor behind the second balcony there was a small open terrace which could hold about 20 or more people during intermissions. Most were smokers, as smoking was very common back then (1940s-50s). I went out there many times and there was a good view from the railing of the Met across the street, the Wilbur, and the Plymouth/Gary Theatre. 2nd balcony tickets for Saturday matinees cost only $1.20. I used to go with my older brother, or with friends from school who were both movie fans and stage fans. We liked the very popular musicals of that day, such as “Oklahoma!”, “South Pacific”, “King and I”, “Guys and Dolls”, “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes”, etc., and also the revues, such as “New Faces” and “Ziegfeld Follies”. The difference between going to the movies and going to live shows was that buying tickets in advance was a must, and you had to dress up in jacket, tie and shined shoes (no jeans and sneakers). They used to play the national anthem at the start of the show, a practice which died out after the 1950s. (They still play it at sports events).
These shows were 100% acoustic, with no “mics”.
Another theater with an open terrace upstairs is the State Theatre at Lincoln Center in New York.

In today’s Boston Globe:

Huntington Ave. tower and theater plans revealed

The development group that owns the BU Theatre complex, longtime home of the Huntington Theatre Company, filed plans Monday for a gleaming 32-story apartment building that will rise 362 feet over Huntington Avenue, transforming that neighborhood and the theater that bears its name.

The tower, which could house as many as 426 units and will feature ample retail space, is being proposed by developers QMG Huntington LLC in a deal that would give full ownership of the 870-seat playhouse to the Huntington Theatre Company. Rising on a site adjacent to the theater now occupied by two smaller buildings, the tower would include an airy two-floor lobby at its base, enabling the Huntington to offer enhanced patron amenities, a cafe, a bar, and flexible event space that could be used for lectures, community meetings, or theatrical performances, including by outside groups.

According to today’s Boston Globe, this theatre will be renamed to Huntington Avenue Theatre on July 1, 2017, to reflect the fact that Boston University will no longer own it.

Or it may be named after a donor to the theatre’s fundraising campaign. (I had a short conversation about this on the theatre’s Facebook page.)

Wonderful!

An opinion piece by JoAnn Fitzpatrick in today’s Quincy Patriot Ledger discusses the plight of the Boston University Theatre (and the Colonial downtown). She says that BU rejected the offer to buy it tendered by the Huntington Theatre Co. as “too low”. The reaction seems to be “Do the right thing and sell it to them for what they can afford instead of greedily trying to get the biggest buck from some developer who will tear it down.”

It would make a nice opera theater, although perhaps not for the big productions like “Aida” and “Turandot”. In recent years there have been a few musical productions there, even including, I think, a Gilbert & Sullivan operetta.

Boston University plans to put the theater up for sale very soon. Only stipulation is that the new owner must agree to house the Huntington Theatre Company through June 2017. They say it now has 890 seats, and the sale includes two adjoining buildings. BU wants to build a new theater on or near their main campus on Commonwealth Avenue.

to dave1954- 1) there was no Empire Theatre on Mass Ave, or any unaccounted-for theater on Mass Ave near Huntington Ave. 2) I have a very vague memory that there was a fairly large German-American restaurant next to the Esquire/Boston Univ. Theatre, to its left, way back around 1950 or so. If you have the exact addresses for these 2 locations, you can go to the Boston Landmarks Commission office in Boston City Hall and look at what they might have there.

I recently moved here and work across the street from the University Theater, and was wondering about the building next to it, OLD FRANCE. I tried the web and nothing comes up on old Boston history on it. I’m assuming it was a restarant or nite club in the early 20’s from its' architecture, but when I peeked in yesterday (it’s their production facility) any detail was covered with a drop ceiling or covered up walls. Also, up the street on Mass Ave is a building in white terra cotta called the Empire where their is a chinese restarant on the ground level. I can’t an Empire Theater listed on your site. Again, no history available on this building either. Any help? Thanks!