There was a large fire in this building a few years ago, which drove out the recycling center and the rock gym. At one point, people feared it had been so badly damaged that it would have to be torn down. Fortunately, that turned out not to be the case.
Some newspaper articles say that Off the Wall started in 1974 rather than 1976. I’m not sure which is correct.
During their few months at Faneuil Hall Marketplace in 1979-80, they shared a theatre with the “Where’s Boston?” multimedia slide show, which introduced tourists to the city. I assume that the slide show ran during the day and Off the Wall programming at night, but I’m not sure.
It’s a cool building, but as you can see in the third photo, the entrance to the theatre is tucked away under an overhang, nearly hidden from view. It’s too bad this facility doesn’t have the prominent street presence that it deserves.
The same people also ran the ‘North Station Cinema’ porno house. I think it was a triplex and was located on Portland Street. The North Station and South Station Cinemas always shared a newspaper ad.
That’s great news about Garen Daly. I’m glad to hear it!
On a regular basis, this theatre has live shows in the main auditorium while showing movies in the other four. Movie patrons and concert attendees share the same lobby, restrooms, and concession stand. If this is done anywhere else, I’m curious to hear about it.
Or the Wang Center in Boston, or the Opera House in Boston, or the Somerville Theatre in Somerville MA, or the Ohio, Palace, and Southern theaters in Columbus OH ….
And if you need to build condos and retail (or, better yet, additional movie screens) on an adjacent parcel to make the development financially successful, what’s so bad about that?
Either Sack or the Harvard Square Theatre owners wanted to open a multiplex in the Sears building, with one screen given over to Off The Wall. Unfortunately, the neighbors didn’t want a multiplex and the idea died. The Sears building subsequently became a small shopping mall, Porter Exchange, with many Japanese shops and restaurants. Lesley University now owns it.
For the first year and a half, one of the nine Copley Place screens belonged to Boston’s Institute of Contemporary Art, which programmed it as the ICA Cinema.
In the fall of 1985, this programming moved out of Copley, to a small theatre within the ICA itself. The ICA seems to have stopped presenting film in recent years; I can’t recall the last time I saw a notice about the ICA Cinema.
Later in the 1980s, I recall one of the screens being dedicated to the “Where’s Boston” multimedia slide show, which introduced the city to tourists.
For its first year, the Somerville featured vaudeville and silent films. But in 1915, it became a live stage house, home to the resident Somerville Players stock company, who performed a different play each week. Tallulah Bankhead and Francis X. Bushman were among the future film stars who performed on the Somerville’s stage. Busby Berkeley directed live shows here in the 1920s.
The Depression forced an end to live stage productions in 1932, and for the next fifty years, the Somerville became strictly a movie house. By the 1970s, it was a second-run house which usually shared its bookings with the Broadway Theatre in East Somerville.
In the early 1980s, Garen Daly leased the theater and began presenting a published monthly schedule of daily-changing double features, a mixture of recent second runs, independent films, foreign films, and Hollywood classics. The schedules were colorful and graphic, and resembled those published by the Fox Venice, Nuart, UC, and other Landmark theaters of the time.
Daly also brought live performance back to the Somerville stage, presenting an increasing number of Celtic, world, and folk music concerts. He also made the theatre the centerpiece of the Somerville Arts Council’s annual ArtBeat festival.
A dispute over unpaid rent and deteriorating building conditions briefly shuttered the theater at the end of 1988, and many people in the community feared that it would close for good or be subdivided into a multiplex. In the end, Daly was allowed to continue operating it for one more year. A community group, Friends In Support of the Somerville Theatre (FISST, later renaming itself Friends of the Somerville Theatre) mobilized to secure historic landmark status for the theatre. FISST also advocated keeping the theatre operating and in one piece. I was part of this group.
When Daly’s lease ended, the current owners took over operation of the theatre. The double-feature and repertory programming ended, and the theatre once again became a second-run house, this time with some leaning towards art and foreign films. Concert programming continued and expanded. The theatre is frequently used by World Music, Songstreet, and other local concert promoters.
In the late 1990s, the owners added four additional screens, carving them out of old storefronts and abandoned sections of the building. The main auditorium remains intact and undivided, complete with balcony.
I look forward to attending the theatre’s 100th anniversary celebration in 2014!
June 21, 1981:
“The theater, called the Tremont, opened in 1889 and for years was a prime legtimate house where the likes of Sarah Bernhart and George M. Cohan performed.
When talkies came in the theater switched to movies playing mainly second runs. Later it was renovated, with the stage ripped out to provide more seats and had a bit of glory as a first-run house called the Astor.
Eventually it went downhill to action films and before it was closed, it was a juice bar.”
May 31, 1981:
“The Tremont Theatre opened on October 12, 1889, with the noted English actor Charles Wyndham in a performance of David Garrick. It was described as "a magnificent temple of dramatic art … an ornament to the city.
Sir Henry Irving (1838-1905) made many visits to the United States with his company and did perform at the Tremont.
The theater was modernized in 1930 and wired for sound motion pictures. It became the Astor Theater in 1947”
June 30, 1980:
“When D.W. Griffith’s silent classic "The Birth of a Nation” opened in April 19l5, at the Tremont (later the Astor) Theater, there were protests from the black community, denunciations from Harvard and Mayor James M. Curley ordered certain scenes cut."
March 3, 1980:
“The once famous house, which opened as the Tremont in l889 featured Sarah Bernhardt in the play "La Tosca” (not the opera, Bernhardt couldn’t sing) in 1891"
After it was abandoned, the theater suffered numerous fires in the early 1980s, probably dooming any thoughts of restoration.
The theater is mostly used for live shows now, but occasionally movies are still shown. Sing-a-Long Sound of Music played here several times, and Sing-a-Long Wizard of Oz is coming next month.
The marquee in front suggests that it might have once been a 3-screen cinema. I don’t know where the third screen could have been, since the existing two are both quite small.
The Red Vic’s official web site is:
http://www.redvicmoviehouse.com/
There was a large fire in this building a few years ago, which drove out the recycling center and the rock gym. At one point, people feared it had been so badly damaged that it would have to be torn down. Fortunately, that turned out not to be the case.
Some newspaper articles say that Off the Wall started in 1974 rather than 1976. I’m not sure which is correct.
During their few months at Faneuil Hall Marketplace in 1979-80, they shared a theatre with the “Where’s Boston?” multimedia slide show, which introduced tourists to the city. I assume that the slide show ran during the day and Off the Wall programming at night, but I’m not sure.
According to their web site, the Harvard Film Archive showed their first film on March 16, 1979: Ernst Lubitsch’s silent Lady Windermere’s Fan.
Some photos of the Carpenter Center and the Harvard Film Archive screening room.
It’s a cool building, but as you can see in the third photo, the entrance to the theatre is tucked away under an overhang, nearly hidden from view. It’s too bad this facility doesn’t have the prominent street presence that it deserves.
The same people also ran the ‘North Station Cinema’ porno house. I think it was a triplex and was located on Portland Street. The North Station and South Station Cinemas always shared a newspaper ad.
Is there any way to look up on this site which theatres are featured in the book?
The Wang’s classic film schedule is here. The films are free and are shown on occasional Monday evenings.
Scheduled for January through April 2005: My Fair Lady, A Streetcar Named Desire, Shakespeare in Love, Dirty Dancing, and A Night At The Opera.
That’s great news about Garen Daly. I’m glad to hear it!
On a regular basis, this theatre has live shows in the main auditorium while showing movies in the other four. Movie patrons and concert attendees share the same lobby, restrooms, and concession stand. If this is done anywhere else, I’m curious to hear about it.
Or the Wang Center in Boston, or the Opera House in Boston, or the Somerville Theatre in Somerville MA, or the Ohio, Palace, and Southern theaters in Columbus OH ….
And if you need to build condos and retail (or, better yet, additional movie screens) on an adjacent parcel to make the development financially successful, what’s so bad about that?
This is a web site for people who love and cherish old theaters. To come in here and cheerlead for demolition just seems wrong.
Does the sign outside still say “Wilshire” even though the theatre’s name is now “NuWilshire” ?
According to my parents, a Target store will soon be built on this site.
Until it closed as a movie theater, this was called “Loew’s Ohio”, both on the sign outside and in all advertising.
When I lived in Columbus in the 1960s and 70s, this was always called the “RKO Palace”.
Either Sack or the Harvard Square Theatre owners wanted to open a multiplex in the Sears building, with one screen given over to Off The Wall. Unfortunately, the neighbors didn’t want a multiplex and the idea died. The Sears building subsequently became a small shopping mall, Porter Exchange, with many Japanese shops and restaurants. Lesley University now owns it.
Yeah, that brings back bad memories. Hopefully the new ICA on Fan Pier will have a better theatre!
For the first year and a half, one of the nine Copley Place screens belonged to Boston’s Institute of Contemporary Art, which programmed it as the ICA Cinema.
In the fall of 1985, this programming moved out of Copley, to a small theatre within the ICA itself. The ICA seems to have stopped presenting film in recent years; I can’t recall the last time I saw a notice about the ICA Cinema.
Later in the 1980s, I recall one of the screens being dedicated to the “Where’s Boston” multimedia slide show, which introduced the city to tourists.
For its first year, the Somerville featured vaudeville and silent films. But in 1915, it became a live stage house, home to the resident Somerville Players stock company, who performed a different play each week. Tallulah Bankhead and Francis X. Bushman were among the future film stars who performed on the Somerville’s stage. Busby Berkeley directed live shows here in the 1920s.
The Depression forced an end to live stage productions in 1932, and for the next fifty years, the Somerville became strictly a movie house. By the 1970s, it was a second-run house which usually shared its bookings with the Broadway Theatre in East Somerville.
In the early 1980s, Garen Daly leased the theater and began presenting a published monthly schedule of daily-changing double features, a mixture of recent second runs, independent films, foreign films, and Hollywood classics. The schedules were colorful and graphic, and resembled those published by the Fox Venice, Nuart, UC, and other Landmark theaters of the time.
Daly also brought live performance back to the Somerville stage, presenting an increasing number of Celtic, world, and folk music concerts. He also made the theatre the centerpiece of the Somerville Arts Council’s annual ArtBeat festival.
A dispute over unpaid rent and deteriorating building conditions briefly shuttered the theater at the end of 1988, and many people in the community feared that it would close for good or be subdivided into a multiplex. In the end, Daly was allowed to continue operating it for one more year. A community group, Friends In Support of the Somerville Theatre (FISST, later renaming itself Friends of the Somerville Theatre) mobilized to secure historic landmark status for the theatre. FISST also advocated keeping the theatre operating and in one piece. I was part of this group.
When Daly’s lease ended, the current owners took over operation of the theatre. The double-feature and repertory programming ended, and the theatre once again became a second-run house, this time with some leaning towards art and foreign films. Concert programming continued and expanded. The theatre is frequently used by World Music, Songstreet, and other local concert promoters.
In the late 1990s, the owners added four additional screens, carving them out of old storefronts and abandoned sections of the building. The main auditorium remains intact and undivided, complete with balcony.
I look forward to attending the theatre’s 100th anniversary celebration in 2014!
From the Boston Globe archives:
June 21, 1981:
“The theater, called the Tremont, opened in 1889 and for years was a prime legtimate house where the likes of Sarah Bernhart and George M. Cohan performed.
When talkies came in the theater switched to movies playing mainly second runs. Later it was renovated, with the stage ripped out to provide more seats and had a bit of glory as a first-run house called the Astor.
Eventually it went downhill to action films and before it was closed, it was a juice bar.”
May 31, 1981:
“The Tremont Theatre opened on October 12, 1889, with the noted English actor Charles Wyndham in a performance of David Garrick. It was described as "a magnificent temple of dramatic art … an ornament to the city.
Sir Henry Irving (1838-1905) made many visits to the United States with his company and did perform at the Tremont.
The theater was modernized in 1930 and wired for sound motion pictures. It became the Astor Theater in 1947”
June 30, 1980:
“When D.W. Griffith’s silent classic "The Birth of a Nation” opened in April 19l5, at the Tremont (later the Astor) Theater, there were protests from the black community, denunciations from Harvard and Mayor James M. Curley ordered certain scenes cut."
March 3, 1980:
“The once famous house, which opened as the Tremont in l889 featured Sarah Bernhardt in the play "La Tosca” (not the opera, Bernhardt couldn’t sing) in 1891"
After it was abandoned, the theater suffered numerous fires in the early 1980s, probably dooming any thoughts of restoration.
I never hear a bad word about Landmark Theatres.
What is now located where this theatre was?
Can you say more about why Mann is to blame for its closure?
www.bijou.com is not the correct web site. You want www.bijoucinema.org
The web site given here is not correct. It should be:
http://www.regenttheatre.com/
The theater is mostly used for live shows now, but occasionally movies are still shown. Sing-a-Long Sound of Music played here several times, and Sing-a-Long Wizard of Oz is coming next month.
The marquee in front suggests that it might have once been a 3-screen cinema. I don’t know where the third screen could have been, since the existing two are both quite small.