Comments from Ron Newman

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Ron Newman
Ron Newman commented about Theatre 1 & Space 57 on Nov 19, 2004 at 7:40 pm

And here’s a link to a 360-degree view of the indoor golf school that the other cinema turned into:

View link

Ron Newman
Ron Newman commented about Theatre 1 & Space 57 on Nov 19, 2004 at 7:25 pm

The hotel that contains this theatre was built as a Howard Johnson’s, but it’s now a Radisson.

Ron Newman
Ron Newman commented about Franklin Zeotrope Theatre on Nov 19, 2004 at 6:46 pm

It appears to still be open. They have a web site at http://www.zeotrope.com/ but there’s not much to see. For show times, it links to boston.citysearch.com .

Ron Newman
Ron Newman commented about Loews Cheri on Nov 19, 2004 at 6:28 pm

The official web site of Kings bowling alley and nightclub (which the Cheri has turned into) is:

http://www.backbaykings.com/

Ron Newman
Ron Newman commented about Theatre 1 & Space 57 on Nov 19, 2004 at 6:23 pm

The official web site of the Stuart Street Playhouse (which this cinema has become) is: http://www.stuartstreetplayhouse.com/

Ron Newman
Ron Newman commented about Pi Alley 1-2 on Nov 19, 2004 at 2:16 pm

The marquee structure is still there though it isn’t readily recognizable as one, since it no longer has movable letters. Here’s a good photo of it as it looks today:

http://www.thealleybar.com/directions3.html

Ron Newman
Ron Newman commented about Charles Cinema on Nov 19, 2004 at 6:42 am

I found a history of the Charles in an archived Boston Globe article from October 6, 1994. It says that Walter Reade Jr. personally opened the Charles on April 6, 1967. It closed as a Reade theater in December 1976 and re-opened as a Sack theater the following March. It closed for good on October 7, 1994.

Ron Newman
Ron Newman commented about Pi Alley 1-2 on Nov 19, 2004 at 6:18 am

This venue has been closed for 17 years, yet the alley is still lined with glass cases for movie posters. The ones closest to Washington Street are empty; the ones further down the alley contain announcements from the nearby Old South Meeting House, which would be fine except that they’re a year out of date.

Ron Newman
Ron Newman commented about Warner Beverly Hills Theatre on Nov 19, 2004 at 4:29 am

I recall this being a 99-cent theater (along with the Criterion in Santa Monica, and the Meralta in Culver City) during the early 1980s.

Ron Newman
Ron Newman commented about Sherman Theatre on Nov 19, 2004 at 4:16 am

Was this theater part of the Landmark chain, which ran the Fox Venice and Nuart?

Ron Newman
Ron Newman commented about Warwick Cinemas on Nov 19, 2004 at 2:59 am

This theater opened in 1917 and has been in the same family since 1922, when Thomas McNulty’s grandfather bought it. Its final second-run show open to the general public was on Thursday, October 28, 1999. However, it reopened briefly the following month to fulfill an obligation to the Boston Jewish Film Festival. Its last show was on Thursday, November 11, 1999.

Ron Newman
Ron Newman commented about Town & Country Cinema on Nov 18, 2004 at 11:57 pm

Although this was called the Town & Country Cinema, it was located on the south side of East Broad Street while the Town & Country shopping center itself was on the north side. Both the cinema and the shopping center were within the suburb of Whitehall (not Bexley).

The shopping center still exists, but it’s a shadow of its former self. It’s a very long strip center which predated enclosed malls.

Ron Newman
Ron Newman commented about Northland Cinema I & II on Nov 18, 2004 at 11:51 pm

Their single screen cinema in the Eastland Mall is also long gone, although at least that mall remains open.

Ron Newman
Ron Newman commented about Esquire Theatre on Nov 18, 2004 at 11:48 pm

Academy turned this into the ‘Carousel East’ around the same time as they remodeled the Beechwold into the ‘Camelot North’ (which later became Drexel North).

This was the closest theater to my house when I lived in Columbus as a teenager. I remember watching ‘Airport’ here, among many other films.

One correction to the description: Eastmoor is a neighborhood within the city limits of Columbus. It is not a ‘suburb’.

Ron Newman
Ron Newman commented about Drexel North Theatre on Nov 18, 2004 at 11:44 pm

When it was still the Beechwold and the Camelot North, it belonged to a small local second-run chain called ‘Academy Theatres’.

They turned this into the Camelot North around the same time as they remodeled the Esquire into the Carousel East.

Ron Newman
Ron Newman commented about Century Plaza Cinemas on Nov 18, 2004 at 9:42 pm

The Los Angeles film festival “Filmex” used this theater in the early 1980s. It was a classy venue, and I’m very sad to read of its demolition. What is going to be built on its site?

Ron Newman
Ron Newman commented about Allston Cinemas on Nov 18, 2004 at 7:41 pm

I should add that Bombay Cinema showed movies at the Regent Theatre in Arlington for a few years before they moved into the Allston.

Bombay Cinema today runs movies at least some days of the week on one screen of the Somerville Theatre in Davis Square and the Capitol Theatre in Arlington.

Ron Newman
Ron Newman commented about Gary Theatre on Nov 18, 2004 at 5:38 pm

Not only that, but I heard that the Majestic was renamed to the Saxon (“Sack’s son”) for the same reason.

Ron Newman
Ron Newman commented about Allston Cinemas on Nov 18, 2004 at 1:59 pm

If anyone knows when this theatre opened, who initially owned it, or what its original booking policy was, I’d like to hear from you.

Ron Newman
Ron Newman commented about Plaza Theater on Nov 18, 2004 at 1:57 pm

When it was still called the Plaza, it was a Walter Reade theatre.

Ron Newman
Ron Newman commented about Circle Cinemas on Nov 18, 2004 at 1:54 pm

The Circle is sometimes listed as Brookline and sometimes as Brighton (a section of Boston). I believe the town line runs through the property.

Ron Newman
Ron Newman commented about Nickelodeon Cinemas on Nov 18, 2004 at 12:18 pm

The (second) Nickelodeon Cinemas building was demolished in April 2003. Boston University is building a new Life Sciences and Engineering building on its site.

Ron Newman
Ron Newman commented about AMC Loews Harvard Square 5 on Nov 18, 2004 at 4:29 am

Bruce Springsteen’s 1974 concert here led rock critic Jon Landau to pen this memorable line: “"I saw rock and roll future and its name is Bruce Springsteen”.

Ron Newman
Ron Newman commented about Theatre 1 & Space 57 on Nov 17, 2004 at 10:13 pm

Does anyone know why this theater (and, for a while, the hotel it’s contained in) was called the 57? That is not its street address.

Ron Newman
Ron Newman commented about Beacon Hill Theatre on Nov 16, 2004 at 6:19 pm

In the mid-1970s, Sack ran these theaters in central Boston: Beacon Hill, Pi Alley, Savoy (now Opera House), Saxon (now Cutler Majestic), Gary, Cinema 57 (now Stuart Street Playhouse), Music Hall (now Wang Center), and Cheri. They later took over the Charles and Paris.

I’m pretty sure that the Beacon Hill Theater I saw in the 1970s replaced an earlier theater on the same spot.