According to http://www.suffolk.edu/modern_theatre/index.html , Suffolk’s programming of the Modern Theatre will include movies, as well as ‘conversations’ (lectures) and live performances. DocYard Productions will move their documentary series here from the Brattle Theatre, and Actors' Shakespeare Project will produce Antony and Cleopatra next spring.
The page also says that “selected interior elements are being restored and re-installed”, including a “decorative frieze that formerly covered an "acoustic hole built into the three-story wooden proscenium wall.”
This Chicago Sun-Times travel article says “Built in 1923, the Newport Music Hall is the longest continually running rock venue in the country” … which is a strange-sounding way to put it!
I remember Westwood of the early 80’s — it reminded me of Harvard Square in Cambridge. UCLA hasn’t moved anywhere, so where do the students shop and eat now?
Given that this is the primary commercial district next to a huge mostly-residential university, I don’t understand why it isn’t busy and full of people. Can’t the students along support it enough to make it lively again?
Modern Theatre Encore: Breathing New Life into the Theater District, at the Adams Gallery through Feb. 6, 2011, celebrates the history of the Washington Street Theater District as well as the many tradespeople and artists who labored to restore the Modern Theatre.
…
Photographs by Renee DeKona document the painstaking process of refurbishing each stone from the facade of the historic movie house, reassembling it like a giant puzzle, and adapting historic interior designs for the new theater.
The Adams Gallery is free and open to the public from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. It is located in the first floor of David J. Sargent Hall, 120 Tremont St., Boston.
In older comments that I can’t find anymore (maybe on a different Quincy theatre), I recall people talking about a Sears building. Is this the same one?
For the first time in forever, I was able to walk down the little alley that separates the Modern from the Felt nightclub next door. There is a new Stage Door at the end of that alley, on the Modern side.
Emerson College’s newly opened Paramount Center contains a Black Box Theatre and a Bright Family Screening Room (for movies), both built within the footprint of the old Bijou. The Paramount’s lobby areas contain wall exhibits that pay extensive tribute to the Bijou.
They may be trying to recreate some detail, as done in the neighboring Paramount — also basically a demo-and-replace project. We won’t know until it opens later this fall.
And finally, they plan to show movies to the general public every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in the Bright Family Screening Room. They handed out a paper schedule at the Open House, but unfortunately haven’t put it online yet. Looks like an interesting mix of foreign films, Hollywood classics, documentaries, and obscurities.
I just got back from the first day of the Open House, during which time I was able to attend events in all three venues: the main theatre, the black box, and the movie screening room. I highly recommend that anyone who reads this go visit on Friday or Saturday this weekend. The entire complex is beautiful and will be a great asset to both Emerson College and the general cultural life of Boston.
Since the Paramount Center now consists of three separate venues, I suggest changing the ‘Screens’ from ‘Single Screen’ to ‘3 Screens’, even though only one of the rooms will be used to show movies. Here are the seat counts, from some literature i picked up at the Open House :
Main theatre – 590 seats — 326 at orchestra level, 264 in balcony. Orchestra pit accommodates 41 musicians
Black box – 150 seats
Bright Family Screening Room (movies) – 170 seats
The total seating capacity of all three rooms is therefore 910.
Although it remains covered by a blue tarp, the façade appears to now be entirely rebuilt. Work is still going on inside the new building behind the old façade. I suggest changing the Status from ‘Closed/Demolished’ back to ‘Closed/Renovating’.
My recollection is that the original front entrance was converted to fast-order restaurant use when the Coolidge Corner Theatre Foundation took control, around 1989. Originally there was still a door leading from the restaurant into the theatre lobby, but I think that’s gone (or permanently locked) now.
What does the name of this venue mean?
According to http://www.suffolk.edu/modern_theatre/index.html , Suffolk’s programming of the Modern Theatre will include movies, as well as ‘conversations’ (lectures) and live performances. DocYard Productions will move their documentary series here from the Brattle Theatre, and Actors' Shakespeare Project will produce Antony and Cleopatra next spring.
The page also says that “selected interior elements are being restored and re-installed”, including a “decorative frieze that formerly covered an "acoustic hole built into the three-story wooden proscenium wall.”
This Chicago Sun-Times travel article says “Built in 1923, the Newport Music Hall is the longest continually running rock venue in the country” … which is a strange-sounding way to put it!
I remember Westwood of the early 80’s — it reminded me of Harvard Square in Cambridge. UCLA hasn’t moved anywhere, so where do the students shop and eat now?
Given that this is the primary commercial district next to a huge mostly-residential university, I don’t understand why it isn’t busy and full of people. Can’t the students along support it enough to make it lively again?
Glad to hear this. I worried that this event would disappear with WCRB’s sale to WGBH.
I fondly remember the Nuart daily calendars from the early 1980s. What is the theatre’s current booking policy?
Perhaps the capacity had been reduced to 1500 by the time it closed in 1976? Just a guess.
Any news on this? Did the flea market people ever find an operator to reopen this theatre?
Robert Orchard wants Emerson to be where theatre is done – a long article in today’s Boston Sunday Globe.
From http://www.cas.suffolk.edu/43595.html :
ADAMS GALLERY PRESENTS “MODERN THEATRE ENCORE”
Modern Theatre Encore: Breathing New Life into the Theater District, at the Adams Gallery through Feb. 6, 2011, celebrates the history of the Washington Street Theater District as well as the many tradespeople and artists who labored to restore the Modern Theatre.
…
Photographs by Renee DeKona document the painstaking process of refurbishing each stone from the facade of the historic movie house, reassembling it like a giant puzzle, and adapting historic interior designs for the new theater.
The Adams Gallery is free and open to the public from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. It is located in the first floor of David J. Sargent Hall, 120 Tremont St., Boston.
When I visited on Thursday, I think the mainstage curtain was closed, to conceal the set of Fraulein Maria which is playing this weekend.
The Paramount marquee and vertical sign are a real beauty. I love watching them when they are lit.
Ahh, someone else who noticed the Shubert/Wilbur error on that wall. I wonder if they plan to fix it eventually?
I suggested changing the ‘Screens’ to 3 because the new seat count is the sum of all three performance spaces.
The raking of the new mainstage is much steeper than in the original movie theatre.
In older comments that I can’t find anymore (maybe on a different Quincy theatre), I recall people talking about a Sears building. Is this the same one?
For the first time in forever, I was able to walk down the little alley that separates the Modern from the Felt nightclub next door. There is a new Stage Door at the end of that alley, on the Modern side.
Perhaps we need a new status for this kind of thing. In any event, it’s going to be changed again to ‘Open’ soon.
Emerson College’s newly opened Paramount Center contains a Black Box Theatre and a Bright Family Screening Room (for movies), both built within the footprint of the old Bijou. The Paramount’s lobby areas contain wall exhibits that pay extensive tribute to the Bijou.
They may be trying to recreate some detail, as done in the neighboring Paramount — also basically a demo-and-replace project. We won’t know until it opens later this fall.
And finally, they plan to show movies to the general public every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in the Bright Family Screening Room. They handed out a paper schedule at the Open House, but unfortunately haven’t put it online yet. Looks like an interesting mix of foreign films, Hollywood classics, documentaries, and obscurities.
Also, the official name for this place is now the Paramount Center (rather than Theatre).
I just got back from the first day of the Open House, during which time I was able to attend events in all three venues: the main theatre, the black box, and the movie screening room. I highly recommend that anyone who reads this go visit on Friday or Saturday this weekend. The entire complex is beautiful and will be a great asset to both Emerson College and the general cultural life of Boston.
Since the Paramount Center now consists of three separate venues, I suggest changing the ‘Screens’ from ‘Single Screen’ to ‘3 Screens’, even though only one of the rooms will be used to show movies. Here are the seat counts, from some literature i picked up at the Open House :
Main theatre – 590 seats — 326 at orchestra level, 264 in balcony. Orchestra pit accommodates 41 musicians
Black box – 150 seats
Bright Family Screening Room (movies) – 170 seats
The total seating capacity of all three rooms is therefore 910.
Although it remains covered by a blue tarp, the façade appears to now be entirely rebuilt. Work is still going on inside the new building behind the old façade. I suggest changing the Status from ‘Closed/Demolished’ back to ‘Closed/Renovating’.
Here’s a link to the Patriot Ledger article. I am surprised to learn that the building is that old!
The website says it has 4 screens, and lists 4 films starting at times between 7 and 8 pm.
BUT, one of the films is listed as “Presented in our intimate 18-seat screening room”.
My recollection is that the original front entrance was converted to fast-order restaurant use when the Coolidge Corner Theatre Foundation took control, around 1989. Originally there was still a door leading from the restaurant into the theatre lobby, but I think that’s gone (or permanently locked) now.