Community Playhouse

The Community Playhouse was located at 370 Washington Street and it seated 499 people.

I knew the owners of the Community Playhouse, and the decision to sell the family-owned business in the mid-1980s was a very difficult one.

The family had taken great pride in maintaining the theater over the years. Case in point: although the Playhouse only showed second runs, the owners installed a Dolby sound system in the early 1980s---a time when many first run theaters in the Boston area hadn't upgraded to Dolby. The last film I saw there was "Crocodile Dundee" in 1986; the Playhouse closed soon afterwards.

Can someone please correct the name of the theater? I don't believe that the Playhouse was ever known as "Community Theater."

Was this theater ever used as a live stage? Its name suggests that it was.

I believe that the theatre was always intended for motion-picture exhibition, but cannot confirm that.

The theatre was rather successful, but closed in 1986 or 1987 because the building was sold to a developer; it is now a dreadful mini-mall called "Playhouse Square." At least they kept the marquee mostly intact.

I saw many films there as a child growing up in Wellesley and remember the theatre (and its chandelier, big green curtains, and antique ticket-grinding machine) fondly. They always put on a good show and the theatre was always clean and well maintained. Prices were reasonable, too. A small popcorn was $.75 in the mid-1980s.

The building was conceived and built by Roger W. Babson in the 1920s. There was originally a cafe adjacent to the theatre and a bowling alley (!) in the basement.

The Community Playhouse ran its last movies on Saturday, February 28, 1987. The last day's films were a matinee of Lady and the Tramp and an evening show of Children of a Lesser God.

According to a Boston Globe article published that day, the Playhouse opened in a former schoolhouse in 1921.

A different Globe article, published on July 27, 1986, says that the building was constructed in 1921 as a recreation facility for Babson College, then became a movie house in 1924. I don't know which article is correct.

Here is a photo of the Wellesley Community Playhouse from 1981.

The MGM Theatre Photograph and Report form for the Community Playhouse in Wellesley has a facade photo taken in April 1941. There is a 3-sided marquee with a flat front panel on which is printed "Community Playhouse" in script letters. The other 2 panels have "Playhouse" in large letters with 3 lines for attractions below. The film playing is "Strawberry Blonde". At the top of the center panel appears to be a planter with flowers in it - I'm not sure of that. Below the marquee is a double set of French doors with poster cases on either side. The Report states that the Community is at 370 Washington St. in Wellesley Hills; that it has been playing MGM product for over 10 years; that it was opened about 1925; that it's in Good condition; and has 499 seats, all on one floor. It attracts a "class" patronage (meaning "high-class").

When I moved to Wellesley in 1972 I was struck by the "plain-ness" of the Community Playhouse.

It offered an austere New England atmosphere unlike the grand theatres I had experienced in New York and Chicago.

I felt it had a lot in common with early New England churches.

I somehow felt the term "playhouse" was an attempt to distinguish from a "theatre".

Alas, the marquis has been removed as of this year (2008).

What a great theater this was. I'm so thankful to have had it until I was 15. Everyone I knew was sad to see it go.

Here is a 1983 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/cvallo

Growing up, I probably saw more films here than everywhere else combined. As someone noted earlier, it was around the plainest theatre I've ever attended -- very much like an old-fashioned school auditorium with a projector installed. You went here for the great movies, not the small-town atmosphere. I also recall that the screen could be rolled up and the proscenium used -- never saw a play there, but the M.I.T./Wellesley College Symphony gave a concert once where I sat in the balcony.