Cutler Majestic Theatre

The theater's URL is: http://www.maj.org/

Restoration work is ongoing. The theater will close again for several months next year to facilitate this work.

The Majestic has been so successful that Emerson College is now moving all of its campus to the neighborhood surrounding the theatre.

This was the first 70MM roadshow house I believe in New England. Opened with OKLAHOMA. At its backstage door was the rear of the GARY Theatre (originally the Plymouth) another BEN SACK roadshow theatre. Currently still across the rear is the backstage of the Colonial Theatre.

Still owned by Emerson College, but now renamed "Cutler Majestic Theatre" after donors Ted and Joan Benard-Cutler.

I remember seeing Cukor's MY FAIR LADY here in the 1960s when it was the Saxon Theatre and part of the Sack chain. I just paid a visit the other day for Opera Boston's production of "Nixon in China" by John Adams, and the magnificently restored theatre was a wonder to behold indeed, utterly breathtaking. Perhaps Emerson College could rescue all the endangered entertainment palaces of America!

I saw many of the 60's 70mm roadshow pictures here like "MY FAIR LADY" (one of the most beautiful projection prints I ever saw), and even some 35mm blowups like "THE CARDINAL", and "BECKET"

I fondly remeber seeing "My Fair Lady" in its hard-ticket run at the Saxon - it was VERY expensive for my family on my father's military pay. It is on of the earliest memories I have for movie-going, period.

I have a booklet called "Boston Theatre District: A Walking Tour", published by the Boston Preservation Alliance in 1993. It says:

An extravaganza of Beaux Arts detail inside and out, the Majestic Theatre was designed by John Galen Howard and J.M. Wood for merchant and music patron Eben D. Jordan Jr., son of the founder of Jordan Marsh and Company [department store]. It opened on February 16, 1903 with a musical fantasy called "The Storks". The Majestic is the only known Boston work of Howard, who was MIT- and Beaux Arts-trained and went on to a distinguished career at the University of California in Berkeley. The gray terra cotta façade dominates Tremont Street, with its ornamentation cast in high relief.

Its small but highly decorated lobby, with murals by William de Leftwich Dodge, fine stained glass windows, mirrored walls, and a heavily gilded frieze in relief, leads to the auditorium with its series of arches proceeding from that of the proscenium, each one higher than the last, until reaching the gallery ceiling. It was the first theatre to integrate electrical fixtures into the architectural fabric and the first to be constructed without balcony support columns, thus ensuring an unobstructed view of the stage. Its distinctive curved shape, likened to the inside of a megaphone, accounts for its superior acoustics.

For half a century the Majestic featured such luminaries as Ethel Merman, Harry Houdini, Lena Horne, the Marx Brothers, and W.C. Fields. In 1956 it was sold to the Sack Cinema chain and converted into a movie house called the Saxon. It suffered from unfortunate alterations, neglect, and misuse. In 1983 Emerson College purchased the Majestic for its performing arts program and began a meticulous restoration. The Majestic is a Boston Landmark.

In its final few years as a movie theatre, the Saxon was involved in several controversies.

In 1979, the Saxon showed the movie "The Warriors". A young man who attended the film then took the subway to Fields Corner in Dorchester and fatally stabbed a teenager. Two years later, the murder victim's family sued Sack Theatres and Paramount Pictures for wrongful death, claiming that the movie was an incitement to violence. The lawsuit dragged on until 1989, when the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled that Paramount and Sack could not be held responsible.

In May, 1980, the Saxon showed Fredrick Wiseman's 1967 documentary "Titicut Follies" as part of a film festival. Audience members were required to sign a statement that they were involved in professions related to mental health care, because of a 1971 injunction that stemmed from a lawsuit claiming the film infringed the privacy of Bridgewater State Hospital inmates. Many people falsely signed these statements to attend the film.

In June, 1980, Boston police seized a print of Bob Guccione's movie "Caligula" from the Saxon few days after it opened. Sack Theatres and Guccione's Penthouse Pictures were charged with "disseminating obscene material". A Boston municipal court judge found them innocent on August 1, saying that while the film had no literary, artisitic or scientific value, it was not legally obscene because it had a "serious political theme". I don't know whether the film reopened after the judge returned the print to Sack.

The last film to show at the Saxon was the horror film "XTRO", which had its final showing on May 26, 1983.

[all information above is from Boston Globe online archives]

I think the firsy film I saw there was the Rainmaker in the 50s; also saw South Pacific and My Fair Lady. I worked at 80 Boylston for awhile in the early 80s, when they were demolighing the Gary (aka Plymouth). They were throwing ou posters for the stage production of 'Teahouse of the August Moon".
Originally, the Boylston st subway station connecyed to the lower lobby of the majestic, although in the 50s the subway only had a tunnel as far as the basement of 80 Boylston.

Some memories from when I worked there during its action film days in the 80s.
The tunnel was still there and the brave ushers said you could go down it on a wooden plank, it led up to a blank wall though. Door at the top of the stairs that led to it said 'Majestic Theatre' in gold leaf.
Backstage was a mess, catwalks survived but looked really unsafe, the ushers would go on these too. Lights were dimmed by a chain attached to some massive knife swtches, looked like something from a Frankenstein movie. Dressing rooms below stage level had several inches of dirt in them from flooding.
First balcony was usable and had nude statuary along the walls.
Second balcony was incredibly dangerous looking with a very steep angle, one missed step and you'd be gone. Also it had a separate exit, was told it was from days of racially separated audiences.
Projection booth had access to a stone balcony outside the theatre front, I was told a projectionist used to go out here and watch the action across the street at a sleazy hotel above the Saxon Coffee House.

The second balcony remained closed for years after Emerson bought it, but I believe it reopened after restoration was finished in 2003.

According to a Boston Globe article published on May 22, 1988, the Majestic showed the silent film Birth of a Nation in 1915. This showing was the first time a movie was ever presented on a reserved-seat basis and in a "legitimate" theatre.

Other silent films played there as well, with a full orchestra accompanying them. From the same article:

"In one case, a silent version of All Quiet On The Western Front, there were scores not just for the musicians in the pit, but stagehands offstage as well. They supplied the groans and moans, on cue, and operated the machine- gun-effects machine, a kind of big ratchet affair."

Famous performers who appeared on the Majestic's stage include Burns and Allen, Fred Allen, John Barrymore, Ethel Barrymore, John McCormack, Ruth Gordon, W. C. Fields, Al Jolson, Ruby Keeler, Ethel Merman, Ed Wynn, and the Marx Brothers. The Moscow Art Theater performed Chekhov plays in 1923, and the Yiddish Theater of New York offered several productions in the late '30s.

When it closed as a movie theatre in 1983, the Saxon was the last of the downtown movie houses that had once been the backbone of the Sack Theatres chain. The others, and what happened to them:

Beacon Hill: demolished in 1969 to make way for an office tower, which opened in 1971 with a new Beacon Hill Theatre in the basement. The second Beacon Hill closed in 1992.

Gary (originally Plymouth): closed in 1978, demolished to make way for the State Transportation Building

Savoy (originally RKO Keith Memorial): sold to Opera Company of Boston in 1978 and renamed the Opera House, closed in 1991, restored and reopened in 2004

Music Hall (originally Metropolitan): lost its lease in 1980, when it was turned over to the new non-profit Metropolitan Center. It was later renamed the Wang Center for the Performing Arts

Capri (first location, in Copley Square): demolished for the Massachusetts Turnpike extension

Capri (second location, on Huntington Avenue): demolished for the Christian Science Center

According to an unpublished draft manuscript by Douglas Shand-Tucci entitled The Puritan Muse (available in the Fine Arts room of the Boston Public Library), Sack acquired this theatre for his movie chain, and renamed it the Saxon, in September, 1956.

In this 1957 photo (described here), the Saxon Theatre marquee advertises Michael Todd's "Around the World in 80 Days" in Todd-AO, with reserved seats.

And in this 1943 photo (described here), the Majestic marquee advertises Walt Disney's "Fantasia", with "CONT SHOWS" and "POP PRICES".

Banners are also strung over Tremont Street to advertise the movie. One of them says "ORIGINAL UNCUT VERSION".

A picture postcard of the Majestic, from some time between 1907 and 1912, described here.

From the Library of Congress online collection, an early photo of the Majestic, taken some time between 1903 and 1906.

A 1930 night photo, described here, showing the Majestic's marquee and the Metropolitan's vertical sign.

Came close to seeing "Ben Hur" at the Saxon in 1959. As my date and I approached the ticket booth she realized that the Metropolitan (Music Hall, Wang) was running "Pillow Talk" with Doris Day and Rock Hudson. About face! It was Doris & Rock that evening and Ben a year later on a military base. That was my one and only failed chance of being able to contribute anything constructive here about the Saxon.

On the same day that the Cutler Majestic reopened in 2003, Emerson College also opened its first-ever new building, the 11-story Tufte Performance and Production Center.

This building is physically connected to the Majestic, contains two new live stages, and occupies at least some of the footprint of the demolished Gary (Plymouth) theatre.

According to Donald C. King's new book The Theatres of Boston: A Stage and Screen History,

"The gloom of the Great Depression hung over Boston, and every theatre advertised 'Big Shows! Little Prices!' and '1,000 seats for 25 cents!" The proud Tremont Theatre became the home of the 'proven pictures'. Old films and double features changing every few days were offered at 15 and 25 cents, and the policy caught on. The new proprietor, Frederick E. Lieberman, also leased the Majestic Theatre for 'proven pictures'. His subsequent elimination of union stagehands and union projectionists brought about bombings of both houses, but fortunately no one was injured and little permanent damage was done."

Also from King's book:

"The year 1941 opened with some excitement in Boston as a team of experts from RCA and Walt Disney's film studios arrived to select a theatre to house Fantasia, a symphonic cartoon feature film which used stereophonic sound for the first time. The winning theatre had to have sufficient space to accommodate the great quantity of equipment required.

"Three soundtracks were carried on three reels for three lampless projectors, synchronized with a fourth one that showed the motion picture. The three dummy projectors connected with their own speakers behind the screen, creating stereophonic sound. One can imagine the size of the projection room that was needed.

"Supporters of the Boston Opera House, which had become something of a white elephant, campaigned desperately for the film, to 'Save Our Opera House'. But the film opened January 28, 1941, at the refurbished Majestic Theatre, whose façade carried a huge marquee advertising Fantasia in attention-getting neon and bulbs, a show in itself. Disney's trailblazing production enjoyed a long run in Boston because there were no other showings in New England."

King's book also says that Ben Sack took over the Majestic on September 13, 1957, renaming it the Saxon. It opened with Oklahoma! in 70mm Todd-AO, shown twice a day with reserved seating.

From the Boston Public Library photo collection:

Majestic Theatre exterior, "early 20th century"

Majestic Theatre interior, 1907

Back in the Spring of 1964 I had seen "Becket" here (Saxon Theater), a 70MM Roadshow engagement. This film with Peter O'Toole and Richard Burton was a remarkable film and today it is almost forgotten. Norminated for 10 Academy Awards.

The Emerson College alumni magazine "Expression" devoted an entire special issue (Summer 2003) to the Majestic with lots of color photos and some vintage ones, as well. Plus a great deal of text. The chief error in the text is that it states that Sack closed the house to movies in 1977, so it was dark when Emerson acquired it in the Spring of 1983, but this is not true and it showed movies, albeit rather low-class ones, right up to the time of the sale. I attended a reception in the Majestic in July 1983 and I recall that the stage floor was badly warped due to rainwater leaking from the stage roof. Emerson wisely fixed the worst problems first ! Another point made in the magazine is that a projection booth was installed , apparently at the rear of the 1st balcony, in 1921. Visitors to the theatre today should note that the stepped stadium-style seating in the rear orchestra is not original. The theatre had an ordinary sloped floor which started at the rear head of each aisle at the back of the orchestra section.

I saw "The Red Shoes" there about 1948, a beautiful film in a beautiful theatre. It had a movie-style marquee with a lot of pink neon on it. I have a very vague memory of using the pedestrian subway which ran from the Boylston transit station under Boylston St., under the sidewalk along Tremont St., and then turned up Allen's
Alley alongside the Majestic. From this subway you could access the lobby of the Little Bldg, the north end of the Majestic's lobby, and the rear of the Plymouth Theatre. In the late-1990's when Emerson was getting ready to build their new Tufte Building on the site of the Plymouth/Gary Theatre, the opened up the subway alongside the Majestic - took the roof right off of it, and then filled it in. Otherwise, they could not safely bring heavy construction equipment up the alley to the construction site. After 1950, there was very little stage activity at the Majestic. Uta Hagen in "The Country Girl" played there. I saw "Goodnight Ladies", a WW I-era farce comedy on stage at a Saturday matinee Nov. 1, 1952. I sat in the 1st balcony, as the 2nd balcony was closed and had been for some time. In addition to a very few stage shows, there were movies from time to time. When Sack took it over, they added a larger new marquee, and white brick across the ground floor of the facade, plus new attraction frames. The name was changed to Saxon Th., and I saw "Around the World in Eighty Days" there on screen at a Sunday matinee, April 21, 1957. Full house, reserved seats. We sat in the last row of the balcony next to the projection booth. The rear orchestra foyer of the Plymouth/ Gary Theatre was directly in back of the Majestic's rear stage wall.

I have some vague memory that Sack closed the Saxon in the late 1970s (maybe 1977) in order to lease or sell it to some other non-profit. The transaction fell through, and Sack then reopened the theatre to show movies for a few more years, until Emerson bought it. Perhaps someone else here can provide more details.

In the Boston Post for Wednesday, February 25, 1931, the Majestic has ads in two places: it is listed in the Shubert Theatres directory along with the Shubert, Plymouth and Wilbur. Of those 4 theatres, the Majestic is the only one presenting films instead of stage fare. The movie is D.W. Griffith's "Way Down East" in a "synchronised version". The movie is Continuous from 11 AM, with admissions of 35 cents to 75 cents. There is a second larger ad for the coming attraction, MGM's "Trader Horn", to be shown twice daily at 230PM and 830PM, all seats reserved.

The Majestic would have had a distinguished neighbor if certain plans had come to fruition. Someone with good contacts in the film distribution business in Boston told me that years ago he had heard that in the 1920s Fox had tentative plans to build a huge Fox Theatre on lots directly across Tremont Street from the Majestic. Does anyone know anything about this??

There is a streaming video of a seminar given by David Lynch in this theater at this link:

http://www.davidlynchfoundation.com/tour/index.html

Whether or not you are interested in hearing David Lynch talk about transcendental meditation, there are many shots of the audience and the interior of the theater.

Near the top right of this 1928 map you can see the Majestic Theatre, as well as its neighbor, the Plymouth (later renamed Gary).

The Majestic is on the west side of Tremont Street, just north of Eliot Street.

The Saxon pretty much became a grindhouse from 77 until it's closing. At one point during a "Boston Celebration" (maybe 1980-81?) they showed movies for a dollar. I remember one day being "Peter Guber" day. They showed "Jaws" and "The Deep" on a double bill. I also caught "Midnight Express" during that celebration. The trailers that were shown during that time were for the original "Friday the 13th" and "Gorp" among others, so that should give you and idea of when the celebration was going on.

I remember seeing rats running around on the stage during a viewing of Bad Boys with Sean Penn. And guys drinking beer out of brown bags during "10 to Midnight". Fond memories indeed.

The rats weren't just running around on stage in this period of decline for the Saxon (up to 1983). I seem to recall that 2 rats got into a fight outside the lower-level men's room and one stabbed the other. Emerson College really saved the place.

What a mess. The place WAS rather scary during that period. I'm glad Emerson kept the place from being reduced to rubble like the Gary and the Publix (among others!)! I'm sad I'll never see movies in that theater or the Wang again, but at least I have the Saxon and Music Hall memories.

I'm curious to see what's going on with the Modern!

The MGM Theatre Photograph and Report form for the Majestic has an exterior photo dated May 1941. There is an elaborate 3-sided marquee on the north half of the facade advertising Walt Disney's "Fantasia". The theatre's name is not on this marquee. The Report states that the Majestic is a "Road Show House", that it is not showing MGM product, that it is in Poor condition (hard to believe of a Shubert-owned house), and that it has the following seating: Orchestra- 597, Balcony- 439, Gallery- 440, Boxes- 112, total: 1,588 seats.

This was a really magnificent place to see a movie in the 1960's. In fact, it was one of the first downtown cinemas that I ever visited with my parents. In 1957 or early 1958 we saw "Around the World in 80 Days." I was only six at the time, but I can still remember being impressed with the sweep of the film on the wide screen. In 1962 we had reserved seats here for Marlon Brando's version of "Mutiny on the Bounty." In 1966 we saw "Doctor Zhivago," which was a 70mm blow-up from the 35mm original negative. The cinematography and sound in that film were superb in this theater. I remember noting that "Midnight Cowboy" opened here in 1969. For an X-rated film, it was not showing in a porn theater on Lower Washington, but in a very respectable venue indeed. I'm glad that the theater has been saved by Emerson College.

Exterior picture here:-

http://www.flickr.com/photos/12494104@N00/424355257/

This is another photo of the Cutler Majestic Theater.

Here is a recent close-up view.

As of December 1921, the Majestic was being used as the Boston outlet for Shubert Vaudeville. The Shuberts did not stay in the Vaudeville business for very long.

On April 28, 1918, the Majestic Theatre was presenting two performances daily of D.W. Griffith's "Hearts of the World," with all seats reserved at prices ranging from 25 cents to $1.50. To keep tickets out of the hands of "speculators," no more than six could be purchased in any transaction. I'd be happy to send a copy of the ad to anyone contacting me privately at Warrengwhiz@nyc.rr.com

There were a number of roadshow presentations of feature films at the Majestic in the period 1915-20, although supposedly a projection booth was not constructed until 1921. Possibly they used a make-shift booth of some kind. In the 1950s and later, the projection booth was located at the center-rear of the first balcony.

There will be a public Open House at the Majestic on Sunday Sept.14,2008 from 1 - 5PM. Visitors can tour the theater and learn about the upcoming season. One of the future attractions will be a classic silient film, "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" to be presented March 25-29, 2009. This show, produced by Vox Lumiere, features some sort of live presentation along with the film including music and singers.

I rememember going to see a live concert that included that reunion of Glen Yarborough, the Kingston Trio, and some other folk/rock groups. What a concert that was! Both Glen Yarborough and the Kingston Trio were at their finest, and the Kingston Trio, as usual, sang their song "Charley on the MTA", which had made them famous.

This is supposed to be the Boston Saxon in 1980. The photo may be miscaptioned.
http://tinyurl.com/cqmqb6

ken mc- yes, that's the Saxon/Majestic in Boston. August 1980 is probably the correct date.

The marquee advertises Prom Night and the sign at street level advertises Oh God! Book II with George Burns. Both movies indeed came out in 1980, according to IMDB.com .

1983 Photo

A beautiful theatre that has been restored to its original beauty.