Majestic Theater

The Majestic Theatre seated 2149 people.

In 1953 this was the theatre that introduced CinemaScope showings to Providence with the local premiere of THE ROBE. I remember attending a jam-packed showing with my parents. When the theatre showed Elia Kazan's BABY DOLL in the late 50's, R.I. Catholics were asked at mass (and in the Catholic high school school I attended) not to see this "sinful" movie. PEYTON PLACE was a big hit here when I was in high school and I remember going to see it after an exam. The big-ant movie, seen here, scared the wits out of me. When Trinity Rep took over the theatre several decades ago, they ruthlessly gutted the lavish interior. Only part of the lobby and most of the exterior remain unchanged.

Sorry, the title of the "big-ant" movie was THEM!

The theatre opened in 1917 with vaudeville as well as movies.

I remember this beautiful theatre from the early 1960s. All the Walt Disney movies used to be shown there; I remember that the two lines at the box office for MARY POPPINS completely surrounded the building, even back to the printer's shop in the rear. The rest rooms were downstairs, with upholstered chairs where the ladies could sit while waiting. Yes, the interior of the theatre was gutted out for Trinity Rep, but at least they didn't knock the whole beautiful structure down for some glass and concrete modern abomination.

Here is the homepage for the Trinity Square Repertory Theater:
http://www.trinityrep.com/
If you click on "about us" and then "Lederer Theater" you'll find the entire history of the theater.

I just love this picture of the Majestic. Note the name Don Ameche to the right.

I recall Don Ameche hosting this Circus show and I believe it was on Sunday nights.

http://photobucket.com/albums/y128/RolandL/Providence/Majestic/?action=view¤t=MajesticExteriorDonAmeche.jpg

Roland, That IS a nice photo. I have a photo which might have been taken around the same time, which I take to be 1944 or so. It's the same angle and everything, except that there was an Abbott and Costello film program, plus cars and a bus to be seen. The vertical marquee is a gem. In this picture did you note the mill-factory to the left beyond LaSalle Square where the Dunkin' Donuts Center is now? And to the right on Washington Street you can see the White Tower, the hamburger place.

Gerald, no I didn't!! I admit that I would not have known that it was a White Tower. My mother kept always mentioned a White Tower. I would correct her and iterate it was White Castle and we'd go round and round.

Moms are always right!!

I just blew up the picture. Carmen Miranda is on the smaller corner marquee.

Here is the other photo of the exterior from 1944. And here is a photo of the
interior .
That White Tower later became the Californian, I believe. Now it's a parking garage. The other White Towers I knew were on Dorrance Street and in Olneyville Square. They seemed so spiffy and "cool".

The theatre was previously known (circa the 1920s) as Emery's Majestic. Down on Mathewson Street was the Emery Theatre which later became the Carlton. Emery's Majestic is listed in the 1925 Providence Journal Almanac as having a seating capacity of 2500. Other data: proscenium opening, 40x36 feet; footlights to back wall, 33 feet; between side walls, 80 feet; height to gridiron, 60 feet.

First Vitaphone anywhere???
Television has no future???

An article in the Rhode Islander section of the Providence Sunday Journal for April 20, 1947 wrote of Edward M. Fay, "the dean of R.I. showmen," who owned the Majestic, Fays, the Rialto, the Carlton and other venues. The article asserts that Mr. Fay was the first in the nation to wire a theatre (the Majestic) for Vitaphone. Here follow excerpts:

"Mr. Fay was the first man in the country who mustered enough faith in the garrulous movies to have a theatre (the Majestic) wired for them. He offered the Vitaphone tio the world on Christmas Day in 1926, and everybody knows what happened since..."

And on the future of television the Journal quoted Mr. Fay as saying, "I think television has had the greatest promotion the country has ever seen...but I don't think it will compete with movies or with radio in the home. Commercially I can't see it at all. It's all right for a championship prize fight or football game, but that's about all. I can't see it."

I wonder if by the time Mr. Fay died in 1964 he had realized the enormous threat (among other threats) to movie theatres that television would represent over the coming decades, so much so that all the theatres he owned or ran in Providence would be demolished or gutted for other uses?

PROVIDENCE THEATRES: "TEMPLES OF ILLUSION"
A book called "Temples of Illusion," by Roger Brett, was published in 1976. It is Mr. Brett's detailed history of all the old downtown area theatres of Providence from 1871 to 1950. It includes numerous rare photos, a list of theatres with name changes, and a map to show exactly where they all were. The book is an invaluable resource and is owned by many libraries in the R.I. CLAN system. I found a copy for sale online and will use it as a reference for future postings.

Federico Fellini's then-scandalous La Dolce Vita had its first R.I. showings here starting in September of 1961. It seems to have done very well, and the booking of a foreign-film in its original language version with subtitles was unusual for the place (although there was some history of the theatre occasionally presenting Italian-language films on slow nights for the Italian-speaking community.) Another Mastroianni film, Casanova '70, also later played here in a subtitled version sometime in 1965.

The architectural firm that built the Majestic was William R. Walker & Son, according to a plaque that is next to the current Trinity Rep entrance.

The beginnings of the Majestic...as described by Roger Brett in his 1976 volume on Providence theatres, Temples of Illusion:

"The Majestic seated 3,000, as many people as the Opera House and the Imperial (now Colonial) put together, at least a thousand more than Keith's. When it opened with five acts of vaudeville and movies on April 9, 1917, it was another Emery challenge to Keith supremacy.... Its stage was the equal of the Imperial and the front of the house was better.

"Once again, the Emery Brothers had commissioned the architectural firm of William Walker and Son to design their Majestic. As usual, the architects turned out a superior piece of work.... The fundamental Italianate mass of this structure is embellished with cornices and rounded entablatures of French influence. A lofty arch rises four storeys at the center of the front. This contains the main entrance doors surmounted by large windows which permit the lobbies to be flooded with outside light. (...)

"The Majestic's auditorium had a strong art nouveau influence.... Here again, the underlying architecture was Italianate, as revealed in the curve of arches and the solid square lines of boxes. Decorative plaster work of the vast proscenium which encompassed a full third of the auditorium, and the muraled panels of its sounding boards, were typically American art nouveau, circa 1916....

"Gold shades were used...on ornamentation with murals carried out in fairly brilliant hues. Wall surfaces were in deep tints of cream and biege....

"The Emery Majestic was a vaudeville house for exactly nine months....Upon opening in April [the Emery brothers] had simply shifted their vaudeville bookings from the two-and-one-half year old Emery to the new house. And the fact that the Majestic could seat almost twice as many customers didn't necessarily mean that that many more people would show up to buy tickets. (...)

"Over the years, the stage of the Schubert Majestic knew the lights and laughter of Hello, Alexander starring McIntyre and Heath, Cinderella on Broadway, The Whirl of New York, Al Jolson in Sinbad...in Bombo. Chu Chin Chow, largest musical production ever to play a theater in Providence was at the Majestic, elephants and all.

"The Schubert Majestic was the place where everyone wanted to go."

From Buildings of Rhode Island by William H. Jordy, 2004:

"Best of all is the front of the Lederer Theatre, a fantasy version of the Roman triumphal arch motif. Pastel colors in bone white again, lemon yellow, and lime green make this an exceptionally subtle example of commercial terra-cotta. A delicately detailed two-story lobby topped with a stained glass oval dome has been partially restored. Providence's own George M. Cohan appeared in two productions here before it was converted from stage shows to movies in 1923, reverting to dramatic theatre in 1971 as the home of the important Trinity Repertory Theatre. It was then that the cavernous, ornamented interior was gutted to provide for two replacement theatres, one above the other, in the stripped bare brick manner prevalent for theater reuse in the early 1970s."

Better image than I posted earlier of the interior and stage of the Majestic.

An ad in the 1936 commemorative book Tercentenary, Providence and Rhode Island by four downtown Providence theatres, listed theatre names and managers:

PROVIDENCE DOWNTOWN THEATRES

MAJESTIC
Bernard M. Fay, Manager
R.K.O. ALBEE
Edward A. Zorn, Manager
LOEW'S STATE
Howard C. Burkhardt, Manager
STRAND
Edward R. Reed Manager

On May 1st, 1968 the film The Graduate was in its twelfth week here.

In this 1948 photo, on the left, we see the Chestnut Street marquee of the Metropolitan Theatre. Beyond the bus, we see Empire Street. The Majestic Theatre is the white bit near the top right. The point of this posting is to show you the relative locations of the two theatres. The photo was taken by Fred Deusch, then an usher at the Met.

And heeeere's the photo I described above but didn't link you to.

I saw "The Graduate" the first Saturday after it opened at the Majestic. Having read the book, I was quite anxious to see it, too. I enjoyed the movie so much that I sat through it twice. After hearing me praise it so much, a classmate promptly rushed to see it. To my surprise, he was denied admission. "Adults Only!" and "No One Under 18 Admitted" were written on signs taped to the box office window. He did return a few days later with his older sister and her husband who purchased the tickets.

The world premiere of the wartime film about an aircraft carrier, Wing and a Prayer, took place here on July 28, 1944. A day later stars Dana Andrews and Sir Cedric Hardwicke made appearances on stage at the Majestic. The Quonset Officers Glee Club sang. Here is the opening day newspaper ad for the program.

In January, 1965 a newspaper ad for the Majestic promoted a film called Guess What and the Single Girl. I think the Providence Journal might not have been accepting film titles containing the word "sex."

Told to Shun Baby Doll
In January of 1957, when Elia Kazan/Tennessee Williams Baby Doll was playing at the Majestic, the Most Rev. Russell J. McVinney, D.D., Bishop of the Diocese of Providence, had told Rhode Island Catholics that they should not see the picture. I myself remember, as a student at LaSalle Academy at the time, that we were told by the principal in a P.A. announcement that the film was off-limits. A Providence Journal article from January 14 reported that Rev. Augustine F. Burns, pastor of Saint Mark's Church in Jamestown, reminded his parishioners at services that they could not see the picture which was playing in Providence and also in Newport. Here is an ad for the film.

Baby Doll ran a total of 11 days and grossed $18,000 for the entire run. That was described by the management as a "good average but not a boxoffice record." The less controversial Anastasia, starring Ingrid Bergman, followed.

The Majestic ended its days as a movie theatre on May 17, 1971. At least that was the last day a newspaper ad appeared. The last films shown were a double bill of Patton and Mash. After that the theatre, having been sold to Trinity Repertory Company, was gutted and restructured, leaving almost nothing of its original interior architectural magnificence.

Added to the National Register of Historical Places in 1972

Trinity Square Repertory Theatre (added 1972 - Building - #72000004)
Also known as Majestic Theatre
201 Washington St., Providence
Historic Significance: Event, Architecture/Engineering
Architect, builder, or engineer: Walker,William R.,& Sons
Architectural Style: Beaux Arts
Area of Significance: Architecture, Entertainment/Recreation
Period of Significance: 1900-1924
Owner: Private
Historic Function: Recreation And Culture
Historic Sub-function: Theater
Current Function: Recreation And Culture
Current Sub-function: Theater

The film Show of Shows was shown at the Majestic at the end of December 1929 and the start of January 1930. It was projected in a process called "Magnifiscope...the enlarged screen." The ads stated that "The Majestic was the first to present the talking picture and is now the first to present the newest development, the Enlarged Screen." In 1953 the Majestic would be the first RI theatre to utilize CinemaScope, with the extremely popular feature The Robe.

The Majestic Theatre can be seen in this 1956 photo.

In his book Downcity: Downtown Providence in the 1950s, Carmen Maiocco gave the following thumbnail history of the Majestic Theatre:

"The story of the Majestic Theater at Washington and Empire Street begins around 1915 when two brothers, Allen and Burton Emery, decided to build the most elegant theater in Providence. The Emerys were already in the entertainment business; they owned vaudeville halls, bowling alleys, and billiard parlors in the downtown. Their creation on upper Washington Street was ostentatiously grand. Shiny marble at every turn; terra cotta reliefs on the walls and ceilings; plush private boxes along the sides, loges running around the front of the balcony; and a seating capacity of 3,000 people. The Emery brothers were proud; so proud they had transcribed in gold letters above the three story high entrance arch - Emery's Majestic. The letters are still there. On opening night, April 9, 1917, the evening's fare involved five short live performances, inclusing Amelia Bingham and Company in "Big Moments from Great Plays." A silent movie was also shown; White Raven starring Ethel Barrymore. Many of the state's elite were in the audience, including Providence's mayor Gainer, and Rhode Island's Governor Beckman. Before long, the great stars of the era were performing on the Majestic's stage: Vamp Theda Bara, John Philip Sousa's Band, Anna Pavlova and the Russian Ballet, John Barrymore, Jascha Heifetz, Sergei Rachmaninoff, and of course Providence's own George M. Cohan. In 1923, the Majestic moved away from live performances and became strictly a silent movie house. The first full length silent feature film shown in the theater was called Jazzmania. In 1926, Eddie Fay...purchased the Majestic from the Emerys. Providence audiences were first introduced to talking pictures in 1928 when Fay presented Al Jolson in The Jazz Singer at the Majestic. After Jolson came Bette Davis, Shirley Temple, Edward G. Robinson, Erol Flynn, and the popular World War II feature This is the Army. In 1953, when the movie about the birth of Christianity, The Robe, premiered at the Majestic, the theater was packed with dignitaries and bright spotlights swept the sky. [Introduction of CinemaScope to Providence. ~GD]

Throughout the 1950s, the manager of the Majestic was named Al Clark, a nephew of Eddie Fay's. During this period one of the most striking physical aspects of the theater was the gigantic upright sign out in front ovber Washington Street which contained over 2,300 light bulbs and was the home of countless pigeons and sparrows. The sign was replaced in 1959 with a horizontal marquee. In 1956, Eddie Fay sold the Majestic to the giant Warner Brothers Management Company. Warner ran things during the difficult 1960s and finally closed the theater in 1970. Soon thereafter the property was purchased by the Trinity Square Repertory Company, which renovated the building and took up residence there. A generous contributor to the restoration* was the Benjamin B. Lederer family, in whose name the new Lederer Theater was dedicated in 1973. Trinity Rep has been bringing glory to Washington Street and providence ever since."

[*I cannot agree that what was done was in any sense a "restoration"...far from it, since virtually the entire interior was stripped and gutted, leaving next to nothing of its original architectural brilliance. ~GD]

I was not impressed with what I saw done to this theatre. I remember I couldn't leave fast enough after I saw what they did to the Auditoruim. Someone should post before and after pictures to show what a horrific butcher job was done to this theatre. A little more imagination should have been used by Trinity and not destroy an historic structure as the Majestic. Thank god the State was given a magnificent restoration what a stark contrast between the two.brucec

Brucec,
To my knowledge there are almost no pictures of the interior as it was. I found just this one. I agree with you about this theatre. Trinity Rep committed a monumental act of cultural and architectural vandalism when they gutted this theatre. I remember the beauty of this place as a child and can never forget or forgive what they did, and yet they promote themselves as a great cultural institution. They are barbarians.

A Wurlitzer theater organ opus 598 style "H" was installed in the Majestic Theater on 11/10/1922.

In September 1964, Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow played in first-run at the Majestic Theatre, day-dating with the Shipyard Drive-In on Allens Avenue near the Cranston city line. The Italian-made film, starring Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni, was very popular.

Here is a vintage postcard, circa 1917, of Emery's Majestic Theatre as it appeared not long after it opened.

I have been reading these posts and I would like to point out a couple of things. If Trinity didn't buy this building, it would be a parking lot right now. Trinity has been able to keep this building running as a theater, which is what it was meant to be. I will try to find the picture, but the interior of the building was in shambles when Trinity bought the place, they were not the ones that destroyed it. They could either spend a lot of money to restore it into a space they couldn't use or they could make it into something that they could use and keep the building standing and a place where people still come to enjoy shows. Yes, they redid the interior and made it into two spaces, but there is a lot of the original there around the building. And as for the person that says they promote themselves as a great cultural institution, that is because they are. You should all check out their amazing educational programs that have been around for over 40 years allowing students to enjoy live theater. I understand that the building is very different now, but calling Trinity Repertory Company 'barbarians' for trying to keep the arts, and not to mention a beautiful building in Providence is unjustified. People that work there are hard working, dedicated people that work so hard for their art and love the fact that they are in a building full of so much history. They are proud that they are able to continue the tradition.

The above comment skirts the issue. The fact that the people at Trinity are hard-working and dedicated does not change the reality that the interior was totally altered and vandalized by them. "Redid" is an appalling euphemism. There is very little of the original except a bit in the lobby rotunda. Everything else is gone forever. I grew up in the fifties and sixties and remember quite vividly what a gorgeous wonder it was. Do you?

Trinity could have created what they did out of any nondescript building in Providence. By comparison, look at PPAC and see how that place was respected; look at the Hanover Theatre in Worcester; look at the beautiful Emerson Majestic in Boston. Our own Majestic deserved as much.

When members of the Theatre Historical Society of America visited Providence, they were very immensely disappointed by what they saw inside. Regarding "they love the fact that they are in a building with so much history," I find that rather lame since there is no evidence of that history inside any more, nor does anyone there really know or care about that, in my opinion. When I was on that tour, the Trinity Rep person who gave the presentation patronizingly denigrated the history of the Majestic as having become just another second run theatre at the end. That's not true, and even if it were, the place was still a magnificent edifice whose interior deserved better than what Trinity Rep inflicted on it. Finally, the Majestic was by no means a shambles before Trinity acquired it. It was a fully functional well-maintained movie palace that could no longer compete with suburban mall cinemas.

I have seen the picture of the interior of the building that has been posted, and I can't even to begin to imagine how beautiful it must have been. I wish that I could have seen it back in its glory and believe me when I say how much I love hearing people talk about their memories of the building and what it meant to them. I don't want to sound like I am trying to lessen the importance of what the building was, or how much people loved it. I guess I was just trying to point out the fact that it was slated to be torn down until Trinity bought it (that's what I have been told anyway). There is also a picture of the interior in really bad shape and I was told that's what it looked like when we got it. I apologize if that was wrong, but I will still try to get a copy of the picture on here.And of course the best thing would be for it to still be the building that it was, but if it can't, isn't it better it still be a working theater than a parking lot or large hotel? There is more of the original building than I think you realize. The dressing rooms are still intact, the original stage floor is still down. The proscenium arch can still be seen in the Chace theater, the balcony rail is still there as is the original grid and many of the ceiling designs. As you said, the lobby with the rotunda is still there. I realize that these small things probably seem like nothing, but they do serve as a small reminder of what it once was. As for my comment about people there being proud of a building with so much history, I know for a fact that there are, myself included. You may find it lame but as I can respect your love for the building, please understand mine as different as it is. I love going to work in that building, and I am proud of that history. The people that made the building what it is are no longer working here and the current artistic director has been making strides to restore the lobbies a little bit. You should also know that we are a non-profit so it's not like there is a ton of money to make large strides. I know that you will never like Trinity Rep, and I can't blame you for that but I did want you to know that we are not all 'barbarians.' Thanks for the chat.

Gerry, I don't know how to get ahold of you but I came across this video which you might find interesting.

Go here, scroll down and click on the Preview 11:26 link. Let the video run and stop it at 00:09 into the movie. Look at the right to see the BF Keith theater from the 1920s.

http://rocjo.com/

Thanks. That's the theatre which became the R.K.O. Albee, next to Grace Church, and was torn down in the early 1970s.

1970 Photo

A 1956 view of the Majestic's entrance.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y128/RolandL/Providence/majestic.jpg