Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center
14 Castle Street,
Great Barrington,
MA
01230
14 Castle Street,
Great Barrington,
MA
01230
6 people
favorited this theater
The Mahaiwe Theater’s large, faded marquee only tells part of the story of this aging, but elegant movie house.
Opened in September 1905 as a vaudeville theater, the Mahaiwe Theater became a movie house in the late-1920’s and never looked back. Visitors to the town could easily miss the Mahaiwe Theater as it’s nestled down a side street, but locals made the theater a hit as it was the home of first run feature films for the next seven decades.
Finally after years of marginal profits its last operator, the Hoyts Theater chain, sold the 700-seat cinema to the Berkshire Opera Company. Although the Mahaiwe Theater has finally shown its last first run film, it still screens classic movies. Its new owners have restored the theater which help show off its gilded lobby and refined interior.
The Mahaiwe Theater was restored in time for its 100th anniversary — a mark as impressive as the theater itself.
Contributed by
Ross Melnick
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Recent comments (view all 20 comments)
Check the facts…… In 2007 the Mahaiwe is not only the finest small/medium size venue for live entertainment, it is also the FINEST reel to reel 35mm film venue. It is capable of providing 2,000 or 6,000 reel to reel projection in film formats of 1.37:1, 1.66:1, 1.85:1 or 2.35:1 for image. It can also supply any analog format for sound plus any Dolby Digital format including Dolby Digital EX. Installed are authentic Dolby proccesors. Century projector heads and sound heads. Christie console/lamphouses, 3 phase motors that are capable of 16-30 fps. The Mahaiwe has a 30'6" anamorphic screen with 16.5 foot candles of illumination minimum at any screen location.
A film at the Mahaiwe is an experience, it’s not just a movie!
Here is a 2008 night view of the Mahaiwe.
Here is an article about this theater being listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
This is a shot of the Mahaiwe marquee.
Here are photos from 1981 and 1985:
http://tinyurl.com/p67sge
http://tinyurl.com/rxyy7s
Here is a 1992 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/y9socp4
The Mahaiwe is listed in the 1927 Film Daily Yearbook as having 940 seats and open 6 days per week. It’s the only movie theater listed for Great Barrington.
Since current programming at the Mahaiwe does in fact include movies, the Description and Funciton need to be revised appropriately.
Also, the Berkshire Opera Company went out of business last year. The Mahaiwe does present HD screenings of the Metropolitan Opera from NYC.
I believe this theatre (or at least its exterior) is featured in the 1968 20th Century-Fox film “Pretty Poison” with Anthony Perkins and Tuesday Weld, screening “The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre”.