Colonial Theatre

106 Boylston Street,
Boston, MA 02116

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Showing 1 - 25 of 72 comments

rsalters (Ron Salters)
rsalters (Ron Salters) on December 12, 2020 at 12:01 pm

I recently saw a list of cities where the hit movie “Birth of a Nation” was exhibited in “road-show” engagements in 1915. It played in Boston at the Colonial Theatre and also at the Tremont (Astor) Theatre. But I don’t know if the movie played both houses simultaneously, or if it moved from one to the other.

dickneeds111
dickneeds111 on August 2, 2018 at 10:34 am

Saw many shows at the Colonial. Mamma Mia(3 times) and others. The most disappointing was Jersey Boys. The show was terrific but the use of the “F” word throughout was not called for. My wife and I went to a Wed mat and there were kids 8-11 there. What a disappointment. This is a great theatre and from what pics I have seen on TV and newspapers(Yes Boston still has 2 dailies, thank god) they have done a remarkable job on restoration. Can’t wait to go to another musicl in the future.

rsalters (Ron Salters)
rsalters (Ron Salters) on June 29, 2018 at 10:31 am

There was a brief reopening ceremony at the Colonial on Wed. June 27, attended by the Mayor of Boston and other “dignataries”.

rsalters (Ron Salters)
rsalters (Ron Salters) on June 19, 2018 at 10:51 am

When I first went to the Colonial in the late-1940s and early-1950s, the auditorium was green, with a green house curtain. I mostly went to musicals, but I saw some straight plays, too, such as “Death of s Salesman”, “Darkness at Noon, "Stalag 17”, “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolfe”, and had no problem hearing the dialog. (we usually sat in the second balcony, or in the top tier of boxes). In those days, the sound was all acoustic, with no “mics”. I never saw a movie there because occasional film presentation had ended by then.

Redwards1
Redwards1 on June 18, 2018 at 7:19 pm

The restoration/remodel of the Colonial is a miracle that came to pass. Of all Boston’s legit houses it has the best audience to stage relationship, with more of the audience in close proximity to live actors than any proscenium theatre in the city. I always knew it as a red & gold auditorium, but the discovery of the original blue looks wonderful in the Globe photos. I now live on the west coast, but hope to hear about acoustics when the Colonial reopens. A veteran audience member told me if a grand piano was dropped onstage it would not be heard beyond the 5th row. In this age of electronic sound reinforcement that should no longer be a concern.

Ron Newman
Ron Newman on June 18, 2018 at 1:01 pm

The Colonial’s reopening has been delayed two weeks, to July 10, because of a construction issue. On June 8 or 9, a beam fell from the rigging system of the steel grid that is used to deploy scenery and lighting.

dickneeds111
dickneeds111 on May 18, 2018 at 12:58 pm

Thank God the Colonial is re-opening as a legit theatre instead of college dorms. Great theatre. Supposedly the longest continually running legit theatre in the USA. Only closed for periods of Re-modeling.

Ron Newman
Ron Newman on November 1, 2017 at 8:41 am

The Colonial will reopen in June 2018 with a pre-Broadway tryout of “Moulin Rouge”, according to this Boston Globe article.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on January 18, 2017 at 6:11 pm

Here’s a handy link to the comment DavidZornig refers to.

DavidZornig
DavidZornig on January 12, 2017 at 8:22 am

There are 5 interior pics from 2000, in a March 17, 2007 comment if you scroll back. Most other links going back are dead.

JAlex
JAlex on January 12, 2017 at 8:17 am

Astonishing that not a single photo of the interior appears on the photo page.

Ron Newman
Ron Newman on January 12, 2017 at 6:42 am

I hope that will include somehow adding more legroom to the balcony seats. I’m 5'4" and I don’t comfortably fit into them.

rsalters (Ron Salters)
rsalters (Ron Salters) on January 12, 2017 at 6:15 am

Channel 7 Boston local TV news had a short item which stated that prior to opening in January 2018, various refurbishment and updates would take place in the Colonial.

Ron Newman
Ron Newman on January 8, 2017 at 5:09 pm

The Colonial Theatre will reopen in January 2018 under the management of London’s Ambassador Theatre Group, according to a Boston Globe article.

Rtprovencher
Rtprovencher on March 4, 2016 at 11:42 am

Great news! In today’s (03/04/16) Boston Globe (p. B1) there is a feature story, entitled: “Emerson sees new life for Colonial Theatre”. Emerson College has decided to keep the Colonial intact as a performance space. It has also pledged to update the building’s support systems, such as: air conditioning. So, the Colonial’s future seems secure. I believe that all of the community pressure brought to bear (both internally and externally) made the difference to Emerson’s administration. One educator referred to, “…our collective responsibility as stewards of theatrical history.” It is unfortunate that more people do not share that view.

rsalters (Ron Salters)
rsalters (Ron Salters) on February 20, 2016 at 10:38 am

Just a short walk down Boylston St. to the west of the Colonial Theatre is a long-closed small concert hall called Steinert Hall. It was in use from the 1890s to about 1942 when it was closed by the owner, the M. Steinert piano company. Seats removed, it is intact and even the lights still work. But it’s 2 floors underground at its front end. I think it has issues with regard to the number of emergency exits. The old building was recently sold to one of M. Steinert’s customers who is a developer. He plans to rehab and update the building, with the piano company remaining as a tenant. And if he can get approval from a public safety point of view, he plans to restore and reopen Steinert Hall. (This auditorium would have made a great art-house cinema, with a name like Underground Cinema or The Lower Depths Cinema.)

DavidZornig
DavidZornig on November 27, 2015 at 12:06 pm

1966 photo added courtesy of the Dirty Old Boston Facebook page.

rsalters (Ron Salters)
rsalters (Ron Salters) on November 14, 2015 at 10:57 am

Today’s Quincy Patriot Ledger has a lengthy opinion piece by JoAnn Fitzpatrick which discusses the current plight of the Colonial and of the Boston University Theatre. She says that there was push-back by faculty, students and others against Emerson College’s plan for the Colonial and that there is a protest petition circulating which has garnered many hundreds of names including show composer Stephen Sondheim and the Rodgers & Hammerstein organization. She reports that the college trustees have now appointed a committee to study the situation. What’s to study? – the plan is a dumb idea.

Ron Newman
Ron Newman on October 12, 2015 at 9:37 pm

I think Northeastern built a dorm on the site of the former Opera House.

rsalters (Ron Salters)
rsalters (Ron Salters) on October 10, 2015 at 11:05 am

This unsettling story has been developing over the past few weeks. There are certain problems with the Colonial: it’s not a free-standing theater, but is part of an office building. (As J.J. Shubert pointed out to this son in the mid-1950s when his son wanted to sell the theater but keep the office building: How in hell are you going to do that, you moron- the theater is INSIDE the office building!!!) Another problem is the current lack of “product” -commercial touring shows. The stage is an old-fashioned “hemp” stage with rope lines and sandbags instead of the counterweight lines that young theater people are used to working with. But even with these problems, one would think that there was some imagination and responsibility at the college. Turning the Colonial into a student dining hall, with a black-box theater on stage, is like a pig in a poke. Northeastern Univ did tear down the wonderful old Boston Opera House on Huntington Avenue (halfway between Symphony Hall and the MFA, but not for a parking lot. Some sort of building went on the site. At the time, it was said that the opera house had developed structural problems and needed to go, but I think that was a “crock”.

Rtprovencher
Rtprovencher on October 10, 2015 at 10:33 am

The very real possibility that Emerson, an institution devoted to the preservation and advancement of the arts, is about to end forever the Colonial’s life as a legitimate theater is sure to generate a lot of protest. Thanks to frequent stories by reporter Malcolm Gay in THE BOSTON GLOBE, the public is slowly realizing that America’s most historically significant theater is about to go the way of the Boston Opera House in the 1950’s. At that time, another Boston university, Northeastern, actually tore down Eben Jordan’s beautiful theater to create a parking lot. While Emerson is not proposing to tear down the Colonial, they might as well. What they are proposing is ripping out the orchestra seats and turning the theater into a gigantic student cafeteria, resplendent with holes punched in the walls to improve access to the food and turning the stage into a black box theater!

People need to tune into this one before it’s too late. Surely in a great university city like Boston, some of our great minds can think of ways to preserve the Colonial for the purpose for which it was built in 1900: a beautiful legitimate theater.

Ron Newman
Ron Newman on September 3, 2015 at 12:14 pm

Today’s Boston Globe reports that Emerson College will close the theatre after the October run of “The Book of Mormon” ends, as the Wang Center’s lease on the Colonial is expiring. The future of the theatre is quite unclear.

Boston Globe story

Patsy
Patsy on December 3, 2013 at 12:12 pm

This theatre is the current home of the I Love Lucy Live On Stage production. If you haven’t seen this show and you are in Boston….go! And if you haven’t ever been to the Lucy Comedy Festival in Jamestown NY….go! Jamestown is the birthplace of Lucille Ball, the First Lady of Comedy. www.lucy-desi.com

rsalters (Ron Salters)
rsalters (Ron Salters) on December 15, 2012 at 11:46 am

In the entertainment section of today’s Quincy (MA) Patriot Ledger there is mention of the musical “Memphis” which it says is now playing “at the Citi Performing Arts Center Emerson Colonial Theater”. How’s that for a mouthful !