Community Playhouse
370 Washington Street,
Wellesley,
MA
02481
370 Washington Street,
Wellesley,
MA
02481
2 people
favorited this theater
The former Community Playhouse in the sleepy town of Wellesley is long closed, but the building remains.
The old movie house has been converted into a series of shops. The bottom of the building is taken up by a Bertuccis Restaurant.
The theater bears an extremely strong similarity to the Country Cinema in Watertown, Connecticut.
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Cinema Treasures
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Recent comments (view all 15 comments)
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.
The Community in Wellesley is listed in the 1927 Film Daily Yearbook as having 800 seats and open 6 days/week.
I grew up in Weston, and was friends with the family that owned the Playhouse in the 70s. I remember the .75 cent matinees. What a treasure!
Another Westonian here and I knew that family as well—-the Spencers. A lot of good memories from seeing films there in the 70s and 80s. I remember being impressed when the Spencers invested in a Dolby stereo system around 1980 (and my recollection was that the investment was substantial). It was highly unusual for a second run theater in those days to invest in a stereo system; most first run theaters in Boston and the suburbs were not equipped for Dolby,yet the Playhouse was.