C. Walsh Theatre
55 Temple Street,
Boston,
MA
02114
55 Temple Street,
Boston,
MA
02114
1 person
favorited this theater
Showing all 14 comments
The figure of 1,100 seats came from the Donald King Boston theaters book. It probably did have more than 399 seats prior to the renovation project a couple years ago, but maybe not as many as 1,100. Suffolk University’s new Modern Theatre on Washington Street will supposedly have about 185 seats which makes it even smaller than the C. Walsh Th.
http://www.suffolk.edu/college/22887.html says that the C. Walsh theatre has 399 seats.
Does this really have 1100 seats? That is much much bigger than what I remember.
I, too, wonder what the future of this theater is, if the property is sold.
Here is Suffolk University’s official web page for the C. Walsh Theatre, with an extensive history of various performers and speakers who have appeared there.
According to an article in today’s Herald, Suffolk University is considering selling its Beacon Hill buildings, including the one that contains this theatre. Would a new owner keep this theatre intact and open?
This is a movie ad from April of 1921.
The Ford Hall Forum lecture series is now affiliated with Suffolk University. Many of this fall’s lectures will take place in the C. Walsh Theatre.
The Suffolk Theatre is not listed in the Boston section of the 1927 Film Daily Yearbook.
This theater and the Steinert Hall on Boylston St. are probably the most obscure of the surviving old downtown Boston theaters. Although the Archer Building has a cornerstone reading “1920”, it’s possible that the building did not actually open until 1921. Donald King, in his 2005 book “The Theatres of Boston” (McFarland), stresses that the movie operation at the Suffolk Theatre did not last very long. He notes that the Suffolk had an organ and that the proceeds from the cinema went to the Suffolk Law School.
Thank you for posting this! I am continually surprised by the long-forgotten movie theatre locations that you and others turn up.
The Suffolk Theatre’s ad in the Boston Globe for Christmas week of 1921 stated that the theater was located to the rear of the State House, that it had recently opened, and that movie shows were presented continuous from 130PM to 1030PM. There were 2 movies Mon-Wed, then a change of show with 2 more titles Thurs-Saturdays. There was a children’s show on Saturday mornings at 1030.
It was a neighborhood movie theater in the 1920s. During the 1980s and 1990s it was used quite often by various theater groups of the “Off-Broadway” type. By that time it had been renamed from Suffolk Theatre to C. Walsh Theatre. Not having seen any listings for it in the last couple of years, I wondered if its building, the old Suffolk Law School, had been closed or demo’d. So I hiked up there a few days ago to check it out. It’s still there, and in the poster cases at the entrance were some posters for 2008 shows. The entrance has fancy heavy wood doors and I wonder if they are originals from 1920.
I never knew this was once a cinema. Do you know for how long it showed movies?