Majestic Theatre

The founder of the architectural firm William R. Walker & Son died in 1905, so the architect of the Majestic Theatre commissioned in 1914 would have been the son, William Howard Walker. The founder’s grandson, William Russell Walker II, was born in 1884 and had undoubtedly joined the family firm by 1914, but I don’t know how much he had to do with this project.

In April 1920 the silent screen vamp Theda Bara (anagram for “Arab Death”) appeared in the live play The Blue Flame at the Majestic Theatre. NEWSPAPER AD

Opening day for Emery’s Majestic as a full-time motion picture venue, March 31, 1923.
NEWSPAPER AD

In September 1926, this theatre was part of the eleven-theatre Celebrate Paramount Week.
Newspaper ad.

Item about theatre organs in Boxoffice Magazine, December 22, 1956:

“The Sunday Journal devoted the entire front page of the amusement section to a feature story on the removal of the once-famous organs in the Strand, (Loew’s) State, and Majestic. Carrying a picture of Chester McLean, Strand house-manager, and pictures of the relics of the organs, the article stirred up many nostalgic memories for older moviegoers. A resident of nearby Hope Valley, Theo Smith, is buying up the instruments "to save them from the scrap pile.” He repairs the organs, donating them to churches. He is also assembling a complete unit for his home."

What Great theatre Marquee and the two classic Horror films playing.Thanks for that picture.

A 1956 view of the Majestic’s entrance.

View link

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/

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.

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

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.

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]

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.