Center Theatre
690 Washington Street,
Boston,
MA
02111
5 people favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: E.M. Loew's Theaters Inc., Loew's Inc.
Architects: Arthur Vinal
Functions: Restaurant, Retail
Styles: French Renaissance
Previous Names: Globe Theatre, Loew's Globe Theatre, Pagoda Theatre
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The Globe Theatre was opened by 1918 with 1,700 seats. It was operated by Marcus Loew. A former grand theatre, it was taken over by the E.M. Loew’s chain around 1944 and renamed the Center Theatre. It is now a shopping mall on the totally altered ground floor.
Upstairs, however, in the former balcony area, with a new floor extended through the proscenium arch, most of the decor survives and provides a rather more lavish Chinese restaurant than most other diners!
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Recent comments (view all 49 comments)
Tinseltoes' photo of the old Globe in burlesque days is a good one! However, the date of it should be “circa-1945” not “1955”. By 1955 its burlesque days were over and it had been renamed the Center Theater and was under management of E.M. Loew.
In a 1918 Boston street directory this theatre, as “Loew’s Globe Theatre” is listed at 692 Washington Street.
This theater had the distinction of being operated by both of the Loew theater circuits. As the Globe in the 1920s it was operated by Marcus Loew of NY. After WW II it became the flagship of the E.M. Loew circuit and the name was changed to Center Theatre.
I don’t remember seeing movies there even though I was told I did go with my family however, I have been the the resturant there and the house style rice is very good.
February 11th, 1947 ad uploaded here.
It’s beautiful.
I’ll attempt to upload some of our photos of our memories (of the restaurant — not the theater). How live it must have been when it was a theater.
1969 photo added, photo credit Christopher C.
Summer 1956 marquee photo added courtesy of the Dirty Old Boston Facebook page.
I wish the food at this place was as good as the interior architecture. Here’s a short write up with some photos at After the Final Curtain