Center Theatre

690 Washington Street,
Boston, MA 02111

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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

Nearby Theaters

Center Theatre

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!

Contributed by Ian Grundy

Recent comments (view all 49 comments)

rsalters (Ron Salters)
rsalters (Ron Salters) on December 30, 2009 at 10:48 am

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.

rsalters (Ron Salters)
rsalters (Ron Salters) on February 14, 2011 at 11:39 am

In a 1918 Boston street directory this theatre, as “Loew’s Globe Theatre” is listed at 692 Washington Street.

rsalters (Ron Salters)
rsalters (Ron Salters) on October 11, 2011 at 10:32 am

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.

sweetmel
sweetmel on May 19, 2012 at 10:09 pm

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.

rivest266
rivest266 on May 11, 2013 at 12:02 pm

February 11th, 1947 ad uploaded here.

thestarofmyworld
thestarofmyworld on July 1, 2015 at 4:55 am

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.

DavidZornig
DavidZornig on November 27, 2015 at 1:42 pm

1969 photo added, photo credit Christopher C.

DavidZornig
DavidZornig on May 31, 2017 at 6:11 am

Summer 1956 marquee photo added courtesy of the Dirty Old Boston Facebook page.

Matt Lambros
Matt Lambros on July 17, 2023 at 7:18 am

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

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