Art Theatre
17-27 Pleasant Street,
Worcester,
MA
01609
17-27 Pleasant Street,
Worcester,
MA
01609
1 person
favorited this theater
An old theatre on a side street in the heart of Worcester, Massachusetts. It operated for many years as an adult film theater, which closed in January 2006.
Contributed by
Gerald A. DeLuca
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Recent comments (view all 22 comments)
The theater was just sold to a developer who is looking into renovating the building and creating a performing arts space, coffee shop or nightclub. See link for article.
View link
Here is the real estate listing:
http://tinyurl.com/27kp3e
Thanks Ken.
A couple of Theatre Historical Society members were in downtown Worcester on June 25 and report that the Art is still sitting closed up with no evidence of any remodeling going on.
“Someone Who Was There” was in Worcester a couple of weeks ago and managed to get inside the Art. He says that the auditorium is whole and not divided. It says “Twin” at the top of this page, so I assume that it was divided downstairs and upstairs, but there is no evidence of this today. Was There liked the street-level foyer with its staircase going up to the theater; he says the house is in relatively good condition, and reeks of old-time theater atmosphere. He says that there is some sort of drop-ceiling in the auditorium. The biggest surprise was that the stage is only about 7 feet deep. This surprised both of us since we know that it was a live stage theater for the first 20 years or so of its existence. I know that a century ago the troupers in the touring shows were very versatile and could put on their show in any theater, no matter how small the stage. Was There liked this theater very much and hopes the new owner can manage to preserve it.
1986 Photo
“Someone Who Was There” tells me that he has heard that the interior of the Art has recently been gutted out.
As the Pleasant Street Theatre, the Art was included in the Worcester theaters on a long list of Massachusetts theaters and halls receiving licenses during the 12 months ending Oct. 31, 1914. Other Worcester entries on the list: Grand Theatre (managed by Poli), Lincoln Park Theatre, New Park Theatre, Plaza Theatre (managed by Poli), Poli’s Theatre, Worcester Theatre, Tuckerman Hall, Mechanics Hall, Columbus Hall, Gem Hall.
If anyone has any stories about going to/ working at this threatre in its adult days, I would love to hear them. I am chronicling the histories of adult theatres in the US. Please contact me at Thanks!
There are a lot of great comments here about the old Lothrop’s Opera House\Olympia\Fine Arts. However, I’m surprised that in all this time the pictures have not been corrected. The two pictures displayed on this site ARE NOT the same building being described. These pictures are of the Worcester Theatre on Exchange Street in Worcester. This is the second Worcester Theatre, rebuilt right after the original 1860’s building was destroyed by fire in 1889. This was the “high class” legitimate playhouse of the period that saw most of the great stage actors of the 19th and early 20th century appear here.