Art Theatre

“Someone Who Was There” tells me that he has heard that the interior of the Art has recently been gutted out.

“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.

Thanks Ken.

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

I drove past the site today, and there isn’t a theatre there. (wish I had taken a photo, sorry)

The theatre was built by George “Doc” Lothrop, who was a colorful character who ran theatres and produced shows in eastern New England including in Boston and Providence. He presented second-run or second-string shows, plays and musicals, and minstrel troupes. Later, vaudeville and early movies. Like many smaller American theatres of the 19th Century, this one is an “upstairs house”, with the main floor one flight up. The MGM Theatre Photograph and Report form for this house has a photo taken in May 1941, when it was the Olympia Theatre. There was a vertical sign above and a triangular marquee with 3 lines. Movies playing are Fred MacMurray in “Virginia” plus “Man I Married”. Walton’s Restaurant is to the right. The Report states that the Olympia has been a MGM customer for over 10 years; that it’s in Good condition; and that it has 650 seats on the main floor and 536 seats in the balcony, total: 1186. It became an E.M. Loew house, perhaps sometime in the 1930s ?? In the post-War era a number of EML theatres were “modernized” and given the name “Fine Arts”, and this apparently was one of them. I understand that it’s under the same management as the Paris Theatre nearby.

In 1975, the Manager of this theatre took me on a brief tour upstairs here, where he had discovered a room which had been walled off. (they must have been doing some renovation work.) Inside, covered in soot, were a few dozen rolled 40x60s all from the years 1942 and 1943. Littered on the floor, were lobby cards and stills. There was also an area above the ceiling of the auditorium where I saw old glass light covers. I grabbed a few choice items from the old “poster room” and lugged them out to my car. One of the posters was a Yankee Doodle Dandy which I sold to a fellow Manager at the GCC Hanover Mall, named Jim Mahoney. I understand Jim had this poster displayed on the wall of his office there for a few years. I wish I had appreciated this stuff back then.

The theatre was built in 1890 as Lothrop’s Opera House. It was also called Lynch’s Pleasant Street Theatre, and the Fine Arts Theatre.

No, it was called the OLYMPIA, as in my original posting. The name OLYMPIA still appears spelled on the mosaic tiling on the walkway in front of the theatre entrance. I took a photo and just checked it to be sure.

The theatre is now called the Art.