Lexington Venue
1794 Massachusetts Avenue,
Lexington,
MA
02420
1794 Massachusetts Avenue,
Lexington,
MA
02420
5 people
favorited this theater
Related Websites
Lexington Venue (Official)
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Loews, Sack Theatres, USA Cinemas
Functions: Movies (First Run)
Previous Names: Lexington Theatre, Lexington Cinema 1 & 2, Lexington Flick
Phone Numbers:
Box Office:
781.861.6162
Manager:
781.861.6161
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News About This Theater
- Jan 25, 2010 — New name for Flick
The 500-seat Lexington Theatre was opened in 1915. It suffered damage in a January 1923 fire. On November 15, 1974 it merged with the former Mews Art Cinema and became Lexington Cinema 1 & 2. A small, homey two-screen theatre right in the center of Lexington, showing second runs with some preference for art films.
It’s nothing special architecturally, but it’s one of the very few suburban town center cinemas still operating in this part of the country, and a pleasant place to visit.
There used to be a small chain of other “Flick” theatres in nearby towns (Lowell, Littleton, Billerica), but this is the only one still open.
Before it was a “Flick”, it spent several years as part of the Sack Theatres - USA Cinemas - Loews chain, also as a ‘quality’ second-run house. Since January 2009, under new ownership, it has been renamed Lexington Venue screening first run movies.
Contributed by
Ron Newman
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Recent comments (view all 28 comments)
It was just listed as ‘Lexington’ in Loews (and before that, USACinemas and Sack) advertisements.
The Lexington Th. is listed in the 1927 Film Daily Yearbook as having 500 seats. It’s the only movie theater listed for Lexington MA.
There are some recent photos on this website: View link
Does anyone know if they have a website? If they don’t they’re the only theatre in the Metro Boston area that does NOT have one…
There’s a larger, even better photograph over at View link
Fairly recent, since GREENBURG was playing…
The Lexington Venue is mostly a FIRST RUN theatre. It runs day and date with Landmark in Cambridge,Lowes Harvard Square, Landmark Waltham, Hollywood, Danvers and some of the other Art/Independant theatres in the area. It does not book first run blockbusters like Avatar and the like. We have many independant single or twin theatres in the Boston area. Some new and some old 1930’s houses like the Cameo in S. Weymouth(1st run) The Loring in Hingham(Art/Independant) house, The West Newton in W. Newton. The Milkl Wharf cinema in Scituate, The Capitol in Arlington and the Somerville in Somerville plus many more in other areas. This may not be the case by the end of 2013 because of the demise of film and complete advent of Digital. This is a shame because not too many independant operators can afford the 50 -75 thouand dollars to convert each screen to digital. What a pity. The movie companies are forcing thousands of small operators to wave a white flag and abandon there operations. I don’t know what can be done to stop this. Any one have any solutions or ideas?
The Capitol and Somerville are both converting to digital (while retaining the ability to project 35mm), but I don’t know what’s happening with the Lexington Venue and the other theatres you listed here.
Ron.
Luckily the note I listed theatres on above is still good. All of the theatres I listed are still active and have been converted to digital.The only theatre I know that has shut down recently is the Studio in Belmont. They are trying to raise money to convert and reopen. Good luck.
Some info. The 2nd screen opened on September 29th, 1973 as the Mews Art cinema. Its entrance was at 10 Muzzy. In 1974 the Muzzy entrance was renamed The Flick. On November 15th, 1974 it became the Lexington Cinema 1 & 2 with the 3rd screen opening in 1981. Closed in 1989 and reopened on June 1st, 1990 as the Lexington Flick with two screens.
Along with the Capitol in Arlington, the Somerville Theatre, the Coolidge Corner in Brookline, and the IMAX screens at the Aquarium and Jordan’s Furniture, this is one of the very few theatres that continue to advertise in the Boston Globe Movie Directory.
This started life as the Lexington Theatre. It opened in 1915 and did receive damage from a January 1923 fire.
The Lexington Theatre ran first-run features for decades and still retained its first-run mainstream policy when the nearby and short-lived Mews Art Cinema opened on September 29, 1973 on 10 Muzzy.
Both theaters merged into a twin-screen theater and became the Lexington Cinema 1 & 2 on November 15, 1974. A third screen was added on June 10, 1981 when one of its auditoriums split that caused a two-month closure to one of its screens. The film policy did had a little bit of an difference later on. As of the 1980s, it primarily ran selections of first-run and second-run features but it did added a small selection of independent features in rare occasions. Even at times, people who wanted to see a first-run feature must head to Burlington or Woburn to see it. At the time, the Lexington 1-2-3 was operated by Sack Theatres. This was followed by USA Cinemas in January 1986 and then Loews in March 1989. It was renamed the Lexington Flick in June 1990.