Boyd Theatre
1908-18 Chestnut Street,
Philadelphia,
PA
19103
1908-18 Chestnut Street,
Philadelphia,
PA
19103
45 people
favorited this theater
Showing 276 - 300 of 514 comments
Under the marquee is the original, historic Boyd Theatre. To the west, closer to 20th than 19th Street, is the long blank wall of the three former small auditoriums. The small auditoriums aren’t historic, and that space was gutted and available for rent. Is that where you heard workers and where you saw a new for sale sign?
If you enter your contact information at www.FriendsOfTheBoyd.org you will receive our free email Weekly Updates. The last formal notice from Live Nation, the Boyd’s owner, was that they were considering whether to proceed with the project or place the theater up for sale. The Friends of the Boyd will continue to volunteer to ensure the Boyd is restored and reopened.
What is going on? Today, I walked past the Boyd and heard the sounds of men working in there. And what is the deal with the new for sale sign? I am sorry to see that the last post was almost three months ago.
Since the Philadelphia Inquirer’s architectural critic Inga Saffron apparently saw fit to omit my commentary from the following link where people are invited to express their comments on the latest regarding the Boyd — View link — here is my commentary that due to whatever misguided pressures she wrongfully decided to omit:
As I recall how the Boyd Theatre was back in the 1950s, which I regard as when it was at its absolute height of glory, it was a movie theater only, and specialized exclusively in premieres and epics. And though it was far from being an upscale entertainment venue only for the elite, it was always well understood that whoever went there had to be on their best behavior or be assured of quickly being ushered out. And not with any sort of pleasure, mind you, for the ultimate ideal at that time was to grant those from every walk of life the opportunity to experience life at its absolute best. In brief, that had been the way of the United States of America as it was in that very optimistic period following World War II.
Of course, the Boyd’s great success at that time hinged on the fact that Philadelphia was a thriving industrial mecca and major global seaport, too, and all efforts made to ensure that people from all walks of life had an abundance of opportunities to make very good money while living here.
But alas, such a stark contrast is that to the way Philadelphia is now. And nowhere else in this city do I believe this is revealed more than the current state of the Boyd Theatre. When I listen to Bruce Springsteen’s “My City In Ruins,” the Boyd Theatre as it is now is what comes to my mind first and foremost. And the greatest tragedy of all is that those who love it the most are the least financially able to contribute towards its restoration, with the only possible exception being if it somehow could be made into an investment that would allow them to see a sizeable cash return on the money they invested.
The other alternative to that, of course, would be to bring Philadelphia itself back to being the city where people from all walks of life can look to to make good money.
But to both of these solutions all that’s given back is one big scoff. Either that, or opportunities to make money that only bring the city down even further.
And upon the latter premises the Boyd Theatre is supposed to rise up again? In a very fake way it could I suppose, to become a sunny entertainment venue of sorts for shady people. And what’s saddest of all about that is that we have a whole generation of people who’ve grown up never knowing that the much better alternative to that is possible. That is, they never got to see the Boyd Theatre as it was in the ‘50s and all that it represented/proved, just an iron booted leadership quick to stomp upon anyone who dares to think that way in this “far more advanced” day and age, and oh so anxious to wipe out all last traces of what once was. Whether it be the Boyd Theatre, Gettysburg Battlefield, Burholme Park, what wee little good is left of old Ocean City, NJ or what have you.
As you all can see, I said nothing offensive or out of line in this commentary, but it’s just to show how corrupt Philadelphia has gotten.
You’re right about what you say about the Eagles and Phillies, while in Philadelphia’s case it’s very much the whole “bread & circuses” thing. That is, this city used to be a thriving blue collar mecca with its major seaport and manufacturing, which concurrently was when the Boyd was at its peak.
The previous blue collar population is still very much in place today. But instead of blue collar opportunities, these days the only blue collar outlet to speak of is cheesesteaks and major sports events, and, of course, the enormous slots parlors to come next. And right now the plan is to place the slots parlors where the blue collar moneymaking opportunities used to be — four sites along the Delaware River waterfront being looked at plus the fifth site being strongly considered where the enormous Budd plant used to be. And community protests against all sites being considered is starting to grow, and it’s primarily blue collar groups doing the protesting.
As for what you say of Atlantic City and its movie theaters prior to casinos, absolutely true. And I’ll go even further and say that the whole city with one or two exceptions was on life support by that point. But rather than that which was on life support getting a huge lift when the casinos came, it was the exact opposite. That’s like the patient is lying sick in bed, and when the “doctor” is called in to help, the so-called doctor just takes out a gun and shoots the patient instead, and then bills those who called him for “services rendered” while the dead patient gets carted off to the morgue. I.e., I think there was a much better way Atlantic City could’ve solved its problems. And if Philadelphia were on the right track right now it would be doing everything to bring blue collar industry back — since Philadelphia’s previous blue collar population is still very much here — that is, all new blue collar industry befitting of the 21st century. But instead of that our city is overshadowed and being run by Nero, so to speak, not to mention how the state of Pennsylvania at large is on the same wrong track.
For movie theaters can’t stand on their own. They need to be in combination with people making good money doing what they’re best at — and that, needless to say, won’t be their pulling the handles of slot machines. But try telling that to Nero.
If saving the Boyd had anything to do with the Eagles or Phillies, the city and its citizens would do everything in their power to save it. However, the Boyd Theatre, I would guess the majority of Philadelphians are not even aware of its possible fate. Spend millions upon millions for sports arenas, but cannot come up with any funds to help with the rescue of the Boyd! The coming of slot machines, may effect the area. But attending events at a restored Boyd is far different than the glitter of casinos and their slot machines. I would guess the theatres in Atlantic City were on life support long before the casinos arrived. If any were even around by that time.
The September 15, 2006 Philadelphia Inquirer article stated that Philadelphia’s Regional Performing Arts Center, which operates the Kimmel Center and the Academy of Music not far from the Boyd, vigorously fought a $6.4 million city subsidy of tax breaks to offset the expense of restoring the theater to its original grandeur and adding a larger backstage area, arguing that a large new theater competitor threatened their survival. But I argue that that could only be the case if the Boyd tried to replicate what the Kimmel and Academy of Music now offer, which I’ve said all along the Boyd shouldn’t try to do. And both the Kimmel and Acad. of Music have far more to worry about with the casinos still to come than any possible threat the restored Boyd would pose. For casinos, as we all should’ve learned from Atlantic City, have a funny knack for offering a lot of wonderful things for free, or at prices so ridiculously low they no independent entity could possibly begin to compete with them, whether it be nearby restaurants, nightclubs, hotels….or large scale entertainment venues. There is a way out of that, of course: Stop the casinos from coming to anywhere near Center City Philadelphia period. And if that isn’t possible, then push to have it so the casinos subsidize rather than compete with the Boyd, etc., though I don’t particularly like the word “subsidize” in this case. For it makes it look like without the casinos Center City couldn’t have these wonderful things. So “compensation for damage caused” would be far more fitting.
I saw Rocky III at the Boyd, before they added the additional theaters. Here is a photo from 1935:
http://tinyurl.com/ms4sl
No, it isn’t time to go all pessimistic. We need to ensure Philadelphia’s sole surviving downtown movie palace survives, is restored, and is restored. Visit www.FriendsOfTheBoyd.org for more updates.
GOOD BYE Theater. If you read yesterdays Phila. Ing. paper things are NOT good for this theater. rg
Though it hasn’t been publicly stated as of yet, I suspect that the gambling casinos to be coming to Philadelphia soon had far more than just a little to do with Live Nation’s decision to abandon restoring the Boyd. Meantime, though there are no movie palaces left in Atlantic City, for live performances there is Dante Hall – Theatre of the Arts. Just a block and a half from the casino strip, it appears to be surviving well. Then again it’s seating capacity is small — only 243 seats — and is Atlantic City’s only fine performing arts theater to speak of. Add to this that it’s heavily subsidized by the Atlantic City Casino Re-Development Authority (CDRA) a fund that all the casinos there are required to pay into, while to the best of my knowledge Pennsylvania has no plans of creating anything equivelent. And right now, although the mayor of Philadelphia and others are trying to get it changed, Philadelphia at this moment has no authority in being able to set any clearcut guidelines on the casinos to come, based on the premise that Philadelphia’s government is too corrupt to be able to do this. So yeah, if I was Live Nation I guess I would have second thoughts on following through with restoring the Boyd, too, given all that.
I agree with what you wrote Theater Buff. Atlantic City was a disaster not only to business owners, but people like myself wholoved the fun city it was before the casino’s. Not one of the great old movie houses in AC survived not to mention old great restaurants.
Sorry to hear this theater isn’t opening as sonn as next year as playbill had in there article.
To Howard and all others in charge of various operations in Center City Philadelphia, the fact that several sizeable slots parlor complexes are going to be coming to Center City shortly absolutely cannot be overlooked in however you plan things out. For you’re right that things go slow in Center City ordinarily, but I assure you that’s not the case with new casinos. Not only do they rise up very very quickly, but the impact they have on everything around them is every bit as sudden.
And in Atlantic City’s case what I just described above was nothing short of a total disaster, except for the casinos themselves. On the other hand, the Crown Casino Entertainment Complex in Melbourne, Australia does not appear to have hurt other businesses in Melbourne that also offer food and entertainment the way Atlantic City’s casinos did. According to this Cinema Treasures website Melbourne has some really great movie palaces to speak of. And the huge Crown complex does not seem to be having any dent on them watsoever. But whether that success can be repeated in Philadelphia’s case is hard to say. But all you down there better be planning for it is all I can say, and don’t let yourselves get sucker punched the way Atlantic City’s non-casino business owners did.
That show will be at the Merriam instead. No date yet for Boyd reopening.
Hey guys. Well I saw on Playbill .com that The Light In The Piazza is booked for the Boyd for March6-11. Does anybody know the official opening date of the theater.
The “SaveTheSameric” domain name expired. I’ve asked the Webmaster to see if we can renew it, so old references can be viewed. For a long time, we’ve been at www.FriendsOfTheBoyd.org
We are sending out free Weekly Update emails to anyone who enters their email address for such, at our homepage. The latest news, soon to be posted by volunteer Webmaster, is last week’s removal of the Water Tower framework from atop the Boyd’s stagehouse. That step was needed prior to demolition of stagehouse for replacement with larger stagehouse.
Dennis, I’m sure you are familiar with how long it takes everything to get done in Philadelphia. Closed historic buildings like Lit Bros, the Victory Building, the Naval Home, etc. took many years…new projects like the Kimmel Center, the Gallery, the Vine Street expressway, etc. took forever. The Boyd closed in 2002. Clear Channel bought it earlier last year, but they spun off their theaters to a new company Live Nation, and yes, there have been delays. However, the restoration plans are great, and there will be great shows at the Boyd.
There won’t be poles obstructing views, either! The Academy of Music is an opera house. Touring Broadway & concerts will be fun at the up to date Boyd Theatre. And, Friends of the Boyd are working to set up exhibits of the movie palace’s history, and towards our program of films (classics, festivals, etc), organ, and public tours.
What happened to the Save the Sameric website page? As a contributor to the Save the Sameric, I would check the webpage on a regular basis to get the latest news. Still anxious for this theatre to reopen. However, it certainly seems to be taking an extremely long time to get anything accomplished. And to think it was originally suggested that the touring version of “The Lion King” would be the grand reopening attraction! Still cannot imagine seeing a “Broadway show” at the Academy of Music!
Here is a picture of a 1974/1975 “Sameric Theatres” ad. This includes a ad for the Sameric Theatre when it was showing “Earthquake”:
[url]http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrambojr/160408206/[/url]
Back seat driver who won’t ever “invest” in the Boyd would indeed do us all a favor and stop misrepresenting facts.
The Boyd won’t find itself in 1928 but with a new stagehouse, and updated for ADA, modern comfort, etc. We certainly do aim to restore its original Art Deco features. As stated, prelimary work continues. Major renovation will include removal of the four movie signboard.
Friends of the Boyd mission doesn’t include a theater which has been closed half a century (the Holme) or the Mayfair. Without specifying either, it should also be obvious that every closed theater won’t reopen. And, despite pipe dreams, they certainly won’t all reopen as single screen movie houses. That would be living in the past.
Again there’s a lot of misunderstandings here as opposed to my remarks being interpreted accurately. For with more careful reading of the things I’ve said in the past, you’ll see that my whole focus is on the future. For I’m the one who’s saying Philadelphia cannot return to how it was in 1928 when the Boyd Theatre was built if nobody else is. Nor can Center City Philadelphia where the Boyd Theatre is located go back to how it was in 1959 either, when Ben Hur premiered there at the Boyd.
But Philadelphia DOES need to evolve over all so that it does become much more intellectually friendly, both at its commercial heart (Center City) and its residential areas — where the Holme and Pennypack Theatre buildings are located. And Philadelphia’s classic theaters when restored the right way will go a long way in achieving this goal. For speaking of the past, wake up people, for we’re not still back in the Frank Rizzo era anymore, which is when the Sameric people came pretty close to totally destroying Philadelphia’s grand old lady as you say. Fortunately, the Boyd Theatre has survived. And all I was asking was, at this late stage — nearly 4 years into the acquisition and restoration — is any trace of the Sameric era still left?
For you may not appreciate this, but in terms of my own efforts towards raising money for the Boyd Theatre’s restoration, I’m doing everything I possibly can to get some very influential people interested in this theater. But right now it’s a very hard if not impossible sell with last vesiges of the Sameric era still obscuring the Boyd Theatre’s underlying beauty. As I say, that stacked Sameric marquee sign on the theater’s upper portion front facade should’ve been removed long ago. It should’ve been one of the first things to go. And I believe it’s a very fair —and 100% unhostile — question to ask why it’s still there? For I’m sure we can all agree on this: Paul J. Henon, Jr., who designed the Boyd Theatre originally, was a great great architect, as evidenced by his Mastbaum Theatre and so on. And the same could be said of William Harold Lee who later reworked the Boyd Theatre in the 1950s, as evidenced by his State Theatre up in Easton, Pennsylvania, his Majestic Theatre out in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and so on, both being magnificent theaters we can all go and see today.
However, when the Sameric people got ahold of the Boyd Theatre and reworked it the way they did, were there any great architects involved in how they chose to transform it? Obviously not. And NOTHING drives that point home more clearly than that stacked Sameric multiplex sign I’ve been very critical of. As I say, that sign should’ve been taken down before anything else was done. And why oh why is anyone getting angry at my saying this?!
Now as for me and why I have not contributed money towards the Save the Boyd effort so far, any of you who have familiarity with me know that I’m an investor. And among we investors we have a saying: Don’t throw good money after bad. Meaning that if we feel that money that’s already been invested is not being directed properly, plain and simple, we don’t invest. And we WON’T until that changes. And that, in brief, is how ALL intelligent investment works. Then there’s the other style of investment, case in point, HDTV267’s blindly throwing money at things he (or she) doesn’t fully understand.
Now as for failings regarding the restorations of the Holme and Mayfair Theatres up here in Northeast Philadelphia — right now the Holme Theatre building, designed by William Harold Lee, is being made into a mini-mall, the Mayfair Theatre building, designed by David Supowitz, is being made into a bank — with all due respect, Howard, these historic theater buildings being misconverted are your failures as much as they are mine, if not moreso. For just to remind you, YOU’RE the one who has much better connections than me in this city, as you rubbed in my face in an e-mail you sent me several months back. So if you’re going to blame me for those two failures, please be sure to blame yourself as well just to keep it fair.
TheaterBuff1: Enough already> Take a break and relax. The PAST is the PAST. Thank god the theatre is still standing. Let the group enjoy the pleasure of saving a great old lady. rg
There’s been much development at the 1900 block of Chestnut Street recently, and much of that makes it better. Friends of the Boyd volunteers have been very devoted to saving Center City’s last movie palace, and have spent many hours to make this happen. WE’ve not seen financial support or an hour of your time on this effort (and we don’t see your actiona making better the theaters you champion in the Northeast- the Holmes & Mayfair especially), so I don’t know why you choose to be so unpleasant again to a group that has sacrificied so much. The new owner of the theater has also worked very hard. This preservation is a great model of SUCCESS. We anticiate major renovation to start soon.
If that entire area right around the Boyd Theatre were earmarked for historic restoration — which I myself would love to see, by the way (that is, a real Headhouse Square kind of thing) — then fully restoring the Boyd Theatre to how it had been originally would make total sense. But right now to do this I feel would be setting it up for all kinds of vulnerabilities. One really great thing the Boyd currently has going for it is its closeness to Rittenhouse Square. But right around the Boyd Theatre itself things are a bit messy, and I don’t see much if anything currently being done to correct this; it’s just being allowed to default to whatever. Meaning that what the Boyd Theatre gets restored to cannot be too delicate. For such is what caused the Boyd Theatre when it was the Sameric to fall into a quick state of demise, and downgrading that particular block of Chestnut Street even further in the process. And one thing that’s really hurting the enthusiasm to save the Boyd Theatre now is the continuance of keeping that stacked Sameric marquee sign over the building’s original upper facade — as in what is taking so darn long in finally getting rid of it??? For it has no historic value, and God, I hope no sentimental value for anyone! Right now it’s masking over the best external feature the Boyd Theatre has going for itself right now, making many of us wonder, is the Save the Boyd crew serious or isn’t it?!
Meantime, to yvgtspike, potentially any theater or theater building is up for sale if you’ve got the bucks to spend. But make sure you’ve got a very good business plan in place if your plan is to have it be a theater and you hope to recoup your initial investment. And learn as much as you can from others' mistakes, such as those made by the Sameric people.
I have a question for anyone out there.
I saw a site that offer pictures of movie theatres. I like to buy one. Can someone give me a site (or two) where I can get one.
Thanks
As we stated, a modern box office will be used. The historic 1928 ticket booth (set in about the same space as the current 1953 booth) we be replicated for historic accuracy. The idea has always been to save Center City’s last movie palace, restore it, and reopen it.
QUICK CORRECTION: It appears that rendering was drawn by someone named D.E. Lidton, or Sidton, it’s hard to make it out exactly. But whoever he was I assume he was part of the Hoffman & Henon firm.