Yes, I saw TV news tape made yesterday in Cedar Rapids, probably from a boat downtown. The entrance of the Paramount appeared to have water at least 4 to 5 feet deep in front of it. What a shame! I visited the Paramount in the mid-1980s with a Theatre Historical Society group. It’s a large and beautiful theater. The water in Cedar Rapids appears to be quite a bit deeper than the water in downtown New Orleans caused by Hurricane Katrina.
The Whitney Opera House in Fitchburg is listed in the 1897-98 edition of the Julius Cahn Official Theatrical Guide. Unfortunately, there are no street addresses in this Guide. The seating capacity was 1000; John Oldfield was the Mgr. The theater had both gas and electic illumination. The proscenium opening was 26' X 26', and the stage was 28 feet deep. It says that the theater was on the second floor. Newspapers were the Sentinel and the Mail. Hotels for show folk were the Fitchburg, American House, Balmoral, and Temperance. Railroads were the Fitchburg RR and the New Haven RR. The 1897 population of Fitchburg was 28,000 with an area draw of 40,000.
I compared the photo which Merrill Bancroft posted above with the rather poor photo (xerox copy) on the MGM Report and they are the same theatre. The MGM photo was taken head-on from across the street in May 1941.
Ron- I have all the info necessary to create pages here in CT for the Wilbur and the Shubert in Boston but there is no history that I can find that they ever presented movies. Unlike the Orpheum which was a first-run cinema for decades before becoming a live theater today. Too bad that CT does not have some sort of a link to a sub-program called Stage Treasures or Live Treasures where theaters like the Wilbur and Shubert could be listed.
The operator of the Orpheum, Live Nation, will reportedly soon start booking music acts into the reopened Wilbur Theatre several blocks to the south (next to the Wang Theatre). The Wilbur, a small legit house nearly 100 years old, will be the new home of the recently closed Comedy club in the Fanieul Hall marketplace downtown.
I have been informed that the Dreamland is being slowly dismantled; the parts numbered so that it can be reassembled later as part of the new complex on the site.
In the CT Page for the Fellsway Theatre in Medford, Old Theatre Buff made a posting on 9-16-2005 which has some info about the Square Theatre. He says that the old Riverside Theatre was reopened in the late-1930s, with its entrance in a new location, and with a program of “proven pictures”, and renamed Square Theatre.
To sedgwick- the “blacklisted” or banned Eugene O'Neill play was “Strange Interlude” and, after being “Banned in Boston” (at the Hollis Street Theatre near the Shubert and Wang) it played in Quincy at the Quincy Theatre (later the Capitol), a short walk from the Strand.
The MGM Theater Photograph and Report form for the Square in Medford has an exterior photo taken in 1941. The theatre had a narrow entrance in an office building which appears to be the Coolidge Bulding. There was a rectangular marquee with “Square” at the top and lines for attractions. Movie is “I Stole a Million”. There is a centered ticket booth and narrow poster cases on each side of the entrance. The form says that the Square has been a MGM customer for 4 years; that it was built about 1910, is in Good condition, and has 863 seats on the main floor and 550 balcony seats, total: 1,413 seats. Competing theatres are the Fellsway and the Medford. The 1940 population of Medford was 63,000.
The MGM Theatre Photograph and Report form for the Mystic has an exterior photo dated April 1941. The entrance was the second bay from the left end of an commercial building at least 2 stories high. Above the rectangular marquee was a fancy arch and what appears to be a verticle blade sign. Movies posted were “Footsteps in the Dark” and “Flight from Destiny”, plus “Bank Night Every Thur Eve”. Hanging from the marquee bottom is a banner reading “Tonite Bank Night”. The Report states that the Mystic is on Pleasant St. in Malden, that it has been presenting MGM films for over 10 years; is over 15 years old, and in Fair condition. The seating figures have been messed with and crossed out. Someone wrote in pen “Rebuilt after fire about 8 years ago”.
In the Street View, the building on the right, white with a small green canopy or awning could be the Lechmere Theater, but I’m not sure of that. Where did the street number, 585, come from? There is no street number on the MGM Report. Also Ron, don’t you have a copy of the MGM Report, # 71, for the Lechmere? I mailed it to you, along with some other MGM reports for Cambridge theatres, quite some time ago.
As the Orpheum, this theater was included in the MGM Theatre Photograph and Report project. The form has an exterior photo taken in 1941. The theater had a narrow entrance with a small rectangular marquee and a vertical blade sign above. Movies posted were “That Night in Rio” and “Man Who Lost Himself”. To the right of the entrance was Student Bros. shoe store. The Report says that the Orpheum had been playing MGM films for over 15 years; it was over 15 years old (as of 1941), and in Good condition, and had 1158 seats, with the same breakdown as in the heading above. The theatre was on Parker St., and the competing theater was the Uptown.
The Dudley Theatre in Roxbury is not to be confused with the old late-19th Century Dudley Opera House on nearby Dudley Street. There is a MGM Theatre Photograph and Report form for the Dudley, with an exterior photo dated May 1941. The theater had a narrow entrance with a 2-sided marquee on which movies with James Cagney and Gene Autry are posted. On the edge of the sidewalk in front of the entrance is an upright post for the elevated railway structure, and to the right of the entrance is Soligan’s Lunch. The Report says that the Dudley had been a MGM customer for over 10 years, that it was over 15 years old (in 1941), was in Poor condition, and had 1,348 orchestra seats and 562 balcony seats. Competing theatres are listed as the Rivoli and the Rex. (This info replaces postings to this Page deleted recently).
According to articles in the Boston Herald (May 14 2008) and the Quincy Patriot Ledger, the Museum of Bad Art (MOBA) at the Dedham Community Theatre has opened a second exhibit gallery in the basement of the Somerville Theatre. Even with 2 exhibit spaces, the MOBA has room to showcase only a portion of its dubious collection. The MOBA gallery will add still another attraction to the Somerville Theatre complex.
One of the recent articles (May 8, ‘08) in the Quincy Patriot Ledger concerning the new memorial sculpture has a file photo taken after the worst of the fire was over. It shows firefighters standing at the right front of the auditorium in front of the first row of seats, aiming a hose at the balcony. There does not appear to be a shred of damage to the wall, seats, proscenium or curtains. There does not seem to be any debris around them. All the damage was apparently confined to the upper rear of the auditorium. The article states that the first fire alarm was called in after midnight for a fire in the basement. Unbeknownst to the firefighters was the fact that a fire had been burning undetected in the space between the rear ceiling and the roof. When they went up into the balcony, the roof suddenly collapsed on them. There is today only one person still alive from among those who fought the fire, Edward Burrell, age 93.
According to an article in the Quincy Patriot Ledger, May 12 08, the Museum of Bad Art (MOBA) in the basement of the Community Theater plans to open an annex gallery in the Somerville Th., Somerville MA. MOBA has room to exhibit only 10% of its dubious collection. The Somerville Theatre gallery will also be located, appropriately, “in the basement, near the toilets”. The Dedham gallery can be viewed free, but at the Somerville Theatre it will be necessary to buy a movie ticket.
Mrs. Gaspa is quite correct that there were 2 entrances to the South Station Theatre when she worked there in the early 1940s. The exterior entrance was on Summer Street and its left edge was only about 8 feet from the corner of Dorchester Ave. Up above and right at the corner was a fancy verticle blade sign which read “Theatre”. There was no marquee but there was plenty of signage around and above the entrance. To the right was the Union Hat Co. store which sold work clothes and sportswear. This half of South Station was demolished 30-plus years ago.
markedmunds- are you sure you paid $1.75 to get into the Stuart during the day in the early 1960s? Or was that the total for your entire party of friends? The day admission as of 1960 was only 25 cents; might have gone up to 35 cents by 1962 or 63. It was the cheapest of the downtown Boston theaters in that period.
The deletion of threads of comments is not intentional; it’s some sort of programming glitch. It’s happened in at least a dozen or more theatre Pages that I’m aware of in the past 2 years or so. If you see it, send CT a message because sometimes they can restore the comments.
The memorial to the Strand Theatre firefighters who were killed on March 10, 1941 was dedicated on Saturday morning, May 10, 2008. The rather imposing sculpture is located on City Hall Plaza in Brockton, which is said to be just one block from the Strand’s location.
As the Grand Opera House, this theatre is listed in the 1897-98 edition of the Julius Cahn Official Theatrical Guide. GA & WC Dickson were the managers, and the seating capacity is given as 2000. Ticket prices ranged from 25 cents to $1. The theatre was on the ground floor and had both gas and electric illumination. The proscenium opening was 37 feet wide X 35 feet high, and the stage was 38 feet deep. There was also a Park Theatre in Dayton, also managed by the Dicksons, and also having about 2000 seats. The 1897 population of Dayton was 95,000.
According to an article and group photo in the Cincinnati Enquirer of April 4, 2008, the Midway did indeed close after the evening show of “Horton Hears a Who” on Thursday, April 3rd. “1937 – 2008” was posted on the small marquee.
Yes, I saw TV news tape made yesterday in Cedar Rapids, probably from a boat downtown. The entrance of the Paramount appeared to have water at least 4 to 5 feet deep in front of it. What a shame! I visited the Paramount in the mid-1980s with a Theatre Historical Society group. It’s a large and beautiful theater. The water in Cedar Rapids appears to be quite a bit deeper than the water in downtown New Orleans caused by Hurricane Katrina.
The Whitney Opera House in Fitchburg is listed in the 1897-98 edition of the Julius Cahn Official Theatrical Guide. Unfortunately, there are no street addresses in this Guide. The seating capacity was 1000; John Oldfield was the Mgr. The theater had both gas and electic illumination. The proscenium opening was 26' X 26', and the stage was 28 feet deep. It says that the theater was on the second floor. Newspapers were the Sentinel and the Mail. Hotels for show folk were the Fitchburg, American House, Balmoral, and Temperance. Railroads were the Fitchburg RR and the New Haven RR. The 1897 population of Fitchburg was 28,000 with an area draw of 40,000.
I compared the photo which Merrill Bancroft posted above with the rather poor photo (xerox copy) on the MGM Report and they are the same theatre. The MGM photo was taken head-on from across the street in May 1941.
Ron- I have all the info necessary to create pages here in CT for the Wilbur and the Shubert in Boston but there is no history that I can find that they ever presented movies. Unlike the Orpheum which was a first-run cinema for decades before becoming a live theater today. Too bad that CT does not have some sort of a link to a sub-program called Stage Treasures or Live Treasures where theaters like the Wilbur and Shubert could be listed.
The operator of the Orpheum, Live Nation, will reportedly soon start booking music acts into the reopened Wilbur Theatre several blocks to the south (next to the Wang Theatre). The Wilbur, a small legit house nearly 100 years old, will be the new home of the recently closed Comedy club in the Fanieul Hall marketplace downtown.
I have been informed that the Dreamland is being slowly dismantled; the parts numbered so that it can be reassembled later as part of the new complex on the site.
In my post above of 1-28-07 I should have pointed out that the photo of the Waltham Theatre on the MGM Report is dated May 1941.
In the CT Page for the Fellsway Theatre in Medford, Old Theatre Buff made a posting on 9-16-2005 which has some info about the Square Theatre. He says that the old Riverside Theatre was reopened in the late-1930s, with its entrance in a new location, and with a program of “proven pictures”, and renamed Square Theatre.
In the 1942-43 Motion Picture Almanac, the Square Th. in Medford is listed as part of the Fred Lieberman circuit of Boston (“Proven Pictures”).
To sedgwick- the “blacklisted” or banned Eugene O'Neill play was “Strange Interlude” and, after being “Banned in Boston” (at the Hollis Street Theatre near the Shubert and Wang) it played in Quincy at the Quincy Theatre (later the Capitol), a short walk from the Strand.
The MGM Theater Photograph and Report form for the Square in Medford has an exterior photo taken in 1941. The theatre had a narrow entrance in an office building which appears to be the Coolidge Bulding. There was a rectangular marquee with “Square” at the top and lines for attractions. Movie is “I Stole a Million”. There is a centered ticket booth and narrow poster cases on each side of the entrance. The form says that the Square has been a MGM customer for 4 years; that it was built about 1910, is in Good condition, and has 863 seats on the main floor and 550 balcony seats, total: 1,413 seats. Competing theatres are the Fellsway and the Medford. The 1940 population of Medford was 63,000.
The MGM Theatre Photograph and Report form for the Mystic has an exterior photo dated April 1941. The entrance was the second bay from the left end of an commercial building at least 2 stories high. Above the rectangular marquee was a fancy arch and what appears to be a verticle blade sign. Movies posted were “Footsteps in the Dark” and “Flight from Destiny”, plus “Bank Night Every Thur Eve”. Hanging from the marquee bottom is a banner reading “Tonite Bank Night”. The Report states that the Mystic is on Pleasant St. in Malden, that it has been presenting MGM films for over 10 years; is over 15 years old, and in Fair condition. The seating figures have been messed with and crossed out. Someone wrote in pen “Rebuilt after fire about 8 years ago”.
In the Street View, the building on the right, white with a small green canopy or awning could be the Lechmere Theater, but I’m not sure of that. Where did the street number, 585, come from? There is no street number on the MGM Report. Also Ron, don’t you have a copy of the MGM Report, # 71, for the Lechmere? I mailed it to you, along with some other MGM reports for Cambridge theatres, quite some time ago.
As the Orpheum, this theater was included in the MGM Theatre Photograph and Report project. The form has an exterior photo taken in 1941. The theater had a narrow entrance with a small rectangular marquee and a vertical blade sign above. Movies posted were “That Night in Rio” and “Man Who Lost Himself”. To the right of the entrance was Student Bros. shoe store. The Report says that the Orpheum had been playing MGM films for over 15 years; it was over 15 years old (as of 1941), and in Good condition, and had 1158 seats, with the same breakdown as in the heading above. The theatre was on Parker St., and the competing theater was the Uptown.
The Dudley Theatre in Roxbury is not to be confused with the old late-19th Century Dudley Opera House on nearby Dudley Street. There is a MGM Theatre Photograph and Report form for the Dudley, with an exterior photo dated May 1941. The theater had a narrow entrance with a 2-sided marquee on which movies with James Cagney and Gene Autry are posted. On the edge of the sidewalk in front of the entrance is an upright post for the elevated railway structure, and to the right of the entrance is Soligan’s Lunch. The Report says that the Dudley had been a MGM customer for over 10 years, that it was over 15 years old (in 1941), was in Poor condition, and had 1,348 orchestra seats and 562 balcony seats. Competing theatres are listed as the Rivoli and the Rex. (This info replaces postings to this Page deleted recently).
The local 10PM news on Fox-TV had video from May 14 2008 showing demolition in progress at the Dedham Showcase.
According to articles in the Boston Herald (May 14 2008) and the Quincy Patriot Ledger, the Museum of Bad Art (MOBA) at the Dedham Community Theatre has opened a second exhibit gallery in the basement of the Somerville Theatre. Even with 2 exhibit spaces, the MOBA has room to showcase only a portion of its dubious collection. The MOBA gallery will add still another attraction to the Somerville Theatre complex.
One of the recent articles (May 8, ‘08) in the Quincy Patriot Ledger concerning the new memorial sculpture has a file photo taken after the worst of the fire was over. It shows firefighters standing at the right front of the auditorium in front of the first row of seats, aiming a hose at the balcony. There does not appear to be a shred of damage to the wall, seats, proscenium or curtains. There does not seem to be any debris around them. All the damage was apparently confined to the upper rear of the auditorium. The article states that the first fire alarm was called in after midnight for a fire in the basement. Unbeknownst to the firefighters was the fact that a fire had been burning undetected in the space between the rear ceiling and the roof. When they went up into the balcony, the roof suddenly collapsed on them. There is today only one person still alive from among those who fought the fire, Edward Burrell, age 93.
According to an article in the Quincy Patriot Ledger, May 12 08, the Museum of Bad Art (MOBA) in the basement of the Community Theater plans to open an annex gallery in the Somerville Th., Somerville MA. MOBA has room to exhibit only 10% of its dubious collection. The Somerville Theatre gallery will also be located, appropriately, “in the basement, near the toilets”. The Dedham gallery can be viewed free, but at the Somerville Theatre it will be necessary to buy a movie ticket.
Mrs. Gaspa is quite correct that there were 2 entrances to the South Station Theatre when she worked there in the early 1940s. The exterior entrance was on Summer Street and its left edge was only about 8 feet from the corner of Dorchester Ave. Up above and right at the corner was a fancy verticle blade sign which read “Theatre”. There was no marquee but there was plenty of signage around and above the entrance. To the right was the Union Hat Co. store which sold work clothes and sportswear. This half of South Station was demolished 30-plus years ago.
markedmunds- are you sure you paid $1.75 to get into the Stuart during the day in the early 1960s? Or was that the total for your entire party of friends? The day admission as of 1960 was only 25 cents; might have gone up to 35 cents by 1962 or 63. It was the cheapest of the downtown Boston theaters in that period.
The deletion of threads of comments is not intentional; it’s some sort of programming glitch. It’s happened in at least a dozen or more theatre Pages that I’m aware of in the past 2 years or so. If you see it, send CT a message because sometimes they can restore the comments.
The memorial to the Strand Theatre firefighters who were killed on March 10, 1941 was dedicated on Saturday morning, May 10, 2008. The rather imposing sculpture is located on City Hall Plaza in Brockton, which is said to be just one block from the Strand’s location.
As the Grand Opera House, this theatre is listed in the 1897-98 edition of the Julius Cahn Official Theatrical Guide. GA & WC Dickson were the managers, and the seating capacity is given as 2000. Ticket prices ranged from 25 cents to $1. The theatre was on the ground floor and had both gas and electric illumination. The proscenium opening was 37 feet wide X 35 feet high, and the stage was 38 feet deep. There was also a Park Theatre in Dayton, also managed by the Dicksons, and also having about 2000 seats. The 1897 population of Dayton was 95,000.
According to an article and group photo in the Cincinnati Enquirer of April 4, 2008, the Midway did indeed close after the evening show of “Horton Hears a Who” on Thursday, April 3rd. “1937 – 2008” was posted on the small marquee.