Gerald, you wrote that this was originally used for the ‘Jewett Repertory Company’. So was what is now the Boston University Theatre. Why did this stage company need two theatres, so close to each other?
What happened to the Samuel Goldwyn Pavilion theatre that replaced the Picwood? Has it closed as well? I don’t see it in current movie listings online.
Looks like most of the films shown are American (Finding Neverland, Million Dollar Baby, In Good Company, Sideways), but not all of them (Turetskiy Gambit).
How long has this been operating? Has it always been called the America Cinema, with the current policy?
Carver Street no longer exists as such. Several decades of redevelopment (including construction of the 57 Hotel) have rearranged the street pattern in Park Square and the South Cove. What remains of Carver Street is now called ‘Charles Street South’.
The West Wing was dedicated on Friday, July 17, 1981 and opened to the public the following Wednesday, July 22. I don’t know when the first film was shown in Remis, but if it wasn’t that day, it was probably shortly thereafter.
The Kinsgley Montessori School in Boston’s Back Bay is moving into the historic Exeter Street Theatre building on the corner of Exeter and Newbury streets.
The school, which operates in the former Saltonstall Mansion at 30 Fairfield St., will expand into 23,000 square feet of space on the first three floors of the former theater. Previously the space has housed Conran’s furniture store and Waterstone’s Booksellers.
In the Exeter Street building the school will teach grades one through six, while the preschool program will remain on Fairfield Street. The school will also add a toddler classroom for children 2 years old in September at the original location.
Kingsley expects to have the new space designed and completed by September, Head of School Renee DuChainey-Farkes said in a statement. The space will include classrooms, library facilities, a science lab, performing and visual arts studios, a language space, after-school program space and meeting space.
I looked through some early 1975 microfilm of the weekly Boston Phoenix, and saw the Loew’s Abbey 1&2 advertised there. At that time, they were a $1 house. By the time I arrived in the neighborhood in September 1975, the Abbey had closed.
The next thing I want to find out is when the first Nickelodeon opened in its place — I think it was in 1978.
That new F.E.I. THEATRES logo is now the first thing you see every day at the beginning of the Boston Globe theatre directory — before Loews or Regal or Showcase or AMC. It’s just an accident of Arlington being the alphabetically first town, but I enjoy it every time I see it.
I looked through some early 1975 microfilm of the Boston Phoenix today, and noticed that the Harvard Square was listed in the Sonny & Eddy’s Theatres ad, along with the Central Square 1&2, Allston 1&2, Exeter Street, and Academy Twin Cinemas (of Newton). The Galeria (later Janus) hadn’t yet opened; I think that came later in the year.
That link doesn’t work. Do you mean www.ConradSchmitt.com ? I don’t see anything there about the Paramount Theatre in Aurora — only a Paramount in Anderson, Indiana.
This page has two breathtaking photos of the Paramount’s interior. I don’t know when these were taken. If any of you have been inside, how do these photos compare with what you saw?
Unfortunately, the project proposed on that page never happened because FD Rich got into bankruptcy trouble and ‘Commonwealth Center’ was not built.
From the Boston Globe’s “Ask the Globe” column, December 25, 1984:
Q. There used to be a small theater, similar to the Wilbur, on Stuart street in Boston. What was its name? – B.H., Lexington.
A. That was the storied Plymouth, which opened Sept. 23, 1911, with the Abbey Theater Company of Dublin performing John Millington Synge’s “The Playboy of the Western World.” Designed by Clarence H. Blackall, a noted theater architect of the time, the Plymouth was built for Liebler & Co, and was considered one of the most modern playhouses in the country. The Shubert Organization of New York bought the Plymouth in 1927 and used it largely for tryouts of plays headed for New York or going on tour, and for some long run performances. The Shuberts sold the theater to the Sack movie chain in 1957, and it was renamed the Gary. That fell to the wrecking ball in 1978.
I looked up the Wollaston Theatre on the Quincy Patriot Ledger’s web site, and found these articles:
Juen 10, 2003: Owner Arthur Chandler said yesterday that fixing a leaking roof is a slow process, and said he didn’t have a timeline for the theater’s opening. “We’re still trying to make headway,” Chandler said. (Most of this article is actually about the reopening of the Flagship Cinemas.)
August 12, 2002: “Just the ticket: THEY LOVE The Wolly”. The article describes the joys of visiting this theatre on dollar nights, complete with 10-cent coffees, 55-cent popcorn, and 60-cent candy bars. But it also points out the lack of air-conditioning as well as “the rows of roped off seats, leaky ceiling patches and peeling paint”.
September 27, 2000: Mazel Tov also to the same players n and other politicians n who’ve transformed Wollaston Center and Quincy Center from near seedy to near beautiful in recent years. They’ve creatively used block grants, private donations and even outright giveaways such as last year’s “non-repayable loan” for $60,000 to Wollaston Theater owner Arthur Chandler n to successfully spur business owners to spruce-up their properties.
The owner refused for years to raise prices — well into the 1990s you could still see a movie here on a Monday night for $1. Concessions were cheap too. While I’m sure the audience loved the low prices, the owner would have done better to raise them and invest in keeping the place in good repair.
By the way, the Flagship Cinemas in Quincy Center last month changed their ticket price to $2.50 at all times. But they still don’t advertise in the Globe, so who’s going to know about it? I hope they know what they’re doing, but it looks like a desperate move to me.
Looking back though some newspaper archives and web pages, I see that the Capitol opened on November 25, 1925, originally had an organ, and was subdivided into five screens in the fall of 1989.
The sixth screen was added a few years later, but I don’t know exactly when. I think it was created from the former stage.
I hope there are some plans for an 80th birthday celebration this year.
Does this theatre have a web site?
Gerald, you wrote that this was originally used for the ‘Jewett Repertory Company’. So was what is now the Boston University Theatre. Why did this stage company need two theatres, so close to each other?
What happened to the Samuel Goldwyn Pavilion theatre that replaced the Picwood? Has it closed as well? I don’t see it in current movie listings online.
Looks like most of the films shown are American (Finding Neverland, Million Dollar Baby, In Good Company, Sideways), but not all of them (Turetskiy Gambit).
How long has this been operating? Has it always been called the America Cinema, with the current policy?
Also, as mentioned earlier, only one of the two former Cinema 57 screens is now the Stuart Street Playhouse. The other one is a golf school.
Carver Street no longer exists as such. Several decades of redevelopment (including construction of the 57 Hotel) have rearranged the street pattern in Park Square and the South Cove. What remains of Carver Street is now called ‘Charles Street South’.
The West Wing was dedicated on Friday, July 17, 1981 and opened to the public the following Wednesday, July 22. I don’t know when the first film was shown in Remis, but if it wasn’t that day, it was probably shortly thereafter.
From Boston Business Journal, February 11, 2005:
The Kinsgley Montessori School in Boston’s Back Bay is moving into the historic Exeter Street Theatre building on the corner of Exeter and Newbury streets.
The school, which operates in the former Saltonstall Mansion at 30 Fairfield St., will expand into 23,000 square feet of space on the first three floors of the former theater. Previously the space has housed Conran’s furniture store and Waterstone’s Booksellers.
In the Exeter Street building the school will teach grades one through six, while the preschool program will remain on Fairfield Street. The school will also add a toddler classroom for children 2 years old in September at the original location.
Kingsley expects to have the new space designed and completed by September, Head of School Renee DuChainey-Farkes said in a statement. The space will include classrooms, library facilities, a science lab, performing and visual arts studios, a language space, after-school program space and meeting space.
I looked through some early 1975 microfilm of the weekly Boston Phoenix, and saw the Loew’s Abbey 1&2 advertised there. At that time, they were a $1 house. By the time I arrived in the neighborhood in September 1975, the Abbey had closed.
The next thing I want to find out is when the first Nickelodeon opened in its place — I think it was in 1978.
Fred Taylor also owned the Cinema 733 (next to Paul’s Mall) in the 1970s, and the Janus for a couple years in the 1980s.
That new F.E.I. THEATRES logo is now the first thing you see every day at the beginning of the Boston Globe theatre directory — before Loews or Regal or Showcase or AMC. It’s just an accident of Arlington being the alphabetically first town, but I enjoy it every time I see it.
I looked through some early 1975 microfilm of the Boston Phoenix today, and noticed that the Harvard Square was listed in the Sonny & Eddy’s Theatres ad, along with the Central Square 1&2, Allston 1&2, Exeter Street, and Academy Twin Cinemas (of Newton). The Galeria (later Janus) hadn’t yet opened; I think that came later in the year.
I’m convinced, especially now that I’ve looked at CinemaTour’s photos of the Aurora Paramount.
Now I wonder why Warren Freedenfeld & Associates would apparently misrepresent their (never-executed) project in this way.
That link doesn’t work. Do you mean www.ConradSchmitt.com ? I don’t see anything there about the Paramount Theatre in Aurora — only a Paramount in Anderson, Indiana.
This page has two breathtaking photos of the Paramount’s interior. I don’t know when these were taken. If any of you have been inside, how do these photos compare with what you saw?
Unfortunately, the project proposed on that page never happened because FD Rich got into bankruptcy trouble and ‘Commonwealth Center’ was not built.
From the Boston Globe’s “Ask the Globe” column, December 25, 1984:
Q. There used to be a small theater, similar to the Wilbur, on Stuart street in Boston. What was its name? – B.H., Lexington.
A. That was the storied Plymouth, which opened Sept. 23, 1911, with the Abbey Theater Company of Dublin performing John Millington Synge’s “The Playboy of the Western World.” Designed by Clarence H. Blackall, a noted theater architect of the time, the Plymouth was built for Liebler & Co, and was considered one of the most modern playhouses in the country. The Shubert Organization of New York bought the Plymouth in 1927 and used it largely for tryouts of plays headed for New York or going on tour, and for some long run performances. The Shuberts sold the theater to the Sack movie chain in 1957, and it was renamed the Gary. That fell to the wrecking ball in 1978.
If you call the theatre’s answering machine at 617-773-4600, you will hear this message:
“We’re still working on what has to be done. We’re hoping to reopen soon and we thank you for checking on us. Thank you.”
The message hasn’t changed in months.
I looked up the Wollaston Theatre on the Quincy Patriot Ledger’s web site, and found these articles:
Juen 10, 2003: Owner Arthur Chandler said yesterday that fixing a leaking roof is a slow process, and said he didn’t have a timeline for the theater’s opening. “We’re still trying to make headway,” Chandler said. (Most of this article is actually about the reopening of the Flagship Cinemas.)
August 12, 2002: “Just the ticket: THEY LOVE The Wolly”. The article describes the joys of visiting this theatre on dollar nights, complete with 10-cent coffees, 55-cent popcorn, and 60-cent candy bars. But it also points out the lack of air-conditioning as well as “the rows of roped off seats, leaky ceiling patches and peeling paint”.
September 27, 2000: Mazel Tov also to the same players n and other politicians n who’ve transformed Wollaston Center and Quincy Center from near seedy to near beautiful in recent years. They’ve creatively used block grants, private donations and even outright giveaways such as last year’s “non-repayable loan” for $60,000 to Wollaston Theater owner Arthur Chandler n to successfully spur business owners to spruce-up their properties.
Why?
Is the Monty Python festival still going to happen? They’ve taken it off their web site.
The owner refused for years to raise prices — well into the 1990s you could still see a movie here on a Monday night for $1. Concessions were cheap too. While I’m sure the audience loved the low prices, the owner would have done better to raise them and invest in keeping the place in good repair.
By the way, the Flagship Cinemas in Quincy Center last month changed their ticket price to $2.50 at all times. But they still don’t advertise in the Globe, so who’s going to know about it? I hope they know what they’re doing, but it looks like a desperate move to me.
Looking back though some newspaper archives and web pages, I see that the Capitol opened on November 25, 1925, originally had an organ, and was subdivided into five screens in the fall of 1989.
The sixth screen was added a few years later, but I don’t know exactly when. I think it was created from the former stage.
I hope there are some plans for an 80th birthday celebration this year.
Does anyone here (Ian, perhaps) know when this opened?
Also, has it always been strictly a movie theatre, or did it once have live shows?
I don’t, but Ian just might. The railroad tracks were removed from Davis Square in the early 1980s, as part of the Red Line extension project.
Can you tell us the date of that last concert? How soon did they start demolishing the building after that show?
Is the Church Park apartment building now on the former site of this theatre? I don’t see any parking lots around there today.