Victor Theatre
21 Cottage Street,
East Weymouth ,
MA
02189
21 Cottage Street,
East Weymouth ,
MA
02189
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Additional Info
Functions: Recording Studio
Previous Names: Odd Fellows Opera House, Jackson Theatre, Roosevelt Theatre, New Jasan Theatre, Jasan Theatre
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Located in the Jackson Square area of East Weymouth. It occupied the auditorium of the local Odd Fellows Opera House at the corner of Commercial Street and Cottage Street. Constructed in 1889 and opening with 600-seats in 1890. By 1927 it had been renamed Jackson Theatre and was screening movies. By 1933 the seating capacity had been reduced to 400-seats and it had been renamed Roosevelt Theatre. Following a Stramline style makeover it was renamed New Jasan Theatre from April 2, 1938. In June 1938 it was the Jasan Theatre and it closed in 1952. A new operator took over on on August 7, 1953 and it was renamed Victor Theatre. The final movie Hope Lange in “The Best of Everything” was screened on February 17, 1960. The building still stands and the theater space today is home to a audio/video studio.
Contributed by
Ron Salters
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Recent comments (view all 13 comments)
Joe- The Weymouth chronology for 1946 is correct: there were 3 movie theaters in Weymouth, plus one Drive-in. But everyone I have talked with refers to this theater as the Victor Theatre. I know that it was called the “Roosevelt Theatre” in the 1930s; perhaps the line of name-changes was: Odd Fellows Opera House to Roosevelt Theatre to Jason (or Jason’s) Theatre to Victor Theatre. I never went to it; never even heard of it until recent years.
The Yearbook did sometimes fail to update a theater’s name when it was changed, so we’ll probably have to dig up some other source to be sure when the Jason became the Victor, but the odds are that it didn’t happen until the 1950s.
I’ve found references to a stage production sponsored by the Federal Theatre Project being mounted at the Roosevelt Theatre in East Weymouth in 1938.
This page has an early photo of the Odd Fellows Building. It looks like there’s a poster case next to the Cottage Street entrance at far right.
The theater entrance was on Cottage St. and they did have a poster case there in movie days. Around 1962, the second floor and attic were removed. The walk-in basement on Commercial Street housed a model hobby shop for many years, until recently.
CT member dwodeyla tells me that the Roosevelt Theatre is listed, with 400 seats, in the 1934 Film Daily Yearbook. I spoke yesterday with someone who grew up in Weymouth and attended movies here many times around the time he was in middle school/ junior high. This would have been roughly 1948-52. He says that it was located in the Odd Fellows Building on Cottage Street and that it was called the Jason Theatre. He has a very vague memory that it was renamed to Victor Theatre sometime later. Last week, I spoke with a younger man who grew up in Jackson Square area who remembers it as the Victor Theatre, and who thought that it lasted in operation past 1960.
The comedian Fred Allen, who was a prominent star in network radio in the 1930s-40s, got his start in show business in small-time vaudeville in the Greater Boston area. He says in his auto-biog that one of the engagements he had, circa-1914, was performing in a vaudeville bill at the Odd Fellows Opera House in East Weymouth on a Saturday night. The building was, and is, very near the East Weymouth rail station (today a MBTA stop). The Odd Fellows Opera House was also included on a long list of theaters and halls in Massachusetts receiving state licences during the 12 months ending Oct. 31, 1914.
The theater is listed under East Weymouth, Mass. in the 1927 Film Daily Yearbook as “Opera hall” with 600 seats, open 2 days per week (probably Fri-Sat). I know that as the Roosevelt Theatre around 1932, it was open week-nights as well as weekends. Today, the building is occupied by MacDonald Audio Services and Engineering. There is an audio and video recording studio there. I think that MacDonald may own the building.
I drove by the building today and someone has made a colorful sign which says “21 Cottage Street” and placed it in the old movie poster frame outside. There is also a big dumpster which has been dropped next to the auditorium wall. I always get nervous when I see dumpsters next to old theater buildings.
I drove by today and noted that an ancient, battered old upright piano has been moved outside and placed under the front overhand to keep it out of the rain. I wondered if this was the piano used for music during the showing of silient films there.
I grew up in East Weymouth on Westminster Road. I remember going to the Theater in 1954 to see ‘ On the Water Front with Marlon Brando. I don’t remember the name at the time either the Jason or the Victor Theater. It was owned by a family that owned a restaurant in upper Jackson Square across from Bob’s Sporting Goods store. Their was also a Drive-In Theater in North Weymouth before going over the bridge into Hingham. We would also visit Hunt’s Store for candy bars. Very fond memories
The Odd Fellows Opera House was built in 1889 opening in early 1890 as a 600-seat live events hall. The venue experimented with motion pictures and - by 1927 - they were the biggest draw. The venue’s name was changed to the Jackson Theatre in a largely full-time conversion to movies (though with local talent shows and plays mixed in).
The Jackson Theatre converted to sound and reduced to 400 seats likely in that conversion. In the Fall of 1933, the venue changed names to the Roosevelt Theatre. Under new operators, it received a streamline-ish makeover - streamline elements but largely unchanged - reopening on April 2, 1938 as the New Jasan Theatre (not Jason or Jason’s) in East Weymouth. Two months later, it lost “New” resuming as the Jasan Theatre. In 1941, it got a whole new technology plant in a projection and sound upgrade.
In 1950, a new-build Jasan Theatre was approved for construction by Affiliated Theatres as a suburban venue and its own dedicated parking area. That plan stalled and the parking-challenged Jasan closed in 1952. New operator Nat Hochberg took it and the Stoneham Theatre over in 1952. He then sold the Jasan to his projectionist, Mario Cicchese, who refreshed the venue for a rebranding.
Cicchese reopened as the Victor Thatre on August 7, 1953 with an island-fest double-feature of “Road to Bali” and John Payne in “Caribbean.” Cicchese refreshed one last time on May 5, 1954 that included a switch to widescreen projection to show CinemaScope film titles. He left in 1957 and new operators resumed as the Victor closing on February 17, 1960 with “The Best of Everything.”