Boch Center

Last updated
The Boch Center
The Wang
Boch Center Boston Massachusetts.jpg
The Boch Center Wang Theatre, 2018
Address270 Tremont Street
Location Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Capacity 3,500
Construction
Renovated1983
Website
bochcenter.org

The Boch Center (formerly Citi Performing Arts Center and Wang Center for the Performing Arts) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit performing arts organization located in Boston, Massachusetts. It manages the historic Wang and Shubert theatres on Tremont Street in the Boston Theater District, where it offers theatre, opera, classical and popular music, comedy, dance, and Broadway musicals. The center also offers a diverse mix of educational workshops and community activities; collaborates with artists and local performing arts organizations; and, acts as a champion for the arts in the Greater Boston community by aggressively helping to make the arts an integral part of the community's collective, daily experience. It maintains partnerships with numerous arts organizations in Boston, including the Celebrity Series of Boston, Fiddlehead Theatre Company, Express Yourself, and more. [1]

Contents

History

When the Wang Theatre first opened in 1925, it was called the Metropolitan Theatre. After 30 years as the Metropolitan Theatre, the venue was called the Music Hall, then the Metropolitan Center. In 1983, An and Lorraine Wang donated the funds to renovate the theatre, and it became the Wang Center for the Performing Arts. [2] The Wang Theatre is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and with 3,600+ seats, it is one of the five largest stages in the country. [3] The Wang Center began managing and operating the Shubert Theatre in 1996 when it entered a 40-year lease agreement with the venue. [4] In 2006, the Wang Center became the Citi Performing Arts Center after establishing a 10-year partnership with Citigroup. In 2016, the Citi Performing Arts Center became the Boch Center following the announcement of a long-term partnership with the Boch family. [5] In the past, it also managed the booking and preservation of the Emerson Colonial Theatre and the Strand Theatre. [2]

Programming

The Boch Center hosts a variety of performances and events at the Wang and Shubert Theatres, including theatre, dance, comedy, opera, classical and popular music concerts, and Broadway shows. The center maintains partnerships with other Boston arts nonprofits such as Fiddlehead Theatre Company, Handel and Haydn Society, A.R.T., Celebrity Series of Boston, Huntington Theatre Company, World Music, Dance Umbrellas, and Express Yourself.

The Wang and Shubert Theatres also host special events, such as corporate conferences, award ceremonies, galas, weddings, and more. [6] They are also used as locations for movie filming. Movies filmed at the Wang Theatre include Ghostbusters (2016), [7] American Hustle , [8] The Pink Panther 2 , [9] The Witches of Eastwick , and The Great Debaters . [10]

Nonprofit Work

In 1988, the Education Department at the Boch Center was founded, and the following year the Walter Suskind Memorial Education Fund was established. The nonprofit arts education initiatives at the center include the City Spotlights Leadership Program, Teen Council, Target Arts, Interactive Readings Stories Alive, and Ticket Access. [11] City Spotlights Leadership Program is a seven-week summer employment program for teens in the Boston area. In 2016, the program reached 61 students from 30 different high schools and 13 Boston and Everett neighborhoods. The program includes arts and leadership training, community advocacy, and performance. [12] Teen Leadership Council brings together a smaller group of teens from greater Boston for year-round programming where teens create original performance pieces, facilitate workshops, advocate for social change, and volunteer in the community. [13] Founded in 2009 in partnership with Boston Public Schools, the Target Arts Program is an artist residency program funded by Target Corporation. It provides an in-depth arts residency at four different Boston schools each year. [14] The Interactive Reading: Stories Alive program provides interactive storytelling to children in various Boston neighborhoods. [15] The center's Ticket Access program provides tickets to roughly 3,000 community organizations and schools in Greater Boston each year. [16]

ArtWeek Boston is another nonprofit initiative produced by the Boch Center. This bi-annual, 10-day creative festival features more than 150 unique and creative experiences that are hands-on, interactive or offer behind-the-scenes access to artists or the creative process. [17] It is presented by Highland Street Foundation.

Theatres

See also

Related Research Articles

Wang Theatre

The Wang Theatre is a theatre in Boston. It originally opened in 1925 as the Metropolitan Theatre and was later renamed the Music Hall. It was designed by Clarence Blackall and is located at 252–272 Tremont Street in the Boston Theatre District. The theatre is operated as part of the Boch Center. The theatre was designated as a Boston Landmark by the Boston Landmarks Commission in 1990.

Shubert Theatre or Shubert Theater may refer to:

The Shubert Organization Theatrical producing organization and a major owner of theatres

The Shubert Organization is a theatrical producing organization and a major owner of theatres based in Manhattan, New York City. It was founded by the three Shubert brothers in the late 19th century. They steadily expanded, owning many theaters in New York and across the country. Since then it has gone through changes of ownership, but is still a major theater chain.

Colonial Theatre (Boston)

The Colonial Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts, opened in 1900, is the oldest continually-operating theatre in the city. It is located at 106 Boylston Street on Boston Common at the former site of the Boston Public Library. It is a pending Boston Landmark.

DoSomething

DoSomething is a global nonprofit organization with the goal of motivating young people to make positive change both online and offline through campaigns that make an impact. The organization's CEO is DeNora Getachew.

Performing arts center Multi-use performance space

Performing arts center/centre, often abbreviated as PAC, is used to refer to:

Cowles Center for Dance and the Performing Arts Building

The Cowles Center for Dance and the Performing Arts is a performing arts center and flagship for dance in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The Cowles Center was developed as an incubation project by Artspace Projects, Inc and includes the refurbished 500-seat Goodale Theater ; the Hennepin Center for the Arts, home to 20 leading dance and performing arts organizations; a state-of-the-art education studio housing a distance learning program; and an atrium connecting the buildings. The Cowles Center is a catalyst for the creation, presentation and education of dance in the Twin Cities.

The Celebrity Series of Boston is a non-profit performing arts presenter established in Boston, Massachusetts by Boston impresario Aaron Richmond in 1938 as Aaron Richmond's Celebrity Series. Since its founding the Celebrity Series has evolved into one of New England's major presenting organizations with over 100 performance and outreach activities annually.

The Nederlander Organization, founded in 1912 by David T. Nederlander in Detroit, and currently based in New York City, is one of the largest operators of live theaters and music venues in the United States. Its first acquisition was a lease on the Detroit Opera House in 1912. The building was demolished in 1928. It later operated the Shubert Lafayette Theatre until its demolition in 1964 and the Riviera Theatre, both in Detroit. Since then, the organization has grown to include nine Broadway theaters – making it the second-largest owner of Broadway theaters after the Shubert Organization – and a number of theaters across the United States, including five large theaters in Chicago, plus three West End theatres in London.

Ernest Alexander Boch Jr. is an American billionnaire and businessman who is the former CEO of Boch Enterprises, a US$1 billion business consisting primarily of automobile dealerships in Norwood, Massachusetts and the current CEO of Subaru of New England.

Shubert Theatre (Boston) Former theater in Boston, Massachusetts

The Shubert Theatre is a theatre in Boston, Massachusetts, at 263-265 Tremont Street in the Boston Theater District. It opened on January 24, 1910, with a production of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew starring E. H. Sothern and Julia Marlowe. Architect Thomas M. James designed the building, which seats approximately 1,600 people. Originally conceived as The Lyric Theatre by developer Charles H. Bond, it was taken over by The Shubert Organization in 1908 after Bond's death.

Young Playwrights Theater

Young Playwrights' Theater (YPT) is a not-for-profit theater arts-based education organization in Northwest Washington, D.C. It provides interactive in-school and after-school programs presenting and discussing student-written work to promote community dialogue and respect for young artists.

American Musical Theatre of San Jose

The American Musical Theatre of San Jose (AMTSJ), previously known as the San Jose Civic Light Opera (SJCLO), was a major professional nonprofit musical theatre company in San Jose, California. Founded in 1934 as the San Jose Light Opera Association, it became the second largest theatre company in the Northern California, with an annual budget of $9.8 million and an attendance exceeding 150,000, including 15,000 season ticket holders. The company performed at the 2,677-seat San Jose Center for the Performing Arts. The organization incurred debts after a 2002 agreement to become a receiving house for touring Broadway productions. It closed in December 2008.

The Great Valley Center is a nonprofit organization that supports activities and organizations benefiting the economic, social, and environmental well-being of California's Central Valley. The Great Valley Center operates leadership development programs, organizes conferences and regional events, and provides information and data to the public, nonprofits, policymakers and businesses. The organization has been described as a regional public-policy think tank.

Futures Without Violence is a non-profit organization with offices in San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and Boston, United States, with the goal of ending domestic and sexual violence. Futures Without Violence is involved in community-based programs, developing educational materials, and in public policy work.

International Center on Deafness and the Arts (ICODA) is a non-profit organization based in Northbrook, Illinois, US. Patricia Scherer is the founder and president. Founded in 1973, the organization is a registered nonprofit, tax exempt, 501(c)(3) corporation.

The Harold Grinspoon Foundation (HGF) is a private foundation established in 1993 and located in Agawam, Massachusetts. It is a 501(c)(3)nonprofit organization charitable organization with the goal of "enhancing Jewish and community life in Western Massachusetts, North America, Israel, and beyond."

The Center for Arts in Natick

The Center for Arts in Natick, also known as TCAN in Natick, Massachusetts, is a regional community arts organization serving the cities and towns of MetroWest Boston. It has been in existence in various locations since 1997. The organization presents more than 300 events, classes and performances each year attended by over 24,000 patrons annually. TCAN was established as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in 1997.

Storycatchers Theatre is a nonprofit organization in Chicago, Illinois, that serves adolescents and emerging adults at all stages of court involvement with creative youth development programs. Storycatchers engages groups of young people in the process of writing, producing and performing original musicals inspired by their own personal stories. Meade Palidofsky founded the company in 1984 and has served as its artistic director since its inception.

Greensboro Ballet American ballet company

Greensboro Ballet is a professional ballet company in North Carolina. It is the only ballet company in the Piedmont Triad. It is one of the only non-profit ballet companies in North Carolina. Greensboro Ballet has presented works by George Balanchine. The company also has performed a number of works made especially for the Greensboro Ballet by Rick McCullough, Jill Eathorne Bahr, Leslie Jane Pessemier, and alumni Emery LeCrone. Maryhelen Mayfield, who served as artistic and executive director of Greensboro Ballet from 1980 to 2019, choreographed over twenty-five works for the company.

References

  1. "Citi Center About Us".
  2. 1 2 "Wang Theatre History".
  3. "Wang Theatre About".
  4. "Shubert Theatre History". Archived from the original on 2016-07-31.
  5. "CITI PERFORMING ARTS CENTER TO BE RENAMED THE BOCH CENTER". citicenter.org. Retrieved 2016-10-31.
  6. "Citi Center Events".
  7. "6 Boston locations you might have missed in the new Ghostbusters trailer".
  8. "American Hustle filming locations".
  9. "THE PINK PANTHER PROWLS BOSTON".
  10. "The Great Debators".
  11. "CIti Center Education & Community Programs". Archived from the original on 2016-07-12.
  12. "City Spotlights Teen Leadership Program". Archived from the original on 2016-06-30.
  13. "Teen Council". Archived from the original on 2016-07-02.
  14. "Target Arts". Archived from the original on 2016-06-30.
  15. "Interactive Readings". Archived from the original on 2016-06-30.
  16. "Ticket Access". Archived from the original on 2016-07-31.
  17. "ArtWeek About".