Gaiety Theatre (Boston, 1878)

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The Gaiety Theatre (1878-1882) of Boston, Massachusetts, was located on Washington Street on the block between West and Avery Streets. [1] J. Wentworth oversaw its operations. [2] It occupied the former Melodeon. [3] The Gaiety's 800-seat auditorium featured "walls and ceiling ... panelled in pink, with buff, gold and purple borders; the balcony fronts ... bronze, gray, and pink." [4] In 1882 it became the Bijou Theatre. [5]

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The Bijou Theatre (1882–1943) in Boston, Massachusetts, occupied the second floor of 545 Washington Street near today's Theatre District. Architect George Wetherell designed the space, described by a contemporary reviewer as "dainty." Proprietors included Edward Hastings, George Tyler, and B.F. Keith. Around the 1900s, it featured a "staircase of heavy glass under which flowed an illuminated waterfall." The Bijou "closed 31 December 1943 and was razed in 1951." The building's facade still exists. It is currently a pending Boston Landmark by the Boston Landmarks Commission.

The Gaiety Theatre (1908–1949) or Gayety Theatre of Boston, Massachusetts, was located at no.661 Washington Street near Boylston Street in today's Boston Theater District. It featured burlesque, vaudeville and cinema. Performers included Clark and McCullough, Solly Ward, and Lena Daley; producers included Charles H. Waldron, Earl Carroll, and E.M. Loew. In 1949 it became the "Publix Theatre." The building existed until its razing in 2005.

References

  1. Boston Almanac. 1879-1882
  2. Boston Daily Globe, Feb. 20, 1881
  3. Donald C. King (2005), The Theatres of Boston: a Stage and Screen History, Jefferson, N.C: McFarland & Co., ISBN   0-7864-1910-5, OL   3392044M, 0786419105
  4. King's Handbook of Boston, 4th ed. Cambridge, Massachusetts: M. King, 1881
  5. Boston Athenaeum. Theater History Archived 2021-04-14 at the Wayback Machine . Bijou Theatre (1882- 1952), 545 Washington Street. Retrieved 2012-03-16

Coordinates: 42°21′15.52″N71°3′44.26″W / 42.3543111°N 71.0622944°W / 42.3543111; -71.0622944