Grand Opera House (Boston)

Last updated

The Grand Opera House (est.1888) of Boston, Massachusetts, was a theatre in the South End. [1] [2] Architect George Snell designed the 2,600-seat building on Washington Street. [3] [4] Managers and proprietors included Proctor & Mansfield, [5] A.H. Dexter, [6] George W. Magee, [7] and Stair & Wilbur. [8] Performances included Glyn's Three Weeks. [9]

Contents

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boston Museum (theatre)</span>

The Boston Museum (1841–1903), also called the Boston Museum and Gallery of Fine Arts, was a theatre, wax museum, natural history museum, zoo, and art museum in 19th-century Boston, Massachusetts. Moses Kimball established the enterprise in 1841.

The Boston Theatre was a theatre in Boston, Massachusetts. It was first built in 1854 and operated as a theatre until 1925. Productions included performances by Thurlow Bergen, Charles A. Bigelow, Edwin Booth, Anna Held, James O'Neill Jennie Kimball, and others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boston Opera House</span> Opera house in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.

The Boston Opera House, also known as the Citizens Bank Opera House, is a performing arts and esports venue located at 539 Washington St. in Boston, Massachusetts. It was originally built as the B.F. Keith Memorial Theatre, a movie palace in the Keith-Albee chain. The chain became part of RKO when it was established just before the theater opened on October 29, 1928, and it was also known as the RKO Keith's Theater. After operating for more than 50 years as a movie theater, it was rededicated in 1980 as a home for the Opera Company of Boston, which performed there until the opera company closed down in 1990 due to financial problems. The theater was reopened in 2004 after a major restoration, and it currently serves as the home of the Boston Ballet and also hosts touring Broadway shows.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Studio Building (Boston, Massachusetts)</span>

The Studio Building (1861–1906) on Tremont Street in Boston, Massachusetts, housed artists' studios, theater companies and other businesses in the 19th century. It "held the true Bohemia of Boston, where artists and literati delighted to gather." Among the tenants were portraitist E.T. Billings, architect George Snell, sculptor Martin Milmore, artists William Morris Hunt, William Rimmer, Edward Mitchell Bannister, Phoebe Jenks; gallerist Seth Morton Vose, and many others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Castle Square Theatre</span> Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts, US

The Castle Square Theatre (1894–1932) in Boston, Massachusetts, was located on Tremont Street in the South End. The building existed until its demolition in 1933. The theatre was the Boston home of Henry W. Savage's Castle Square Opera Company, a touring opera company which had theaters in other cities like Chicago and New York City, but took its name from the Boston theatre.

Beethoven Hall (1874–78) was an auditorium in Boston, Massachusetts, that hosted musical performances and other entertainments in the 1870s. It sat on Washington Street, near Boylston Street, in today's Boston Theater District/Chinatown neighborhood. The architect was William Washburn, who had also designed the first National Theatre and the second Tremont Temple.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Park Theatre (Boston)</span>

The Park Theatre (est.1879) was a playhouse in Boston, Massachusetts, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It later became the State cinema. Located on Washington Street, near Boylston Street, the building existed until 1990.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Globe Theatre (Boston, 1903)</span>

The Globe Theatre was a playhouse and cinema in Boston, Massachusetts, located on Washington Street in Chinatown. Architect Arthur H. Vinal designed the building in 1903; it stands today at no.692 Washington St. opposite LaGrange Street, near the corner of Beach Street. In the 1910s it was also known as "Loew's Globe Theatre."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Globe Theatre (Boston, 1871)</span>

The Globe Theatre (est.1871) was a playhouse in Boston, Massachusetts, in the 19th century. It was located at 598 Washington Street, near the corner of Essex Street. Arthur Cheney oversaw the Globe until 1876. From 1871 to 1873 it occupied the former theatre of John H. Selwyn. After a fire in May 1873, the Globe re-opened on the same site in December 1874. Architect Benjamin F. Dwight designed the new building. From 1877 to 1893 John Stetson served as proprietor; some regarded him as "a theatrical producer with a reputation for illiteracy in his day such as Samuel Goldwyn has achieved" in the 1960s. The theatre burned down in January 1894.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Columbia Theatre (Boston)</span> Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts, US

The Columbia Theatre or Loew's New Columbia Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts, was a playhouse and cinema located in the South End at No. 978 Washington Street. Charles Frohman, Isaac Baker Rich and William Harris oversaw the theatre until 1895. Owners included J.J. Grace of New York and Loews. Staff included Harry Farren, Saul Hamilburg and Philip Shea. The Columbia existed until its demolition in 1957.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bowdoin Square Theatre</span>

The Bowdoin Square Theatre (est.1892) in Boston, Massachusetts, was a playhouse and cinema. It was located on Bowdoin Square in the West End, in a building designed by architect C.H. Blackall. Personnel included Charles F. Atkinson and William Harris. Audience members included future magician Julius Linsky and future actor Joseph Sicari

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tremont Theatre, Boston (1889)</span>

The Tremont Theatre was a playhouse in Boston, Massachusetts, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Henry E. Abbey and John B. Schoeffel established the enterprise and oversaw construction of its building at no.176 Tremont Street in the Boston Theater District area. Managers included Abbey, Schoeffel and Grau, Klaw & Erlanger, Thos. B. Lothan and Albert M. Sheehan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Keith's Theatre</span> Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts, US

B.F. Keith's Theatre (1894–1928) in Boston, Massachusetts, was a vaudeville playhouse run by B.F. Keith. It sat across from Boston Common in the city's theatre district, with an entrance on Tremont Street and another on Washington Street. Personnel included Keith, E.F. Albee and H.E. Gustin. Virgilio Tojetti painted some of the interior decorations. In 1939, the theater was converted to a movie theater named the Normandie.

Chickering Hall (est.1883) was a concert auditorium in Boston, Massachusetts, in the late 19th century. It occupied the second floor of Chickering and Sons showrooms on Tremont Street, near the corner of West Street. "Bradlee, Winslow and Wetherell were the architects, and Mr. E.P. Treadwell, the decorator. The hall [was] lighted by the Edison electric light." By 1895: "Tremont St., towards Boylston, for some years has been called Piano Row, for a long row of piano agencies occupied a good portion of the block; but of late most of these have migrated to Boylston St. Chickering Hall, at 152 Tremont St., was for many years a favorite place for fashionable musicales, and the headquarters of the musical profession."

Theatre Comique (1865–1869) of Boston, Massachusetts, was located at no. 240 Washington Street. Personnel included Jason Wentworth, William H. Crisp, James S. Maffitt, George Maffitt, B.F. Lowell, Wm. H. Daly, orchestra leader Aug. Muller, and maitre de ballet Signor Constantine. Among the performances: slack rope and acrobatics by Martini Chiriski and the Levantine Brothers; Mlle. Augusta, danseuse; "Aladdin" with Kate Pennoyer and W.H. Bartholomew; dancing by Betty Regl; Snow Brothers ; Morlacchi Ballet Troupe; Wilson Brothers ; Ada Harland; and Jarrett & Palmer's "Forty Thieves." It occupied the building formerly known as Andrews Hall, Barnum's Aquarial Gardens, and the Boston Aquarial and Zoological Gardens. In 1869 the theatre was renamed the "Adelphi Theatre."

Gordon's Olympia Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts, was established by Nathan H. Gordon of Olympia Theatres, Inc. Architect Clarence Blackall designed the building at no.658 Washington Street, near Boylston Street in the theatre district. It later became the Pilgrim Theater. The building was demolished in 1996.

The Palace Theatre (ca.1891-1931) of Boston, Massachusetts, United States, was a variety theatre on Court Street in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Acts which performed there included Rose Hill Folly Co., Clifford & Dixon, Murry & Murry, Behler & Stone, and the Adamless Eden Burlesquers. It also showed photo-plays such as The Exploits of Elaine, The Master Key, and "Charles Chaplin comedies." Among its managers and proprietors were William Austin, F. J. Pilling, George Milbank, and Dunn & Waldron. The Palace occupied the building of the former Nickelodeon. It existed until 1931, when it was demolished.

<i>Boston Evening Traveller</i> Massachusetts daily newspaper (1845–1967)

The Boston Evening Traveller (1845–1967) was a newspaper published in Boston, Massachusetts. It was a daily newspaper, with weekly and semi-weekly editions under a variety of Traveller titles. It was absorbed by the Boston Herald in 1912, and ceased publication in 1967.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alberta Gallatin</span> American actress

Alberta Gallatin was an American stage and film actress active in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. During her near forty-year career she acted in support of the likes of Elizabeth Crocker Bowers, James O’Neil, Edwin Booth, Joseph Jefferson, Thomas W. Keene, Richard Mansfield, Sir Johnston Forbes-Robertson, Minnie Maddern Fiske, Otis Skinner, Maurice Barrymore, Joseph Adler, E. H. Sothern and James K. Hackett. Gallatin was perhaps best remembered by theatergoers for her varied classical roles, as Mrs. Alving in Henrik Ibsen's domestic tragedy Ghosts and the central character in the Franz Grillparzer tragedy Sappho. Counted among her few film roles was the part of Mrs. MacCrea in the 1914 silent film The Christian, an early 8-reel production based on the novel by Hall Caine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mabel Bert</span> American actress

Mabel Bert was an Australian-born American actress.

References

  1. Grand Opera House, no.1176 Washington St. Boston Almanac, 1889, 1891, 1893-1894; Boston Register and Business Directory, 1921
  2. Desirée J. Garcia (2007). "Subversive Sounds: Ethnic Spectatorship and Boston's Nickelodeon Theatres, 1907-1914". Film History. 19.
  3. The dramatic year, 1887-88, Boston: Ticknor, 1889, OL   7204331M
  4. Julius Cahn's official theatrical guide. NY: 1906
  5. King's Handbook of Boston, 9th ed. Boston: Moses King, 1889
  6. Boston Daily Globe, Dec. 29, 1893
  7. Boston Daily Globe, May 8, 1899; Feb. 5, 1902
  8. Julius Cahn's official theatrical guide. NY: 1906, 1910
  9. Neil Miller (2010), Banned in Boston: the Watch and Ward Society's Crusade Against Books, Burlesque, and the Social Evil, Boston: Beacon Press, ISBN   9780807051122 via Overdrive (subscription required)

Further reading

Images

42°20′34.81″N71°4′0.49″W / 42.3430028°N 71.0668028°W / 42.3430028; -71.0668028