The Tremont Theatre (est. 1889) was a playhouse in Boston, Massachusetts, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Henry E. Abbey and John B. Schoeffel [1] established the enterprise [2] and oversaw construction of its building [3] at no.176 Tremont Street in the Boston Theater District area. [4] Managers included Abbey, Schoeffel and Grau, [5] [6] Klaw & Erlanger, [7] Thos. B. Lothan and Albert M. Sheehan. [8]
A traveller's guidebook described the space in 1899: "The auditorium is 75 feet high of the same width and 80 feet deep. It is fashioned on the plan of a mammoth shell. ... The ten oddly fashioned private boxes on either side of the proscenium give a novel effect to the interior. The decoration of the main ceiling is modernized Renaissance treated in Gobelin tapestry effect and the coloring of the walls is in harmonizing shades. The stage is 73 by 45 feet, with a height of 69 feet to the rigging loft. The house has 2,000 seats." [9]
"In 1947 the Tremont became a movie theater named the Astor and briefly, before its demise, a juice bar." [10] "After a fire in 1983, the building was demolished." [11] "AMC Boston Common 19 Movie Theater now occupies the site." [10]
1880s–1890s
1900s
| 1910s
1920s
1930s-1940s
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Henry Eugene Abbey was an American theatre manager and producer.
Joseph Stevens Jones was an American actor, playwright, theater manager, and surgeon. He wrote at least 150 plays that were mostly produced at theaters in Boston, Massachusetts.
The Shubert Theatre is a theatre in Boston, Massachusetts, at 263–265 Tremont Street in the Boston Theater District. The building has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1980.
The Wilbur Theatre is a historic performing arts theater at 244–250 Tremont Street in Boston, Massachusetts. The Wilbur Theatre originally opened in 1914, but underwent renovations in 2008. The Wilbur Theatre sits in the heart of Boston's historic theater district and is known for hosting live comedy and music.
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.
Court Street is located in the Financial District of Boston, Massachusetts. Prior to 1788, it was called Prison Lane (1634–1708) and then Queen Street (1708–1788). In the 19th century it extended beyond its current length, to Bowdoin Square. In the 1960s most of Court Street was demolished to make way for the construction of Government Center. The remaining street extends a few blocks, near the Old State House on State Street.
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.
Tremont Row (1830s-1920s) in Boston, Massachusetts, was a short street that flourished in the 19th and early-20th centuries. It was located near the intersection of Court, Tremont, and Cambridge streets, in today's Government Center area. It existed until the 1920s, when it became known as Scollay Square. In 1859 the Barre Gazette newspaper described Tremont Row as "the great Dry Goods Street of Boston."
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.
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.
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 (1901–1912) was an auditorium in Boston, Massachusetts, located on Huntington Avenue in the Back Bay. It stood adjacent to Horticultural Hall. Tenants included the Emerson College of Oratory and D.M. Shooshan's "Ladies' and Gents' Cafe." In 1912 it became the St. James Theatre, and later the Uptown Theatre. The building existed until 1963, when it was demolished.
The Plymouth Theatre (1911–1957) of Boston, Massachusetts, was located on Stuart Street in today's Boston Theater District. Architect Clarence Blackall designed the building for Liebler & Co. Performers included Henry Jewett, Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, 8-year-old Sammy Davis Jr., and Bette Davis. In October 1911, the touring Abbey Theatre presented Synge's Playboy of the Western World at the Plymouth; in the audience were W. B. Yeats, Isabella Stewart Gardner and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy.
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.
The National Theatre (1911-1978) of Boston, Massachusetts, was a 3,500-seat multipurpose auditorium on Tremont Street in the South End. It functioned as a cinema, lecture hall, and stage. Performers included Jehovah's Witness founder Joseph F. Rutherford and "big-name entertainers like Duke Ellington and Ray Bolger." Movie screenings included The Battle of Gettysburg in 1913. The English High School held graduation exercises in the National. Around 1919 it was known as the "Waldorf Theater." In 1992, it was purchased by Philip Smith.
Hotel Boylston (1871-1894) of Boston, Massachusetts, stood at the corner of Tremont Street and Boylston Street in today's Boston Theater District. The architecture firm of Cummings and Sears designed it "in the Italian-Gothic style" as a residential apartment building. Among the tenants: New England Kennel Club; Christian Science Publishing Co.; and piano dealer Steinert & Sons and its 350-seat concert hall.
Steinert Hall of Boston, Massachusetts, stands at 162 Boylston Street on what was called Boston's "piano row", opposite the Common in the Boston Theater District.
Abbey, Schoeffel and Grau was a US theatre management and production firm, active from 1880 until 1896. The partners were Henry E. Abbey, John B. Schoeffel and Maurice Grau. Abbey and Schoeffel had been in partnership since 1876, and joined forces with Grau in 1882. They managed and ran a number of theatres in New York and Boston, including the Metropolitan Opera House in 1883-4 and from 1891 to 1896, when Abbey died. Schoeffel and Grau remained at the Met until 1903.
John Baptist Schoeffel, was an American theatre manager and producer, and hotel owner. With Henry E. Abbey he was involved presenting European theatrical stars in the US, including Sarah Bernhardt, Henry Irving and Ellen Terry: and with Maurice Grau he and Abbey managed opera singers as Adelina Patti, Christina Nilsson, Ernestine Schumann-Heink, Francesco Tamagno and Fyodor Chaliapin in their tours of opera houses in Boston, Chicago and New York.
Abbey's Park Theatre or Abbey's New Park Theatre was a playhouse at 932 Broadway and 22nd Street in what is now the Flatiron District of Manhattan in New York City. It opened as the New Park Theatre in 1874, and was in use until 1882 when it burned down and was never rebuilt as a theatre.