Boston Theater District

United States historic place

Washington Street Theatre District

U.S. National Register of Historic Places

U.S. Historic district

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Location| Boston, Massachusetts
Coordinates| 42°21′14″N 71°3′46″W﻿ / ﻿42.35389°N 71.06278°W﻿ / 42.35389; -71.06278
Built| 1870
Architectural style| Late Gothic Revival, Italianate
NRHP reference No.| 79000370[1]
Added to NRHP| March 19, 1979

The Boston Theater District is the center of Boston's theater scene.[2] Many of its theaters are on Washington Street, Tremont Street, Boylston Street, and Huntington Avenue.[3][4][5]

## History

[edit]

Plays were banned in Boston by the Puritans until 1792.[5][6] Boston's first theater opened in 1793.[7][8] In 1900, the Boston Theater District had 31 theaters, with 50,000 seats.[6] In the 1940s, the city had over 50 theaters.[2] Since the 1970s, developers have renovated old theaters.[2]

## Revitalization

[edit]

Suffolk University bought the Modern Theater in 2008. It has since reopened and hosts a variety of performances.[9] For their efforts, Suffolk won a Preservation Honor Award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 2011.[10]

Emerson College now uses the Paramount Theater as a "mixed-use residential, academic, and performance venue."[11]

## Washington Street Theatre District

[edit]

The Washington Street Theatre District, consisting of seven buildings on the west side of Washington Street (numbers 511-559), was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.[1] Buildings in the district include the Boston Opera House, built on the site of the city's second theater. Its entrance hall is the city's only surviving work of noted theater designer Thomas W. Lamb. Also in the district are the 1932 Paramount Theatre and the Modern Theatre. These theaters and their predecessors have displayed the gamut of theatrical entertainment across more than two centuries, including vaudeville, comedy, and film.[12]

## Theaters

[edit]

* Boch Center:

* Shubert Theatre
* Wang Theater

* Berklee Performance Center
* Boston Opera House
* Charles Playhouse
* Cutler Majestic Theatre
* Colonial Theatre
* The Lyric Stage Company of Boston
* Modern Theatre
* Orpheum Theatre
* Paramount Theatre
* Wilbur Theatre
* Huntington Theatre Company

## See also

[edit]

* List of former theatres in Boston
* Boston Theater Critics Association
* Boston Theater Marathon
* Buffalo Theater District
* Cleveland Theater District
* Houston Theater District
* Broadway Theater District (Los Angeles)
* Theater District, Manhattan

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
2. ^ a b c Mara Vorhees (2009). Boston 4. Lonely Planet. ISBN 9781741791785. Retrieved March 8, 2013.
3. ^ Patricia Harris; David Lyon (2004). Insiders Guide Off the Beaten Path: Boston: A Guide to Unique Places. Globe Pequot. ISBN 9780762730117. Retrieved March 8, 2013.
4. ^ Travel Boston – City Guide and Maps. MobileReference. 2007. ISBN 9781605010571. Retrieved March 8, 2013.
5. ^ a b Patricia Harris; Anna Mundow; David Lyon; Lisa Oppenheimer (2003). Compass American Guides: Massachusetts, 1st Edition. Random House. ISBN 9780676904932. Retrieved March 8, 2013.
6. ^ a b Greg Letterman; Katherine Letterman (2001). Walking Boston. Globe Pequot. ISBN 9781560448624. Retrieved March 8, 2013.
7. ^ David Lyon; Patricia Harris (2011). DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Boston. Penguin. ISBN 9780756683733. Retrieved March 8, 2013.
8. ^ Tom Bross; Patricia Harris; David Lyon (2007). Boston. Penguin. ISBN 9780756625771. Retrieved March 8, 2013.
9. ^ Theater District Revival Continues With The Modern
10. ^ University Wins National Preservation Award Archived October 15, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
11. ^ "The Paramount Center". Archived from the original on March 31, 2017. Retrieved October 11, 2014.
12. ^ "NRHP nomination for Washington Street Theatre District". National Archive. Retrieved November 18, 2017.

## External links

[edit]

* Where's the Theater District: An Analysis of Boston's Theater District, by Kristin Hodgkins (1980)
* Boston Athaneum Theater History

* v
* t
* e

Theatres in Boston

Active

| Boston Theater District|

* Charles Playhouse
* Colonial
* Cutler Majestic
* Modern
* Opera House
* Orpheum
* Paramount
* Shubert
* Wang
* Wilbur

|

Rest of Boston|

* Berklee Performance Center
* Boston Center for the Arts
* Boston Playwrights' Theatre
* Huntington Avenue Theatre
* Improv Asylum
* Strand

Cambridge|

* American Repertory Theater

Defunct and/or demolished

* Austin and Stone's Dime Museum
* Beacon
* Beethoven Hall
* Bijou
* Board Alley
* Boston Aquarial and Zoological Gardens
* Boston Museum
* Boston Music Hall
* Boston Theatre
* Bowdoin Square
* Boylston Hall
* Castle Square
* Chickering Hall
* Columbia
* Columbian Museum
* Concert Hall
* Exeter Street
* Faneuil Hall
* Federal Street
* Fenway
* Gaiety (1878)
* Gaiety (1908)
* Globe (1871)
* Globe (1903)
* Gordon's Olympia
* Grand Opera House
* Haymarket
* Hollis Street
* Horticultural Hall
* Howard Athenaeum
* Keith's Theatre
* Melodeon
* Metropolitan
* National (1836)
* National (1911)
* New England Museum
* Opera House (1909)
* Ordway Hall
* Palace
* Park Square
* Park Theatre
* Plymouth
* RKO Boston
* Selwyn's
* St. James
* Theatre Comique
* Tremont Temple
* Tremont
* Washington Gardens

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