Tremont Theatre, Boston (1889)

This article is about the theatre in Boston, Massachusetts, in the 1880s–c. 1940s. For other uses, see Tremont Theatre (disambiguation).
Tremont Theatre, Boston, c. 1910s
1918 cover art from Tremont Theatre

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]

  1. ^ John B. Schoeffel (1846–1918); married to actress Agnes Booth. "John B. Schoeffel Dies in Boston at 72; veteran manager once directed Metropolitan Opera House with H.E. Abbey and Maurice Grau." New York Times, September 1, 1918
  2. ^ "Abbey, Henry Eugene". Lamb's biographical dictionary of the United States. Boston: James H. Lamb Company. 1900.
  3. ^ Atherton Brownell. Boston Theatres of To-Day. The Bostonian, v.2, no.6, 1896
  4. ^ Boston Almanac, 1891, 1894; Boston Register and Business Directory, 1918, 1921
  5. ^ Boston Globe, January 22, 1893
  6. ^ "Death of Maurice Grau". The Theatre. 7 (75). May 1907.
  7. ^ New York Times, May 14, 1914
  8. ^ New York Public Library. Programme: Tremont Theatre – Monday, May 1 – David Belasco presents "The Gold Diggers." (April 24, 1922)
  9. ^ Rand, McNally & Co.'s handy guide to Boston and environs ..., Chicago: Rand, McNally & Co., 1899, OCLC 33412586, OL 529088M
  10. ^ a b Boston Athenaeum. "Theatre History: Tremont Theatre (1889–1949), 176 Tremont Street". Retrieved February 5, 2012.
  11. ^ Historic New England. Tremont Theatre, Boston, Mass. postcard, c. 1907. Postmarked: August 5, 1911.