Colonial Theatre (Boston) facts for kids
The Colonial Theatre, Boston, 2009
|
|
| Address | 106 Boylston Street Boston, Massachusetts United States |
|---|---|
| Owner | Emerson College |
| Operator | Ambassador Theatre Group |
| Capacity | 1,700 |
| Construction | |
| Opened | December 20, 1900 |
| Rebuilt | 1960, 1995 |
The Colonial Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts, is a super old and famous theatre! It first opened way back in 1900, making it the oldest theatre in Boston that's still open today. You can find it at 106 Boylston Street, right next to Boston Common. It's even being considered a special Boston Landmark!
A Look Back in Time
The Colonial Theatre was designed by a cool architect named Clarence Blackall. A person named Frederick Lothrop Ames Jr. paid for it. The theatre's very first show was Ben-Hur on December 20, 1900. It was a huge hit and completely sold out! Even Winston Churchill was there.
Imagine this: Ben-Hur had a massive cast and crew of 350 people! The most exciting part was a chariot race scene with eight real, live horses galloping on stage! This play was so amazing and technically advanced that it was even featured on the cover of a magazine called Scientific American.
Later, a play by George Bernard Shaw called Too True To Be Good had its first-ever performance at the Colonial Theatre on February 29, 1932.
What Happened Recently
In the 1990s, the theatre got a makeover thanks to its president, Jon Platt. In 1998, Platt sold his theatre businesses to a company called SFX Entertainment. Later, in 2003, Emerson College started renting the building. They even had the option to buy it later.
In 2006, Emerson College decided to buy the theatre. They wanted to use the upper floors for student dorms. But then, in 2008, another company called Key Brand Entertainment (KBE) bought the lease to the Colonial Theatre. When KBE's lease ended, the Citi Performing Arts Center took over running the theatre.
For many years, the Colonial Theatre was a place where new shows would try out before going to Broadway in New York City. It was also a stop for big national tours of Broadway shows. Because the Colonial is so big, it could host huge musicals that smaller theatres couldn't. Even though some shows moved to the newly fixed-up Opera House, the Colonial still remained a testing ground for shows hoping to make it big on Broadway.
In October 2015, when the Citi lease ended, Emerson College closed the Colonial. They were thinking about turning the theatre space into a dining hall for students. But many people, including teachers, former students, historians, and theatre fans, were very upset! Over 7,000 people signed a petition to save the theatre. Even famous people like playwright Stephen Sondheim and New York Times critic Frank Rich spoke up.
Because of all the protests, Emerson College's president, M. Lee Pelton, announced in March 2016 that they would change their plans. Instead of turning the theatre into a dining hall, they would fix up another building for that. They also promised to bring live performances back to the Colonial!
In September 2016, Emerson College started looking at ideas from different groups to reopen the theatre. One idea came from a group that included Live Nation, the Boston Lyric Opera, and Broadway in Boston. They wanted to bring Broadway shows, concerts, opera, and more to the theatre.
Famous Shows
The Colonial Theatre has been a special place for many shows. It has hosted touring Broadway productions and also been the first place where many shows were performed before they opened on Broadway. Here are some famous shows that started at the Colonial before heading to Broadway:
- Anything Goes
- Red, Hot and Blue
- Porgy and Bess
- Oklahoma! (it was called Away We Go! in Boston)
- The Merchant of Yonkers
- Born Yesterday
- Carousel
- Annie Get Your Gun
- The Odd Couple
- Promises, Promises
- La Cage aux Folles
- Grand Hotel
- Follies
- Beatlemania
- A Little Night Music
- The Diary of Anne Frank
- Seussical The Musical
- Tallulah
- High Fidelity
- Moulin Rouge!
- David Byrne's American Utopia
Reopening the Theatre
In January 2017, Emerson College announced exciting news! They made a deal with a company from London called Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG). ATG signed a 40-year lease to run the Colonial Theatre. Both Emerson College and ATG agreed to spend a lot of money to make the theatre even better. It's now called the Emerson Colonial Theatre.
The theatre officially reopened in July 2018. The first show was a brand new musical called Moulin Rouge!, which is based on the popular movie by Baz Luhrmann. This show also started at the Colonial before moving to Broadway!
