RKO Boston Theatre facts for kids
The RKO Boston Theatre was a movie theater in Boston, Massachusetts. It was located on Washington Street, close to Essex Street, in the area known as the Boston Theater District. This theater first opened its doors on October 5, 1925, and was originally called the Keith-Albee Boston Theatre.
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History of the RKO Boston Theatre
How the Building Started
The building where the theater was located was not always a movie theater. It first housed a large department store called the Henry Siegel Co. Later, the theater part was designed by a famous architect named Thomas W. Lamb. This theater was part of a big chain of entertainment venues called Keith-Albee-Orpheum, which was known for showing vaudeville acts.
Becoming the RKO Boston Theatre
In 1928, the Keith-Albee-Orpheum chain became part of a larger company called RKO Pictures. Because of this, the theater's name was changed to the RKO Boston Theatre.
What You Could See There
During its time, the RKO Boston Theatre showed many different types of entertainment. It played movies, hosted concerts with famous big bands, and featured various live performances. Well-known musicians like Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, and Glenn Miller often performed there.
A typical show at the theater would start with a Class B movie. This was usually a shorter, less expensive film. After that, they would show a newsreel, which was a short film about current events. Finally, they would show trailers for upcoming movies.
Later Years and Changes
As time went on, the theater was used for big movie events that used the newest technologies, such as Cinerama. Cinerama was a special film process that used three projectors to create a very wide, immersive picture.
By the 1970s, the theater was changed to have multiple screens, meaning it could show several movies at once. At this point, it was renamed "The Essex" and mainly showed exploitation movies.
