Colonial Theatre
Encyclopedia
The Colonial Theatre is the oldest continually-operating theatre in Boston, Massachusetts, United States
. Designed by the architectural firm of Clarence Blackall
and paid for by Frederick Lothrop Ames
(see also Ames Building
, Boston) the theatre first opened its doors for a performance of Ben-Hur
on December 20, 1900. Ben-Hur operated with a cast and crew of 350 people and featured eight live horses on stage in full gallop during the chariot race scene. The play was so mechanically and technically extraordinary, it was featured on the cover of Scientific American
. It is located at 106 Boylston on Boston Common
at the former site of the Boston Public Library
.
In the early and mid 20th century, Boston was a well-known venue for Broadway
producers
to try out new productions before bringing them to New York
. The residents of Boston were therefore treated to a sneak peek at many well-known Broadway shows at the Colonial. Other notable Boston theatres of the day are the Majestic
, Shubert
, Wilbur
and the Metropolitan
.
and Pre-Broadway shows and is often the first theater in the country to house national tours of Broadway shows. Because of its size, the Colonial can often host highly technical musicals that the smaller houses, such as the Shubert and the Wilbur, are unable to put on. Recent shows include Avenue Q
, Mamma Mia!
, The Producers
and the kick-off of the first national tour of Monty Python's Spamalot
.
The Colonial has also played host to much larger shows such as Les Misérables
, but after the renovation of the newly restored Opera House, some of its usual shows were taken away. Nonetheless, the Colonial continues to be a testing ground for Broadway-bound shows.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Designed by the architectural firm of Clarence Blackall
Clarence Blackall
Clarence Howard Blackall was an American architect who is estimated to have designed 300 theatres.He was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1857. He attended college at the University of Illinois School of Architecture, graduating with a B.S. in 1877, and received training at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts...
and paid for by Frederick Lothrop Ames
Frederick Lothrop Ames
Frederick Lothrop Ames, Jr. was the great-grandson of Oliver Ames, who established the Ames Shovel Company. He was the second son of Frederick Lothrop Ames and Rebecca Caroline Ames. The Ames were a wealthy family in Massachusetts and were fairly prominent in 19th century New England society...
(see also Ames Building
Ames Building
The Ames Building is a skyscraper located in Boston, Massachusetts. It is sometimes ranked as the tallest building in Boston from its completion in 1893 until 1915, when the Custom House Tower was built. However, the building was never the tallest structure in Boston. The steeple of the Church of...
, Boston) the theatre first opened its doors for a performance of Ben-Hur
Ben-Hur (play)
Ben Hur was an 1899 dramatization of the 1880 novel Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ by Lew Wallace. It was dramatized by William W. Young and produced by Marc Klaw and A. L. Erlanger. Inspired by the popular equestrian dramas of nineteenth century London, the production was notable for its elaborate...
on December 20, 1900. Ben-Hur operated with a cast and crew of 350 people and featured eight live horses on stage in full gallop during the chariot race scene. The play was so mechanically and technically extraordinary, it was featured on the cover of Scientific American
Scientific American
Scientific American is a popular science magazine. It is notable for its long history of presenting science monthly to an educated but not necessarily scientific public, through its careful attention to the clarity of its text as well as the quality of its specially commissioned color graphics...
. It is located at 106 Boylston on Boston Common
Boston Common
Boston Common is a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts. It is sometimes erroneously referred to as the "Boston Commons". Dating from 1634, it is the oldest city park in the United States. The Boston Common consists of of land bounded by Tremont Street, Park Street, Beacon Street,...
at the former site of the Boston Public Library
Boston Public Library
The Boston Public Library is a municipal public library system in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was the first publicly supported municipal library in the United States, the first large library open to the public in the United States, and the first public library to allow people to...
.
In the early and mid 20th century, Boston was a well-known venue for Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
producers
Theatrical producer
A theatrical producer is the person ultimately responsible for overseeing all aspects of mounting a theatre production. The independent producer will usually be the originator and finder of the script and starts the whole process...
to try out new productions before bringing them to New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. The residents of Boston were therefore treated to a sneak peek at many well-known Broadway shows at the Colonial. Other notable Boston theatres of the day are the Majestic
Cutler Majestic Theatre
The Cutler Majestic Theatre at Emerson College, in Boston, Massachusetts, is a 1903 "Beaux Arts" style theater, designed by the architect John Galen Howard. Originally built for theatre, one of three theaters commissioned in Boston by Eben Dyer Jordan, son of the founder of Jordan Marsh, a...
, Shubert
Wang Center for the Performing Arts
The Citi Performing Arts Center is located in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. It consists of two theatres, Wang Theatre and Shubert Theatre, both of which are neighbors, on Tremont Street, in Boston's Theatre District...
, Wilbur
Wilbur Theatre
Wilbur Theatre is a historic theater at 244-250 Tremont Street in Boston, Massachusetts. It is located in Boston's theatre district.Clarence Blackall built the theatre in 1913. The National Historic Register added the Wilbur in 1980....
and the Metropolitan
Wang Center for the Performing Arts
The Citi Performing Arts Center is located in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. It consists of two theatres, Wang Theatre and Shubert Theatre, both of which are neighbors, on Tremont Street, in Boston's Theatre District...
.
Shows
Notable shows which were previewed at the Colonial before opening on Broadway include:- Anything GoesAnything GoesAnything Goes is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The original book was a collaborative effort by Guy Bolton and P.G. Wodehouse, heavily revised by the team of Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. The story concerns madcap antics aboard an ocean liner bound from New York to London...
- Red, Hot and BlueRed, Hot and BlueRed, Hot and Blue is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter and the book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. The musical premiered on Broadway in 1936 and introduced the popular song, "It's De-Lovely" sung by Ethel Merman.-Synopsis:...
- Porgy and BessPorgy and BessPorgy and Bess is an opera, first performed in 1935, with music by George Gershwin, libretto by DuBose Heyward, and lyrics by Ira Gershwin and DuBose Heyward. It was based on DuBose Heyward's novel Porgy and subsequent play of the same title, which he co-wrote with his wife Dorothy Heyward...
- Oklahoma!Oklahoma!Oklahoma! is the first musical written by composer Richard Rodgers and librettist Oscar Hammerstein II. The musical is based on Lynn Riggs' 1931 play, Green Grow the Lilacs. Set in Oklahoma Territory outside the town of Claremore in 1906, it tells the story of cowboy Curly McLain and his romance...
(called Away We Go! in Boston) - The Merchant of YonkersThe Merchant of YonkersThe Merchant of Yonkers is a play by Thornton Wilder.Hilary Daniels 1835 one-act farce A Day Well Spent had been extended into a full-length play entitled Einen Jux will er sich machen by Austrian playwright Johann Nestroy in 1842...
- Born YesterdayBorn YesterdayBorn Yesterday is a play written by Garson Kanin which premiered on Broadway in 1946, starring Judy Holliday as Billie Dawn. The play was adapted intoa successful 1950 film of the same name.- Plot :...
- CarouselCarousel (musical)Carousel is the second stage musical by the team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II . The work premiered in 1945 and was adapted from Ferenc Molnár's 1909 play Liliom, transplanting its Budapest setting to the Maine coastline...
- Annie Get Your GunAnnie Get Your Gun (musical)Annie Get Your Gun is a musical with lyrics and music written by Irving Berlin and a book by Herbert Fields and his sister Dorothy Fields. The story is a fictionalized version of the life of Annie Oakley , who was a sharpshooter from Ohio, and her husband, Frank Butler.The 1946 Broadway production...
- Promises, PromisesPromises, PromisesPromises, Promises is a musical based on the 1960 film The Apartment. The music is by Burt Bacharach, lyrics by Hal David, and book by Neil Simon. Musical numbers for the original Broadway production were choreographed by Michael Bennett; Robert Moore directed and David Merrick produced...
- La Cage aux Folles
- Grand HotelGrand Hotel (musical)Grand Hotel is a musical with a book by Luther Davis and music and lyrics by Robert Wright and George Forrest, with additional lyrics and music by Maury Yeston....
- FolliesFolliesFollies is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by James Goldman. The story concerns a reunion in a crumbling Broadway theatre, scheduled for demolition, of the past performers of the "Weismann's Follies," a musical revue , that played in that theatre between the World Wars...
- Beatlemania (musical)Beatlemania (musical)Beatlemania was a Broadway musical revue focused on the music of The Beatles as it related to the events and changing attitudes of the tumultuous Sixties...
- A Little Night MusicA Little Night MusicA Little Night Music is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler. Inspired by the Ingmar Bergman film Smiles of a Summer Night, it involves the romantic lives of several couples. Its title is a literal English translation of the German name for Mozart's Serenade...
- The Diary of Anne FrankThe Diary of Anne Frank (play)The Diary of Anne Frank is a stage adaptation of the book The Diary of a Young Girl. The play is a dramatization by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett. It opened at the Cort Theatre, Broadway, on October 5, 1955, in a production by Kermit Bloomgarden, directed by Garson Kanin and designed by Boris...
- Seussical The Musical
- TallulahTallulahTallulah is a Choctaw name . It means "leaping water".-Place names:Tallulah is the name of several places in the United States:*Tallulah, Louisiana, a small city*The Tallulah River in Georgia...
- High FidelityHigh Fidelity (musical)High Fidelity is a musical with a book by David Lindsay-Abaire, lyrics by Amanda Green, and music by Tom Kitt. Based primarily on the Nick Hornby novel rather than the subsequent film version it inspired, the plot focuses on Rob Gordon, a Brooklyn record shop owner in his thirties obsessed with...
Present day
Presently the Colonial Theater continues to house BroadwayBroadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
and Pre-Broadway shows and is often the first theater in the country to house national tours of Broadway shows. Because of its size, the Colonial can often host highly technical musicals that the smaller houses, such as the Shubert and the Wilbur, are unable to put on. Recent shows include Avenue Q
Avenue Q
Avenue Q is a musical in two acts, conceived by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx, who wrote the music and lyrics. The book was written by Jeff Whitty and the show was directed by Jason Moore and produced by Kevin McCollum, Robyn Goodman, and Jeffrey Seller...
, Mamma Mia!
Mamma Mia!
Mamma Mia! is a stage musical written by British playwright Catherine Johnson, based on the songs of ABBA, composed by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, former members of the band. Although the title of the musical is taken from the group's 1975 chart-topper "Mamma Mia", the plot is fictional, not...
, The Producers
The Producers (musical)
The Producers is a musical adapted by Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan from Brooks' 1968 film of the same name, with lyrics written by Brooks and music composed by Brooks and arranged by Glen Kelly and Doug Besterman. As in the film, the story concerns two theatrical producers who scheme to get rich...
and the kick-off of the first national tour of Monty Python's Spamalot
Spamalot
Monty Python's Spamalot is a musical comedy "lovingly ripped off from" the 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Like the film, it is a highly irreverent parody of the Arthurian Legend, but it differs from the film in many ways, especially in its parodies of Broadway theatre...
.
The Colonial has also played host to much larger shows such as Les Misérables
Les Misérables (musical)
Les Misérables , colloquially known as Les Mis or Les Miz , is a musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg, based on the novel of the same name by Victor Hugo....
, but after the renovation of the newly restored Opera House, some of its usual shows were taken away. Nonetheless, the Colonial continues to be a testing ground for Broadway-bound shows.