Exeter Street Theatre

The former Exeter Street Theatre building, Boston (2011)

The Exeter Street Theatre is a Richardsonian Romanesque building at the corner of Exeter and Newbury Streets, in the Back Bay section of Boston, Massachusetts. It was built as the First Spiritual Temple, 1884–85, by architects Hartwell and Richardson.[1] For seventy years, from 1914 to 1984, it operated as a movie house. It now houses the Kingsley Montessori School.

History

Detail of map of Boston, showing First Spiritual Temple, (1896, prior to cinema)
Detail of Hartwell and Richardson's building design (c.1880s-1890s, prior to cinema)

"Wealthy socialite Mrs. [Marcellus Ayer] (Hattie M. Ayer) and her friends" organized the conversion in 1914 of church into cinema;[2] Clarence Blackall designed the renovation.[3] It "could accommodate 900 patrons."[4][5] Proprietors and overseers included Viola and Florence Berlin,[6] and Neil St. John Raymond.[3] The Working Union of Progressive Spiritualists continued to meet in the building's lower auditorium until 1974, when the congregation relocated to neighboring Brookline (and subsequently to Harwich, on Cape Cod), and they and/or Hattie Ayer sold the theater operation and building.[7][8]

After the theatre closed in 1984 amidst popular cultural anguish and bottom-line real-estate concerns, the building has been deployed for a variety of mostly commercial purposes.[9] It was occupied by Conran's housewares retailer and Waterstones booksellers.[10] By 1988 "the Exeter Street Theatre building [housed TGI] Friday's Restaurant and an office complex."[11] Business consultants Idealab leased space in the building from 2000 to 2003.[12][13] In 2005 it became the Kingsley Montessori School.[14]

One of the cinema's electric signs, scrapped in 1985, was acquired by collector Dave Waller.[15][16]

John Cheever's short story "The President of the Argentine" mentions the Exeter Street Theatre.[17]

Gregory Mcdonald's second book in the Fletch series Confess, Fletch (1976) mentions an Alec Guinness Saturday matinee double feature of The Lavender Hill Mob and The Man in the White Suit at the Exeter Street Theatre.[18]

Screenings

Advertisement for Geraldine Farrar in Cecil B. DeMille's Carmen (1915)

1910s

1920s

1960s

1970s

1980s

References

  1. ^ "First Spiritual Temple". www.fst.org. Archived from the original on May 18, 2000.
  2. ^ Russell Merritt. "Nickelodeon Theaters, 1905-1914." In: Thomas Schatz, ed. Hollywood: critical concepts in media and cultural studies. Taylor & Francis, 2004
  3. ^ a b Jane Holtz Kay. "The Last Picture Show at the Exeter." Boston Globe, April 3, 1984
  4. ^ A. Scott Berg. Goldwyn: a biography. Penguin, October 1, 1998
  5. ^ "Lively hearing on movie censorship; mayor feels Boston needs no aid from state -- labor and theatre men oppose." Boston Globe, February 25, 1920
  6. ^ Mark Feeney. "When Boston was home to many lavish theaters: Hub’s heyday of theaters is recalled." Boston Globe, Jan. 8, 2012
  7. ^ Fulton, Stephen (1996). "The History of the Exeter Street Theatre". First Spiritual Temple. Retrieved April 29, 2019.
  8. ^ a b Kaplan, Aline (October 6, 2017). "Spiritual Temple or Movie House?". The Next Phase Blog. Retrieved April 29, 2019.
  9. ^ Lynnley Browning. "Staples, others eyeing historic Exeter Street edifice." Boston Globe, January 13, 2000
  10. ^ Waterstone's closing chapter. Boston Globe, May 25, 1999
  11. ^ Michael Blowen. "The changing Boston cinema: more screens, less art." Boston Globe, October 9, 1988
  12. ^ Scott Kirsner. "Incubator Smackdown". Boston Globe, November 6, 2000
  13. ^ Peter Howe. "Idealab to shut Boston office." Boston Globe, May 10, 2003
  14. ^ Jill Gross. "Evolution: movies, books, kids: ex-Exeter Theatre is reborn as Montessori." Boston Globe, October 23, 2005
  15. ^ Nathan Cobb. "Dave Waller's sign collection sheds bright light on bygone times." Boston Globe, May 24, 2003
  16. ^ Robert Preer. "Old signs have a home." Boston Globe, January 18, 2009
  17. ^ Atlantic Monthly, April 1976. Discussed in: Douglass Shand-Tucci. The Crimson Letter: Harvard, Homosexuality, and the Shaping of American Culture. Macmillan, 2004
  18. ^ Confess, Fletch, Gregory McDonald, 1976
  19. ^ a b "Mary Pickford Week." Moving Picture World, February 12, 1916
  20. ^ a b c d Boston Globe, February 10, 1920
  21. ^ a b c d Boston Globe, June 7, 1921
  22. ^ a b c Boston Globe, December 12, 1922
  23. ^ The Boston Phoenix - November 8, 1983
  24. ^ Boston Globe, January 15, 1984
  25. ^ indelible personal memory of contributor

Further reading

  • "Boston time capsule opened after 100 years." Bangor Daily News - September 23, 1985
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Exeter Street Theatre and 26 Exeter Street.

42°21′1.81″N 71°4′48.07″W / 42.3505028°N 71.0800194°W / 42.3505028; -71.0800194