Bijou Theatre (Boston)
Bijou Opera House, Bijou Dream Theatre, B.F. Keith's Bijou Theatre, RKO Bijou Theatre, Intown Theatre | |
 Bijou interior, 19th century | |
 | |
| Address | 545 Washington Street Boston, Massachusetts United States |
|---|---|
| Operator | Emerson College |
| Construction | |
| Opened | December 11, 1882 |
| Closed | 1943 |
| Years active | 1882-1943 |
| Architect | Bradlee, Winslow & Wetherell |
The Bijou Theatre (1882–1943) in
B.F. Keith.[5][6] Around the 1900s, it featured a "staircase of heavy glass under which flowed an illuminated waterfall."[7]
The Bijou "closed 31 December 1943 and was razed in 1951."[8] The building's facade still exists.[9] It is currently a pending Boston Landmark by the Boston Landmarks Commission.
Background
The building was constructed in 1836 as The Lion Theatre, and in 1839 was renamed
The Gaiety. It was also named The Mechanics Institute, Melodeon Varieties, and the New Melodeon. The Gaiety was purchased by George H. Tyler (who also ran The Park Theatre) and by Frederick Vokes, who had renovated the Gaiety, and wanted to rename it the Bijou Theatre. Vokes would relinquish his share, and Tyler would replace him with E.H. and T.N. Hastings. The Bijou officially opened on December 11, 1882.[10]
The Bijou
The new theatre opened on December 11, 1882 with the
W.S. Gilbert (Gilbert and Sullivan) comic opera Iolanthe. By September 27, 1886, the theatre became owned by B.F. Keith and George R. Batcheller.[11] On March 24, 1894, Keith opened a theatre next the Bijou named "B.F. Keith’s Theatre". In 1901, it was renamed the "Bijou Opera House". The Bijou would later be named "Bijou Dream" when it became a movie house in 1927, and also became known as Intown sometime after that.[12]
The Bijou was a distinct theatre for a couple of reasons. The Bijou was the first theatre in the United States to be elementarily lighted by electricity, which
Boston Opera House). After the tragic 1942 Cocoanut Grove fire (492 deaths), Boston heavily enforced new fire laws, and since the Bijou did not have adequate exits, it was forced to close.[12]
The Bijou was razed to the orchestra and stage floors, which became the roof of the stores below. Most of what remained of the Bijou building was demolished in 2008, but
Paramount Theatre into theatres and dormitories.[12]
Images
-
Detail of 1886 map of Boston, showing the Bijou adjacent to theBoston Theatre -
Film projection room, 1911 -
Advertisement, 1915, for Frank Keenan, Marie Tempest, Bijou String Quartet -
Facade of former Bijou in 2011; betweenBoston Opera House(at right)
Variant names
- Bijou Opera House[14]
- Bijou Dream Theatre[15]
- B.F. Keith's Bijou Theatre[8]
- RKO Bijou Theatre[8][16]
- Intown Theatre[8]
References
- ^ Boston Almanac and Business Directory. 1887, 1891, 1894
- OL 13997009M
- OL 7162628M
- ^ U.S. Dept. of the Interior. National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form: [pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NRHP/Text/64000273.pdf Boston Theatre Multiple Resource Area]. 1979. Retrieved 2012-03-16
- OL 24140253M
- ^ "A High-Class Motion Picture House." Photo-Era v.27, no.2, August 1911
- ^ Boston Opera House. The Boston Opera House Site Archived 2013-12-24 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2012-03-16
- ^ a b c d Frank Cullen. Vaudeville old & new: an encyclopedia of variety performances in America. NY: Routledge, 2004
- ^ Adams House Annex, no.543-547 Washington Street, Boston, USA. "Facade built 1858-1850; interior completely remodeled 1881-82." Boston Redevelopment Authority. (1987), Midtown cultural district plan: historic building survey
- ^ Souvenir booklet produced "in commemoration of the 150th consecutive performance of "Iolanthe"". Issued on 18 April, page three clearly gives the production (and therefore the theatre's) opening night date as 11 December 1882.
- ^ a b "Boston Athenæum Theater History | Boston Athenæum".
- ^ a b c "Bijou Theatre in Boston, MA - Cinema Treasures".
- ^ Edison Bulb in the Spotlight, Harvard Houghton Library Blog
- )
- ^ Clark's Boston Blue Book, 1909
- ^ Life, Jan. 10, 1938
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bijou Theatre (Boston, Massachusetts).
- Harvard Theatre Collection, Houghton Library, Harvard University. Boston Bijou Theatre Company records: Guide
- Boston Athenaeum. Theater History Archived 2021-04-14 at the Wayback Machine. Bijou Theatre (1882- 1952), 545 Washington Street
- Historic Boston Inc. Adams House Annex/Bijou Theater, 543-547 Washington Street
- Boston Landmarks Commission. Photo of 543-547 Washington Street, Boston, 20th century