Plymouth Theatre (Boston)

The Plymouth Theatre (1911–1957) of Boston, Massachusetts, was located on Stuart Street in today's Boston Theater District.^{[nb 1]} Architect Clarence Blackall designed the building for Liebler & Co.^[2]^[3] Performers included Henry Jewett,^[4] Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, 8-year-old Sammy Davis Jr.,^[5] and Bette Davis.^[6] In October 1911, the touring Abbey Theatre presented Synge's Playboy of the Western World at the Plymouth;^[7] in the audience were W. B. Yeats, Isabella Stewart Gardner and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy.^[8]^[9]

"The Shubert Organization of New York bought the Plymouth in 1927 and used it largely for tryouts of plays headed for New York or going on tour, and for some long run performances."^[3] In 1957 the building became the Gary Theater.^{[nb 2]}

Images

Plymouth Theatre, Boston, 1910s
Irish actors Sara Allgood and J. M. Kerrigan in Synge's Playboy of the Western World, 1911
Seating chart, 1912
Interior, c. 1915
Advertisement, 1919
Advertisement, 1920

Performances

1910s

Synge's Playboy of the Western World
Worral & Terry's The White Feather^[11]
Avery Hopwood's Sadie Love, with Marjorie Rambeau^[12]
Heart o' th' Heather, with George FacFarlane^[13]
John Galsworthy's Justice, with John Barrymore^[13]
Otto Hauerbach's The Silent Witness^[14]
G.B. Shaw's Getting Married, with William Faversham and Henrietta Crosman^[15]
The Man Who Came Back^[16]
Booth Tarkington's Seventeen, with Gregory Kelly^[17]
She Walked in Her Sleep^[18]
Breakfast in Bed, with Florence Moore^[19]

1920s

Alice Duer Miller's Charm School^[20]
The Humming Bird, with Maude Fulton^[21]
Charles Anthony's Pagans, with Irene Fenwick^[21]
The Purple Mask, with Leo Ditrichstein^[22]
Collison & Hopwood's Gertie's Garter, with Hazel Dawn^[23]
John Galsworthy's The Skin Game^[24]
Woman of Bronze, with Margaret Anglin^[25]
Dog Love, with William Hodge^[26]
Green Goddess, with George Arliss^[26]
Ladies' Night^[27]

1930s-1950s

Lady Precious Stream^[28]

Mademoiselle-1932-w Grace George and Alice Brady

Reflected Glory - 1936 w Tallulah Bankhead Blow Ye Winds - 1936 w Henry Fonda with Doris Dalton The Masque of Kings - 1936 w Henry Hill, Dudley Digges and Margo Pauline Frederick Susan and God - 1939 w Gertrude Lawrence and Paul McGrath Boys and Girls Together - 1940 w Ed Wynn and The De Marcos. "Kiss and tell" - 1943 by F.Hugh Herbert with Violet Heming Walter Gilbert and Betty Anne Nyman

Notes

^ The Plymouth Theatre was on "Eliot Street" until the street was later renamed "Stuart Street."^[1]
^ "The Shuberts sold the theater to the Sack movie chain in 1957, and it was renamed the Gary. That fell to the wrecking ball in 1978."^[10]

References

^ Boston Register and Business Directory, 1921 [1918]
^ American Architect, March 31, 1915
^ ^a ^b "Ask the Globe", Boston Globe, Dec 25, 1984
^ Edwin Francis Edgett (1940), I speak for myself, Macmillan Company, OCLC 334965
^ Steve Morse (17 Dec 1999), "Thinking inside the box: Sony, Stevie and Sammy top this year's sets", Boston Globe
^ Edgar Driscoll (8 Oct 1989), "All about Bette", Boston Globe
^ "The Abbey in America, 1911 Tour". Dublin: Abbey Theatre. Retrieved August 30, 2013.
^ Maureen Dezell (31 Oct 2004), "From jeers to cheers", Boston Globe
^ Kevin Cullen (8 Feb 2011), "Hub may again play part in Irish theater's survival", Boston Globe
^ Boston Globe, Dec 25, 1984
^ Boston Globe, Sep 6, 1915
^ Boston Evening Transcript, Nov 20, 1915
^ ^a ^b Boston Globe, March 16, 1916
^ Boston Globe, Oct 2, 1916
^ Boston Globe, Feb 21, 1917
^ Boston Globe, April 19, 1918
^ Boston Globe, Oct 23, 1918
^ Boston Globe, March 25, 1919
^ Boston Globe, Sep 17, 1919
^ Boston Globe, April 30, 1920
^ ^a ^b Boston Globe, Dec 8, 1920
^ Boston Globe, January 24, 1921
^ Boston Globe, March 31, 1921
^ Boston Globe, April 6, 1921
^ Boston Globe, Oct 6, 1921
^ ^a ^b Boston Globe, Jan 27, 1922
^ Boston Globe, April 28, 1921
^ James Harbeck (1996), "The Quaintness-and Usefulness-of the Old Chinese Traditions: The Yellow Jacket and Lady Precious Stream", Asian Theatre Journal, 13: 238–247, JSTOR 1124528

External links

Library of Congress. Drawing of Plymouth Theatre, Eliot St. near Tremont St., Boston, Massachusetts, 1922.
Flickr. Photo of Gary Theater, 20th century
Bostonian Society. Photo of the Gary Theater, 127-131 Stuart Street, c. 1958
Boston Athenaeum. Theater History: Plymouth Theatre, 131 Stuart Street

42°21′4.21″N 71°3′57.47″W / 42.3511694°N 71.0659639°W / 42.3511694; -71.0659639

[2] The Plymouth Theatre was on "Eliot Street" until the street was later renamed "Stuart Street."^[1]

[12] "The Shuberts sold the theater to the Sack movie chain in 1957, and it was renamed the Gary. That fell to the wrecking ball in 1978."^[10]

[1] Boston Register and Business Directory, 1921 [1918]

[3] American Architect, March 31, 1915

[bg1984-4] "Ask the Globe", Boston Globe, Dec 25, 1984

[5] Edwin Francis Edgett (1940), I speak for myself, Macmillan Company, OCLC 334965

[6] Steve Morse (17 Dec 1999), "Thinking inside the box: Sony, Stevie and Sammy top this year's sets", Boston Globe

[7] Edgar Driscoll (8 Oct 1989), "All about Bette", Boston Globe

[8] "The Abbey in America, 1911 Tour". Dublin: Abbey Theatre. Retrieved August 30, 2013.

[9] Maureen Dezell (31 Oct 2004), "From jeers to cheers", Boston Globe

[10] Kevin Cullen (8 Feb 2011), "Hub may again play part in Irish theater's survival", Boston Globe

[11] Boston Globe, Dec 25, 1984

[13] Boston Globe, Sep 6, 1915

[14] Boston Evening Transcript, Nov 20, 1915

[Boston_Globe-15] Boston Globe, March 16, 1916

[16] Boston Globe, Oct 2, 1916

[17] Boston Globe, Feb 21, 1917

[18] Boston Globe, April 19, 1918

[19] Boston Globe, Oct 23, 1918

[20] Boston Globe, March 25, 1919

[21] Boston Globe, Sep 17, 1919

[22] Boston Globe, April 30, 1920

[ReferenceA-23] Boston Globe, Dec 8, 1920

[24] Boston Globe, January 24, 1921

[25] Boston Globe, March 31, 1921

[26] Boston Globe, April 6, 1921

[27] Boston Globe, Oct 6, 1921

[ReferenceB-28] Boston Globe, Jan 27, 1922

[29] Boston Globe, April 28, 1921

[30] James Harbeck (1996), "The Quaintness-and Usefulness-of the Old Chinese Traditions: The Yellow Jacket and Lady Precious Stream", Asian Theatre Journal, 13: 238–247, JSTOR 1124528

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