The Hollis Street Theatre (1885–1935) was a theatre in Boston, Massachusetts, that presented dramatic plays, opera, musical concerts, and other entertainments.
Brief history
Boston architect John R. Hall designed the 1,600-seat theatre in 1885, on the site of the former Hollis Street Church. The interior was designed by Zachariah Mode, who also designed the interior of the Colonial Theater in Boston.
On opening night,
The new theatre was crowded to-night by an audience which came from among the best people in Boston. The street was crowded with people in the afternoon, and it was almost impossible to get near the doors at the time they were opened. People holding tickets met with great difficulty in getting in, so that the audience was not entirely seated until some time after the curtain should have risen. As soon as they did get in, however, they found a roomy, gorgeous interior fitted up with every attention to comfort and decorated brightly in gold, blue, and white. Most of the tickets had been sold in advance by auction, and it has been impossible for several days to secure places for the opening performance. ... The Mikado ... made an immense hit to-night.A new Boston playhouse: opening of the Hollis-Street Theatre with 'The Mikado.' New York Times. November 10, 1885.
The many shows presented at the theatre featured a number of notables, including Maurice Barrymore, Sarah Bernhardt, William Gillette, Henry Irving, Doris Keane, Julia Marlowe and Ellen Terry. Others associated with the theatre included Isaac B. Rich; Edward E. Rice; Charles Frohmann.
The building was demolished in 1935.
Selected shows 1885 - The Mikado by Gilbert and Sullivan; with D'Oyly Carte, John Stetson's company, Arthur Wilkinson, S. Cadwallader, John Howson, Signor Brocolini, Laura Clement, Hattie Delaro, Rosa Cooke.A new Boston playhouse: opening of the Hollis-Street Theatre with 'The Mikado.' New York Times. November 10, 1885. 1886 - Nanon by F. Zell and Richard Genée; with Carleton Opera Co. 1887 Daniela by Felix Phillippi; with Helena ModjeskaBoston Globe, Jan. 6, 1887. Twelfth Night by Shakespeare; with Helen ModjeskaBoston Globe, Jan. 13, 1887. Fedora by Victorien Sardou, with Sarah BernhardtBoston Globe, April 5, 1887. 1888 Uncle Tom's Cabin Cuisla-M-Chree by Dion BoucicaultRaoul Granqvist, Imitation as resistance: appropriations of English literature in nineteenth-century America, Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press, 1995, , p.252 1892 Richelieu by Edward Bulwer Lytton; with Daniel Goddard Crandon Hess and HossNew York Times, Nov. 21, 1892 Men and Women Souvenir hand fan Apl 12, 1892 1896 - A Good Thing, with Peter F. Daily (approximate date) 1897 - The Devil's Disciple, Richard Mansfield, December 27, 1897 1901 - Sherlock Holmes 1903 Skipper & Co., Wall St. by H.J.W. Dam; with Maclyn Arbuckle Markheim, with E. H. Sothern 1907 - The Great Galeoto by Jose Echegaray 1908 - The Boy and the Girl by Richard Carle and H.L Heartz 1909 Lady Frederick Love Watches 1910 What Every Woman Knows by J. M. Barrie, with Maude Adams The Sham, with Henrietta Crosman The Traveling Salesman Mrs. Dot by Somerset Maugham; with Billie Burke The Prince Duma by Henry Blossom and Victor Herbert; with Fritzi Scheff The Pillars of Society by Henrik Ibsen; with Mrs. Fiske Mid-Channel by Arthur Wing Pinero, with Ethel Barrymore The Prosecutor by Franklin Searight; with Emmett Corrigan Russian Balalaika Orchestra 1912 The Attack 1912 Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm by Kate Douglas Wiggin and Charlotte Thompson 1913 The Mind the Paint Girl by Arthur Wing Pinero; with Billie Burke Kismet; with Otis Skinner 1915 Grumpy Sherlock Holmes written by and starring William Gillette with Edward Fielding as Watson 1916 - Daddy Long Legs 1917 - Come out of the Kitchen by A.E. Thomas 1919 - Dear Brutus by J. M. Barrie 1920 - The Czarina featuring Doris Keane by Melchior Lengyel and Lajos Bíró and adapted by Edward Sheldon 1924 - The Nervous Wreck by Owen Davis 1928 - The American Opera Company (Mar 12 through Mar 24)
References
External links
Library of Congress. Historic American Buildings Survey. Hollis Street Theater, Hollis Street, Boston.