HollisStTheatre Boston byReichnerBros ca1900s postcard

The Hollis Street Theatre (1885–1935) was a theatre in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, 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 ''The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu'' is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen Gilbert and Sullivan, operatic collaborations. It opened on 14 March 1885, in London, whe ...
... made an immense hit to-night.

The many shows presented at the theatre featured a number of notables, including Maurice Barrymore,

Sarah Bernhardt Sarah Bernhardt (; born Henriette-Rosine Bernard; 22 October 1844 – 26 March 1923) was a French stage actress who starred in some of the most popular French plays of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including by Alexandre Dumas fils, ...

William Gillette William Hooker Gillette (July 24, 1853 – April 29, 1937) was an American actor-manager, playwright, and stage manager in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He is best remembered for portraying Sherlock Holmes on stage and in a 191 ...

Henry Irving Sir Henry Irving (6 February 1838 – 13 October 1905), christened John Henry Brodribb, sometimes known as J. H. Irving, was an English stage actor in the Victorian era, known as an actor-manager because he took complete responsibility ( ...

Doris Keane Doris Keane (December 12, 1881 – November 25, 1945) was an American actress, primarily in live theatre. Early life and family Keane was born in Michigan to Joseph Keane and Florence Winter. She was educated privately in Chicago, New York, Pa ...

, Julia Marlowe and

Ellen Terry Dame Alice Ellen Terry (27 February 184721 July 1928) was a leading English actress of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born into a family of actors, Terry began performing as a child, acting in Shakespeare plays in London, and toured ...

. Others associated with the theatre included Isaac B. Rich; Edward E. Rice; Charles Frohmann. The building was demolished in 1935. Maude Adams 002

Selected shows

* 1885 -

The Mikado ''The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu'' is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen Gilbert and Sullivan, operatic collaborations. It opened on 14 March 1885, in London, whe ...

Gilbert and Sullivan Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900) and to the works they jointly created. The two men collaborated on fourteen com ...

; with D'Oyly Carte, John Stetson's company, Arthur Wilkinson, S. Cadwallader, John Howson,

Signor Brocolini John Clark, better known as Signor Brocolini (September 26, 1841 – June 7, 1906), was an Irish-born American operatic singer and actor remembered for creating the role of the Pirate King in the original New York City production of ''The Pirates ...

, Laura Clement,

Hattie Delaro Hattie Delaro (1861 – April 18, 1941) was an American actress. She had a career in theater, then became an actress in silent film in the 1910s and 1920s. Delaro was born in Brooklyn. Delaro debuted on stage in 1881 at Brooklyn's Grand Ope ...

, Rosa Cooke. * 1886 - Nanon by F. Zell and Richard Genée; with Carleton Opera Co. * 1887 ** Daniela by Felix Phillippi; with

Helena Modjeska Helena Modrzejewska (; born Jadwiga Helena Mizel; October 12, 1840 – April 8, 1909), known professionally in the United States as Helena Modjeska, was a Polish-American actress who specialized in Shakespearean and tragic roles. She was success ...

Twelfth Night ''Twelfth Night, or What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Viola an ...

by Shakespeare; with Helen Modjeska ** Fedora by

Victorien Sardou Victorien Sardou ( , ; 5 September 1831 – 8 November 1908) was a French dramatist. He is best remembered today for his development, along with Eugène Scribe, of the well-made play. He also wrote several plays that were made into popular 19th-c ...

, with

* 1888 **

Uncle Tom's Cabin ''Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly'' is an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. Published in two Volume (bibliography), volumes in 1852, the novel had a profound effect on attitudes toward African Americans ...

** Cuisla-M-Chree by

Dion Boucicault Dionysius Lardner "Dion" Boucicault (né Boursiquot; 26 December 1820 – 18 September 1890) was an Irish actor and playwright famed for his melodramas. By the later part of the 19th century, Boucicault had become known on both sides of the ...

* 1892 ** Richelieu by Edward Bulwer Lytton; with Daniel Goddard Crandon ** Hess and Hoss ** Men and Women * 1896 - A Good Thing, with Peter F. Daily (approximate date) * 1897 - The Devil's Disciple,

Richard Mansfield Richard Mansfield (24 May 1857 – 30 August 1907) was a German-born English actor-manager best known for his performances in Shakespeare plays, Gilbert and Sullivan operas, and the play ''Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1887 play), Dr. Jekyll and Mr ...

, 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 Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, (; 9 May 1860 19 June 1937) was a Scottish novelist and playwright, best remembered as the creator of Peter Pan. He was born and educated in Scotland and then moved to London, where he wrote several succe ...

, with

Maude Adams Maude Ewing Adams Kiskadden (November 11, 1872 – July 17, 1953), known professionally as Maude Adams, was an American actress and stage designer who achieved her greatest success as the character Peter Pan, first playing the role in the 190 ...

** The Sham, with Henrietta Crosman ** The Traveling Salesman ** Mrs. Dot by

Somerset Maugham William Somerset Maugham ( ; 25 January 1874 – 16 December 1965) was an English writer, known for his plays, novels and short stories. Born in Paris, where he spent his first ten years, Maugham was schooled in England and went to a German un ...

; with Billie Burke ** The Prince Duma by

Henry Blossom Henry Martyn Blossom Jr. (May 10, 1866 – March 23, 1919) was an American writer, playwright, novelist, opera librettist, and lyricist. He first gained wide attention for his second novel, '' Checkers: A Hard Luck Story'' (1896), which was succes ...

and

Victor Herbert Victor August Herbert (February 1, 1859 – May 26, 1924) was an American composer, Cello, cellist and conducting, conductor of English and Irish ancestry and German training. Although Herbert enjoyed important careers as a cello soloist and co ...

; with Fritzi Scheff ** The Pillars of Society by

Henrik Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright, poet and actor. Ibsen is considered the world's pre-eminent dramatist of the 19th century and is often referred to as "the father of modern drama." He pioneered ...

; with Mrs. Fiske ** Mid-Channel by

Arthur Wing Pinero Sir Arthur Wing Pinero (24 May 1855 – 23 November 1934) was an English playwright and, early in his career, actor. Pinero was drawn to the theatre from an early age, and became a professional actor at the age of 19. He gained experience as a ...

, with

Ethel Barrymore Ethel Barrymore (born Ethel Mae Blythe; August 15, 1879 – June 18, 1959) was an American actress and a member of the Barrymore family of actors. Barrymore was a stage, screen and radio actress whose career spanned six decades, and was regarde ...

** The Prosecutor by Franklin Searight; with Emmett Corrigan ** Russian Balalaika Orchestra * 1912 ** The Attack * 1912 ** Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm by

Kate Douglas Wiggin Kate Douglas Wiggin (September 28, 1856August 24, 1923) was an American educator, author and composer. She wrote children's stories, most notably the classic children's novel ''Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm,'' and composed collections of children's ...

and Charlotte Thompson * 1913 ** The Mind the Paint Girl by

; with Billie Burke ** Kismet; with

Otis Skinner Otis A. Skinner (June 28, 1858 – January 4, 1942) was an American stage actor active during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Early life and education Skinner was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on June 28, 1858, the middle of three b ...

* 1915 ** Grumpy ** Sherlock Holmes written by and starring

with Edward Fielding as Watson * 1916 - Daddy Long Legs * 1917 - Come out of the Kitchen by A.E. Thomas * 1919 -

Dear Brutus ''Dear Brutus'' is a 1917 fantasy play by J. M. Barrie, depicting alternative realities for its characters and their eventual return to real life. The title is a reference to a line from William Shakespeare, Shakespeare's ''Julius Caesar (play), J ...

*1920 - The Czarina featuring

by Melchior Lengyel and

Lajos Bíró Lajos Bíró (; born Lajos Blau; 22 August 1880 – 9 September 1948) was a Hungarian novelist, playwright, and screenwriter who wrote many films from the early 1920s through the late 1940s. Life He was born in Nagyvárad, Kingdom of Hunga ...

and adapted by

Edward Sheldon Edward Brewster Sheldon (February 4, 1886, in Chicago, Illinois – April 1, 1946, in New York City) was an American dramatist. His plays include ''Salvation Nell'' (1908) and '' Romance'' (1913), which was made into a motion picture with Greta ...

* 1924 - The Nervous Wreck by

Owen Davis Owen Gould Davis (January 29, 1874 – October 14, 1956) was an American dramatist known for writing more than 200 plays and having most produced. In 1919, he became the first elected president of the Dramatists Guild of America. He received th ...

* 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. {{coord, 42, 21, 0.22, N, 71, 3, 52.14, W, type:landmark_region:US-MA, display=title Former theatres in Boston Event venues established in 1885 Demolished buildings and structures in Boston 19th century in Boston Boston Theater District Buildings and structures demolished in 1935