Citi Performing Arts Center, formerly the Wang Center for the Performing Arts, is located in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. It consists of two theatres, the Wang Theatre and the Shubert Theatre, both of which are neighbors on Tremont Street in Boston's Theatre District. The Center adopted its new name late in 2006, after signing a 15 year agreement with Citigroup. [1]
The center maintains partnerships with the Boston Lyric Opera, Boston Ballet, and the Commonwealth Shakespeare Company. [1]
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The Wang Theatre
The Wang Theatre was originally known as the Metropolitan Theatre when it opened in 1925. It was developed by Max Shoolman and designed by architect Clarence Blackall, with the assistance of Detroit theatre architect C. Howard Crane. It seats more than 3,600 people. In 1962 it became the home of the Boston Ballet and was renamed the Music Hall. During the 1960s and 1970s, audiences could see the Stuttgart Opera, the Metropolitan Opera, Bolshoi Ballet and Kirov Ballet as well as popular movies and performing artists. With time though, they could no longer attract the large touring companies because of the size of their stage as well as their outdated production facilities. Converted to a non-profit center in 1980 and renamed the Metropolitan Center, they were able to attract theatrical performances again. In 1983, Dr. An Wang made a very large donation and the Wang Center was born. From 1989 - 1992, $9.8 million was raised to restore the Theatre to "its glory days of the 1920s".[2] Boston based architecture firm Finegold Alexander + Associates Inc restored the theatre with Conrad Schmitt Studios performing the elegant decoration, gilded moldings, murals, scagliola and marbleized surfaces.
The lobby was used in the movie The Witches of Eastwick as part of the house in which Jack Nicholson's character lived.[3]
The Shubert Theatre
| Shubert Theatre | |
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| U.S. National Register of Historic Places | |
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| Location: | Boston, Massachusetts |
| Coordinates: | 42°21′0″N 71°3′58″W / 42.35°N 71.06611°W |
| Built/Founded: | 1908 |
| Architect: | Hill, James, & Whitaker; Et al. |
| Architectural style(s): | No Style Listed |
| Governing body: | Private |
| MPS: | Boston Theatre MRA |
| Added to NRHP: | December 9, 1980 |
| NRHP Reference#: | 80000444 |
The Shubert Theatre, located at at 263-265 Tremont Street and known as Boston's "little princess", was designed by Boston architects Hill, James, & Whitaker. It opened on January 24, 1910 with a production of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew starring E.H. Sothern and Julia Marlowe. It seats approximately 1,600 people.
Originally conceived as The Lyric Theatre by developer Charles H. Bond, it was taken over by the Shubert Organization in 1908 after Bond's death.
In February 1996 the Wang Center signed a 40-year lease agreement with the Shubert Organization. In November 1996, the theatre reopened after being renovated with the first national tour of the musical Rent.
The theater was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
See also
External links
Coordinates: 42°21′01″N 71°03′53″W / 42.3503191°N 71.0645941°W
References
- ^ a b Citi Performing Arts Center - Our Theatres
- ^ Wang Theatre History
- ^ The Witches of Eastwick
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2008-04-15. http://www.nr.nps.gov/.
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