Wang Theatre, Boston: style and history

The Wang Theatre opened in 1925 as the Metropolitan Theatre, developed by Max Shoolman and designed by architect Clarence Blackall with the Detroit theatre specialist C. Howard Crane, seating more than 3,600 people in Boston's Theatre District at 252-272 Tremont Street. Renamed the Music Hall in 1962 when it became home to the Boston Ballet, it hosted touring companies including the Bolshoi Ballet, Kirov Ballet, and Metropolitan Opera through the 1960s and 70s before its stage size and outdated production facilities made it too small for large touring shows, and it converted to non-profit operation, now run as part of the Boch Center.

the building

From Metropolitan to Music Hall. The theatre changed names and roles across the 20th century: opened as the Metropolitan Theatre in 1925, it became the Music Hall in 1962 as home of the Boston Ballet, hosting the Stuttgart Opera, Metropolitan Opera, Bolshoi Ballet, and Kirov Ballet before converting to non-profit operation as the Wang Theatre.

the style

Built in the Renaissance Revival style in 1925, the theatre carried the ornamented, historicist look common to the great movie-palace-era houses of its decade.

the architect

Clarence Blackall, working with Detroit theatre architect C. Howard Crane, designed the Metropolitan Theatre for developer Max Shoolman in 1925.

significance

The theatre is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and was designated a Boston Landmark by the Boston Landmarks Commission in 1990.

nearby

Charles Playhouse 100 ft · Greek Revival · 1839
Wilbur Theatre 100 ft · Colonial Revival · 1914
Hayden Building 0.2 mi · Romanesque Revival · 1875
Boston Young Men's Christian Union Building 0.2 mi · Gothic Revival · 1875
Boylston Building 0.2 mi · Renaissance Revival · 1887
Gordon's Olympia Theatre 0.2 mi · 1910

All 282 buildings in Boston