A Brief History
The Majestic Theatre was completed
in 1903. Eben Dyer Jordan commissioned architect John Galen Howard to design
The Majestic, who was one of only 400 American architects trained at L’Ecole
des Beaux Arts in the late 1800s. But he attended MIT before moving
to Paris. His design of the Majestic combines plain old Yankee ingenuity
with the classical perfection, Rococo decoration, functional quality and
pure visual fun taught at the Beaux Arts School. He also used the
newly invented electric light bulb to proclaim the theater's grandeur by
accenting the tall columns, soaring arches and stained glass of the facade.
The pattern was repeated in the lobby and auditorium - 4,500 light bulbs
in all.
While originally designed
for opera and theatre, the Majestic has served many purposes. It was operated
by the Shubert Organization and converted to vaudeville in the 1920's.
By the mid-1950's, movies had taken over the stage, with attending alterations
that transformed the lobby and covered much of the Beaux Arts splendor.
By 1983, when Emerson College purchased the Majestic - then called the
Saxon - from Sack Theaters, she had fallen into severe decline. But with
patient and painstaking effort, Emerson College brought the Majestic
back to life with new heating, air conditioning, plumbing and electrical
systems, new stage floor and scenery, new dressing rooms, wheelchair accessibility,
and into compliance with modern building codes. The College completed the
final phase of restoration in 2003. The entire building has been
restored to its original splendor.
This work has been so important
to the Boston community that it has garnered two Boston Magazine "Best
of Boston" awards, and the 1992 Historic Neighborhoods Foundation Award
for enhancing and preserving the design and social heritage of the city
of Boston. The theatre is a member of the national League of Historic Theatres,
and former mayor Raymond Flynn proclaimed April 26, 1989 to be Emerson
Majestic Theatre Day.
Restoration
With their gracious lead
gift in 1999, Ted and Joan Benard-Cutler spurred the restoration of this
century-old performing arts venue. Emerson College closed the theatre
in the Spring of 2002 for the final stage of restoration. It re-opened
with Emerson College's EVVY's show, a televised award show honoring students
and comparable to annual cable award shows such as the Oscar's, Tony's
and Grammy's.
The Cutler Majestic Theatre
plays a unique role in the Boston community, as does Emerson College. It
is a Boston landmark and the second oldest
theatre in Boston's downtown
Theatre District.
It houses several of Boston's
finest not-for-profit arts organizations, plays
host to special productions
that leading Boston-area arts groups think are
important enough to play
downtown, and serves both as a laboratory for
Emerson College students
to gain experience in the arts and crafts of live
communication and as a key
production facility for the Division of
Performing Arts' Emerson
Stage. The resulting range of exciting, innovative and fun events has kept
the Cutler Majestic Theatre "lighted" more consistently than any other
Theatre District facility, with the broadest and most diverse menu of artistic
events.
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