B.F. Keith's Theatre (1894–1928) in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
,
, was a
vaudeville
Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...
playhouse run by
B.F. Keith
Benjamin Franklin Keith (January 26, 1846 – March 26, 1914) was an American vaudeville theater owner, highly influential in the evolution of variety theater into vaudeville.
Biography
Early years
Keith was born in Hillsborough, New Hamp ...
. It sat across from
Boston Common
The Boston Common (also known as the Common) is a public park in downtown Boston, Massachusetts. It is the oldest city park in the United States. Boston Common consists of of land bounded by Tremont Street (139 Tremont St.), Park Street, Beacon ...
in the city's theatre district, with an entrance on
Tremont Street
Tremont Street is a major thoroughfare in Boston, Massachusetts.
Tremont Street begins at Government Center in Boston's city center as a continuation of Cambridge Street, and forms the eastern edge of Boston Common. Continuing in a roughly so ...
and another on
Washington Street. Personnel included Keith,
E.F. Albee and H.E. Gustin. Virgilio Tojetti painted some of the interior decorations. In 1939, the theater was converted to a movie theater named the Normandie.
Performances/Screenings
*
Fadettes of Boston
The Fadettes of Boston (1888-ca.1920) was an all-women orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts, and directed by Caroline B. Nichols. "The original group of six expanded to twenty by 1898"Judith Tick. "Women as Professional Musicians in the United ...
*
Edison Vitascope
Vitascope was an early film projector first demonstrated in 1895 by Charles Francis Jenkins and Thomas Armat. They had made modifications to Jenkins' patented Phantoscope, which cast images via film and electric light onto a wall or screen. The ...
*
Lumière Cinematograph
Cinematograph or kinematograph is an early term for several types of motion picture film mechanisms. The name was used for movie cameras as well as film projectors, or for complete systems that also provided means to print films (such as the Cin ...
References
Further reading
*
* E.T. Adams. "Artistic Engine-Room Interiors." Engineering Magazine, v.10, no.6, March 1896
* Frank Cullen. Vaudeville old & new: an encyclopedia of variety performances in America. NY: Routledge, 2004
External links
* CinemaTreasures.org
B. F. Keith's Theatre 547 Washington Street, Boston, MA 02458
* Library of Congress
Drawing of Shubert Apollo Theatre(formerly B.F. Keith's Theatre), Tremont St. opposite the Common, and B.F. Keith's Vaudeville, Washington St., Boston, Massachusetts, 1931.
Images
Image:1894 BFKeithTheatre Boston.jpg, Keith's interior, c. 1894
Image:1897 Keiths theatre BostonEveningTranscript December17.png, Advertisement, 1897
Image:KeithsTheatre night BostonMA ca1900s postcard.png, Night view of Keith's, c. 1900s
Image:Decoration byVTojetti KeithsTheatre BostonMA postcard ca1900s.png, Postcard of decorations by Virgilio Tojetti, c. 1900s
Image:1911_Keiths Theatre_map_Boston_byMiller_BPL_12556.png, Detail of 1911 map of Boston, showing Keith's
Image:1917 BFKeiths theatre BostonDailyGlobe Feb21.png, Advertisement for Clark & Bergman; Belle Baker
Belle Baker (December 25, 1893 in New York City – April 29, 1957 in Los Angeles) was an American singer and actress. Popular throughout the 1910s and 1920s, Baker introduced a number of ragtime and torch songs including Irving Berlin's " Bl ...
; Adelaide & J.J. Hughes, 1917
{{Boston theatres
Former buildings and structures in Boston
1894 establishments in Massachusetts
1928 disestablishments in Massachusetts
Cultural history of Boston
20th century in Boston
Boston Theater District
Former theatres in Boston
Event venues established in 1894
Vaudeville theaters
Former cinemas in the United States