Page 91 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide 2017 - Boston

CHINA T OWN AND THE THEA TER DISTRIC T  89

The History of Boston’s Theater District

Boston’s first theater opened in 1793 on Federal Street. Fifty years later Boston had
become a major tryout town and boasted a number of lavish theaters. The U.S. premiere
of Handel’s Messiah opened in 1839, the U.S. prem iere of Gilbert and Sullivan’s H.M.S.
Pinafore in 1877, and the world premiere of Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto in 1875.
In the late 19th century theaters came under fire from the censorious Watch and Ward
Society. In the 20th century, now celebrated dramas such as Tennessee Williams’ A
Streetcar Named Desire and Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey into Night debuted here.
Premieres included Ziegfeld Follies, Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, and musicals by Rodgers
and Hammerstein.
Theatergoers in 19th-century Boston came
primarily from the city’s social elite, who
were often patrons of the arts. In this way
Boston’s theaters flourished.

The planned new theater remained in
use until 1835. It became the Academy
of Music from 1835 to 1846.
Old theater

Athena
Cupids

The Federal Street Theater
Designed by Charles Bulfinch, the Federal Street Theater was burned
down in 1798. The old and new theaters are depicted in this alle­
gorical painting, possibly a set design, which also shows characters
from Greek mythology. Other Bulfinch buildings are also shown.

Ziegfeld Follies, produced The Rodgers and Hammerstein
Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar in the 1920s, had eight musical Oklahoma! premiered in
Named Desire premiered at Boston’s pre-Broadway “try-outs” Boston as a production entitled
Wilbur Theatre. It starred a young at the Colonial Theatre Away We Go! It was refined in
Marlon Brando and Jessica Tandy. (see p86). Boston before hitting Broadway.

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