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Wilbur Theater

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1913–1914, Clarence Blackall. 244–250 Tremont St.
  • Wilbur Theater (Peter Vanderwarker or Antonina Smith)

The most Bostonian of the Theater District theaters, the Wilbur derives its architecttural forms from late-eighteenth- and early-nineteenth-century American and English architecture. For example, the handsome doorways are closely modeled on the Adam Thaxter House (BH19) at 59 Mount Vernon Street. Swags, urns, and medallions abound, in homage to the work of British architect Robert Adam. A rectangular proscenium ornaments the intimate and refined auditorium, which seats one thousand. Here, Marlon Brando gained stardom in A Streetcar Named Desire (1947) and Thornton Wilder's Our Town (1938) began its pre-Broadway run.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Keith N. Morgan
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Data

What's Nearby

Wang Center for the Performing Arts (Music Hall, Metropolitan Theater)
Jacob Wirth Restaurant
Cutler Majestic Theater, Emerson College
Tufts New England Medical Center, Boston Floating Hospital
Charles Playhouse (Fifth Universalist Church)

Citation

Keith N. Morgan, "Wilbur Theater", [Boston, Massachusetts], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/MA-01-TD16.

Print Source

Cover: Buildings of Massachusetts

Buildings of Massachusetts: Metropolitan Boston, Keith N. Morgan, with Richard M. Candee, Naomi Miller, Roger G. Reed, and contributors. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2009, 127-128.

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