Boulevard Theatre

Revere Beach Boulevard,
Revere, MA 02151

Unfavorite 1 person favorited this theater

Showing 14 comments

EdwardFindlay
EdwardFindlay on May 11, 2011 at 6:27 pm

A 1914 map from the Register of Deeds' website shows the buildings next door to be 102 and up so it’s somewhere lower than 100 Revere Beach Blvd.

rsalters (Ron Salters)
rsalters (Ron Salters) on May 9, 2011 at 2:16 pm

Someone who worked here as an usher said that the Boulevard had two entrances: one on the east side on Revere Beach Boulevard, and the other on the west side, on Ocean Avenue. He said that the latter was the main entrance when he worked there. He couldn’t remember what the theater’s street address was.

EdwardFindlay
EdwardFindlay on March 30, 2011 at 12:44 am

No entries because Boston issued their own venue licenses and did their own inspections…those listed are those who didn’t have their own inspectors or venue licensing.

Boston is frequently mentioned in there, only it’s to mention their own processes and procedures alongside the state’s.

rsalters (Ron Salters)
rsalters (Ron Salters) on March 29, 2011 at 1:51 pm

The theater name was listed as “Crescent Gardens Theatre” in the 1914 list of theaters and halls inside the Report of the Chief of the Mass. District Police linked to above. Wonder why that very informative list has no entries for the City of Boston ??

EdwardFindlay
EdwardFindlay on March 28, 2011 at 11:31 pm

About the name…Page 59 of the Image of America Series book “Revere Beach” states that the theater was called “Boulevard Theatre” while the entire complex that included the theatre and ballroom was called “Crescent Gardens”.

rsalters (Ron Salters)
rsalters (Ron Salters) on March 26, 2011 at 3:08 pm

Very interesting link- lots of good stuff to study in it.

EdwardFindlay
EdwardFindlay on March 26, 2011 at 9:01 am

Theater is mentioned on page 55 of the Report of the Chief of the Massachusetts District Police:

View link

Pages 30-50 might be of interest to theater history buffs…

Other theaters mentioned not already known may not have been full theaters.

EdwardFindlay
EdwardFindlay on March 23, 2011 at 12:13 am

Thanks for the confirmation…

According to a caption in the book “Greater Boston Fires of the 1950s and 1960s” the ballroom opened on May 30, 1913. It’s possible to assume that day and year was also the opening year for the theatre.

What year it closed or if it was still open as an active theatre isn’t mentioned…

rsalters (Ron Salters)
rsalters (Ron Salters) on March 18, 2011 at 2:37 pm

The building in the beautiful postcard which Ed Findlay has found is the same building as in the May 1941 MGM Theatre Report photo. In 1941, the ballroom was called “Beachview Dancing” and the theatre was the “Boulevard Theatre”. This postcard implies that the original name was “Crescent Gardens Theatre”.

EdwardFindlay
EdwardFindlay on March 10, 2011 at 4:57 am

Unless there was another one on the boulevard, according to Image of America Revere book, it was located on the corner of Shirley Ave. making it the park directly across the street from the bandstand and MGH Revere health center. It was destroyed by fire on March 14th, 1960…I have seen during and after shots- it was a total loss burned down to the bare wood supports unfortunately.
A shot of the complex: View link

rsalters (Ron Salters)
rsalters (Ron Salters) on September 9, 2010 at 2:43 pm

Yeah, me too. I have no idea where the Boulevard Theatre was in Revere. The MGM Theatre Report doesn’t list an address other than to say that it’s on “the Boulevard”. It was a big theater.

PNRNetworks
PNRNetworks on July 31, 2008 at 7:41 am

Does anyone know what now occupies this space on the beach? I’m curious to know where it was…

rsalters (Ron Salters)
rsalters (Ron Salters) on March 11, 2007 at 11:34 am

In the Boston Post entertainment pages in the late-1940s, the Boulevard Theatre and the Revere Theatre shared the same small ad, with their names at the top. They both showed the same program, which seems odd.

rsalters (Ron Salters)
rsalters (Ron Salters) on January 23, 2007 at 10:56 am

The MGM Theatre Photograph and Report form for the Boulevard Theatre in Revere has an exterior photo dated May 1941. The theatre entrance was in the middle of a large, rambling old 3-story commercial block with a tower at its right end. The theatre had a wide entrance with a fancy 3-sided marquee above. Above the theatre’s marquee was another large, glittering marquee proclaiming “Beachview Dancing”. The Report states that the theatre is on the “Boulevard”. Looking at a street map of Revere, I conclude that it refers to the Revere Beach Boulevard. The Report states that the theatre has been showing MGM films for over 10 years, that it’s over 15 years old; in Good condition, and has 1302 orchestra seats and 486 balcony seats; total: 1,788 seats. It was run by Interstate theatres.