Gary Theatre

131 Stuart Street,
Boston, MA 02116

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Additional Info

Previously operated by: Sack Theatres

Architects: Clarence H. Blackall, Louis Chiaramonte

Previous Names: Plymouth Theatre

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News About This Theater

The Last of the Gary

This sizable theatre was formerly the Plymouth Theatre which opened in 1911. It was located on Stuart Steet near Tremont Street and right around the corner from what is now the Emerson Majestic Theatre.

It became the Gary Cinema in 1958. It was demolished in 1978 for construction of the State Transportation Building.

Contributed by Gerald A. DeLuca

Recent comments (view all 91 comments)

Coate
Coate on March 17, 2015 at 12:50 pm

“The Sound of Music” premiered at the Gary 50 years ago today. With a reserved-seat run of 83 weeks, do you think it is the long-run record holder for this venue?

Also, on a related note, I would like to mention my new 50th anniversary retrospective for “The Sound of Music” can be read here.

DICK3570
DICK3570 on November 22, 2015 at 7:59 am

The Theatre had such a short distance between the front and back walls that the screen was located almost at the rear of the back stage wall leaving just enough room for the 5 stereo speakers. The projection booth at the rear of the first balcony was very small making it a very cramped booth for the operators. They had about the biggest equipment at the time; Norelco 70mm machines and Peerless condenser arcs.

DavidZornig
DavidZornig on November 27, 2015 at 3:46 pm

1958 photo added, photo credit Tremont & Stuart.

Nataloff
Nataloff on March 20, 2016 at 2:52 pm

@FlamingoMom: Boy do I remember Helene’s Costume Shop. I was doing a promotion for “Carry On Henry VIII” at the Astor and needed to have someone dress up as the fractious regent for a street ballyhoo. Naturally, I visited Helene. What an experience. I could have sewn a costume from scratch in the time it took her to talk and look through racks and talk and lay out fittings and talk and talk. I suspect the poor dear was lonely, or maybe she was fading, but I never went back there again (except to return the costume).

DavidZornig
DavidZornig on November 24, 2017 at 11:41 am

1955 photo and corresponding Playbill page added, as the Plymouth Theatre.

da_Bunnyman
da_Bunnyman on March 6, 2018 at 11:25 pm

Unconfirmed story told to me by a manager who worked the Gary. He said part of the heating system involved steam that would be sent along the floor of the theater. Joke was that folks would leave the theater with their pants pressed.

da_Bunnyman
da_Bunnyman on April 10, 2018 at 11:32 pm

The book “Movie Roadshow” by Kim R. Holston mentions the first attraction after the theater was refurbished and renamed The Gary was The Bridge On The River Kwai.

da_Bunnyman
da_Bunnyman on April 12, 2018 at 12:41 am

Sorry, read the paragraph wrong, the first film they got as an East Coast Premiere was Bridge, not the first film after it was renamed.

MSC77
MSC77 on January 14, 2019 at 7:35 pm

The Gary’s roadshow engagements are noted in this new article on Boston’s large format and roadshow history

dallasmovietheaters
dallasmovietheaters on May 11, 2022 at 10:35 am

Louis Chiaramonte was responsible for the 1957 remodeling and its transformation as the “new” Gray Cinema in 1957.

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