Broadway Theatre

514 Broadway,
Pawtucket, RI 02860

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Additional Info

Previous Names: Circle Theatre

Nearby Theaters

Broadway Theatre

Opened as the Circle Theatre prior to 1928. The Broadway Theatre was a neighborhood house showing second-run films until the 1950’s, after which the theatre was razed.

Contributed by Gerald A. DeLuca

Recent comments (view all 15 comments)

Roland L.
Roland L. on May 9, 2005 at 12:28 am

I have an aunt looking for photos of this theater. I am working diligently trying to obtained photos of every theater where I’ve made comment.

Those who are younger might recall A&S Wheel and Brake Service which occupied the building until it was razed to put in the small strip of stores. I never knew this building was a theater and I remember when the building was razed somewhere around 1978.

For those familiar with Pawtucket and Broadway, the theater was indeed to the right of Risho’s Market in the big parking lot.

Gerald A. DeLuca
Gerald A. DeLuca on August 6, 2005 at 10:28 am

A 1929 city directory lists a theatre at this address under the name of Circle Theatre. That must have been the Broadway’s earlier name.

Gerald A. DeLuca
Gerald A. DeLuca on June 25, 2010 at 8:53 am

Item in Boxoffice magazine, June 7, 1941, page 75. Hardly earth-shattering, but it gives us the name of the manager at the time:

“Al Ward of the Broadway in Pawtucket has had new lamps installed at the house.”

Gerald A. DeLuca
Gerald A. DeLuca on June 29, 2010 at 12:09 pm

Operators of various theatres in the Pawtucket-Lincoln-Valley Falls area in 1951, gave their opinions on ways to combat the effects of TV on their theatres. Written as a report for the Pawtucket Times, the results were also reported in Boxoffice magazine in the issue of January 27, 1951:
View link

Gerald A. DeLuca
Gerald A. DeLuca on February 12, 2011 at 1:37 pm

Report on a concert held in 1928 at the Circle Theatre, as the Broadway was then known:
CLICK HERE

rsalters (Ron Salters)
rsalters (Ron Salters) on May 4, 2015 at 2:31 pm

The Theatre Historical Society archive has the MGM Theatre Reports for the Broadway. Card # 531 has no info, with an exterior photo with no date. Card # 537 has a similar exterior photo dated Sept. 1946. The street address is obscured. There were 550 seats. It was over 15 years old, and was not showing MGM films. Someone wrote on the report that the theater was in Poor condition, but it was renovated in the fall of 1944, and is now in Good condition.

Gerald A. DeLuca
Gerald A. DeLuca on May 4, 2015 at 3:03 pm

Ron Salters, Can’t you scan and post a photo of this theatre (and a few others) from these M.G.M. cards? It’s really frustrating hearing there is a photo of this place and not being able to see it. This would be very helpful especially in the case of places like this where no other known photos seem to survive.

Gerald A. DeLuca
Gerald A. DeLuca on May 4, 2015 at 3:10 pm

Ron, I didn’t realize you were working from their website. I was able to find that image of the Broadway and others.

rsalters (Ron Salters)
rsalters (Ron Salters) on May 5, 2015 at 2:21 pm

Gerry- Yes, the entire series of MGM Theatre Report cards, over 600 of them from MA,ME, NH, RI and VT, are now on the THS website, historictheatres.org. They are in the “New England Special Collection”.

Gerald A. DeLuca
Gerald A. DeLuca on May 25, 2015 at 1:46 pm

The photos above in my May 25, 2015 posts seem to have been taken in 1946, after the theatre was refurbished, though the report and grading was from 1941.

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