A Walking Tour of Boston's Theatre District

By Doug Gelbert

There is no better way to see America than on foot. And there is no better way to appreciate what you are looking at than with a walking tour. Whether you are preparing for a road trip or just out to look at your own town in a new way, a downloadable walking tour from walkthetown.com is ready to explore when you are.

Each walking tour describes historical and architectural landmarks and provides pictures to help out when those pesky street addresses are missing. Every tour also includes a quick primer on identifying architectural styles seen on American streets.

The Puritans banned theater along with most other forms of entertainment until 1792 but by the 1850s theatrical performances - especially farces and melodramas - enjoyed immense popularity in Boston. Theaters began to cluster along several blocks of Washington Street and Tremont Street in what was, and still is, called the “Theatre District” - invoking the British spelling still in use in Boston deep into the 1800s.

Boston theater reached its height of popularity in 1900 when 31 theaters offered 50,000 seats to theater-loving Bostonians. But by 1980, the downtown Theatre District teetered on the verge of extinction. The crowds that packed the former historic theaters, then movie houses, turned outward toward suburban shopping malls.

The city set out to clear out the strip joints and porn houses that overtook the decaying Theatre District. Today, the restoration of a number of the city’s splendid historic theaters means that Boston theater is again strong and thriving. The city has the largest group of architecturally outstanding early theaters in North America. Many of them have been meticulously - and magnificantly - restored during recent years, and restorations of a couple are still underway.

You’ll still find most theaters clustered within the Theatre District, now confined to several blocks along Washington and Tremont Streets between Boylston and Stuart Streets. Our walking tour wll start on the southern end of Boston Common that forms the northern wall of the Theatre District...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Doug Gelbert
• Release date: Jan 10, 2010
• ISBN: 9781452307824

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Look Up, Boston! A Walking Tour of the Theatre District

a walking tour in the Look Up, America series from walkthetown.com

by Doug Gelbert

published by Cruden Bay Books at Smashwords

Copyright 2013 by Cruden Bay Books

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system without permission in writing from the Publisher.

The Puritans banned theater along with most other forms of entertainment until 1792 but by the 1850s theatrical performances - especially farces and melodramas - enjoyed immense popularity in Boston. Theaters began to cluster along several blocks of Washington Street and Tremont Street in what was, and still is, called the Theatre District - invoking the British spelling still in use in Boston deep into the 1800s.

Boston theater reached its height of popularity in 1900 when 31 theaters offered 50,000 seats