Nighttime in Boston’s Theater District, 2012
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Clarke%2C+Michael">Clarke, Michael</a>
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2012
Suffolk
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Interior of the Modern Theatre after many years of neglect
Years of neglect left the interior of the Modern Theatre in ruins. Yet a hint of the refined colors and the elegant Florentine-Renaissance décor remained. These elements inform the interior design for the new Modern Theatre.
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Clineff%2C+Kendra">Clineff, Kendra</a>
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Copyright Kendra Clineff. This item is made available for research and educational purposes by Suffolk University. Prior permission is required for any commercial use.
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Interior of the Modern Theatre during the restoration, undated
A deteriorated roof and years of neglect left the interior of the Modern Theatre in ruins by the 2000s.
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Clineff%2C+Kendra">Clineff, Kendra</a>
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Copyright Kendra Clineff. This item is made available for research and educational purposes by Suffolk University. Prior permission is required for any commercial use.
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View of the damage to the Modern Theatre pre-restoration, undated
Holes in the Modern Theatre roof let in the elements, leading to deterioration of the fine detail inside the original building.
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Copyright Kendra Clineff. This item is made available for research and educational purposes by Suffolk University. Prior permission is required for any commercial use.
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A mural is restored in Suffolk University's Modern Theatre, undated
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Dekona%2C+Ren%C3%A9e+%0D%0A">Dekona, Renée
</a>
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Copyright Renée Dekona. This item is made available for research and educational purposes by Suffolk University. Prior permission is required for any commercial use.
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Workers reinstalling one of the restored Modern Theatre signs, undated
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Dekona%2C+Ren%C3%A9e+%0D%0A">Dekona, Renée
</a>
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Copyright Renée Dekona. This item is made available for research and educational purposes by Suffolk University. Prior permission is required for any commercial use.
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The restoration team inspects a column from the Modern Theatre, 2009
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</a>
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2009
Copyright Renée Dekona. This item is made available for research and educational purposes by Suffolk University. Prior permission is required for any commercial use.
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Professor Wesley Savick directs students in Car Talk: The Musical, undated
Professional and Suffolk Theatre Department performances are among the offerings at the new Modern Theatre. Here Professor Wesley Savick directs students in Car Talk: The Musical. The musical comedy, inspired by the National Public Radio show, was written by Savick and premiered at the Modern Theatre.
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Copyright John Gilooly. This item is made available for research and educational purposes by Suffolk University. Prior permission is required for any commercial use.
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Engraving of John & James Dobson Carpets at 323 Washington Street, Boston, MA
A furniture warehouse designed by Levi Newcomb & Son was built at 323 Washington St. In 1876. Later it became a carpet warehouse and later still was converted into the Modern Theatre.
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1881
Public Domain. Accessed via Wikimedia Commons
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Modern Theatre sign at night, undated
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Martin%2C+Ken+">Martin, Ken </a>
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Copyright Ken Martin. This item is made available for research and educational purposes by Suffolk University. Prior permission is required for any commercial use.
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Sun Ra performs at the opening of a Modern/Mayflower Theatre
Sun Ra was the opening act for a re-imagined Modern/Mayflower Theatre, which featured live entertainment after the movie business declined. However, that venture was short-lived. The theater closed in 1981 and fell into disrepair.
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By Andy Newcombe via Wikimedia Commons
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Portrait of Harvard physicist and architectural sound pioneer Wallace C. Sabine (1868-1919)
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By Wallace Clement Sabine (Collected Papers on Acoustics), accessed via Wikimedia Commons
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Copyright Peter Wanderwarker. This item is made available for research and educational purposes by Suffolk University. Prior permission is required for any commercial use.
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View of the Modern Theatre's restored interior, undated
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Copyright Peter Wanderwarker. This item is made available for research and educational purposes by Suffolk University. Prior permission is required for any commercial use.
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Street view of Suffolk University's restored Modern Theatre, undated
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Copyright Peter Wanderwarker. This item is made available for research and educational purposes by Suffolk University. Prior permission is required for any commercial use.
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Advertisment for movies featured at the Mayflower Theatre, undated
The Modern Theatre was renamed the Mayflower
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Advertisment for movies featured at the Mayflower Theatre, undated
The Modern Theatre was renamed the Mayflower
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View of Washington Street near Boston Theatre, undated
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Modern Theatre marquee featuring "First Men in the Moon," 1964
Marquee advertises a sci-fi film released in 1964 and shot in Dynavision, an early special-effects process
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1964
Courtesy of John Toto. Copyright is retained by the creators of items in this collection, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law. This item is made available for research and educational purposes by the Moakley Archive & Instit
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View of Washington Street after Boston's Great Fire of 1872
The Great Boston Fire of 1872 destroyed Boston’s commercial district in a swath running from the Boston Common to the waterfront.
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circa 1872
Public domain
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Exterior of Suffolk University's Modern Theatre
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Blueprint featuring Modern Theatre marquee ceiling
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1930
Courtesy of Boston Public Library.
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Design for a new Modern Theatre marquee, side view
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Courtesy of Boston Public Library.
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Portrait of Architect Clarence H. Blackall (1857-1942), circa 1877
Architect Clarence H. Blackall (1857-1942) was known for his hundreds of theaters, but he also designed one of Boston’s first skyscrapers, the nine-story Carter Winthrop Building at 7 Water St. Blackall also designed 17 theaters in and around Boston. The Colonial Theater, Boston’s oldest surviving theater, dating from 1900; the Metropolitan Theatre, now the Wang Theatre for the Performing Arts; the Wilbur Theatre, Tremont Temple; and the Modern Theatre remain.
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circa 1877
Public domain. Courtesy of the University of Illinois Archives, 26/4/1, Alumni and Faculty Biographical, 1882-1995
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Boston newspaper listing advertises a 1940 double feature playing at the paired Modern and Beacon theaters.
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1940
Courtesy of John Toto. Copyright is retained by the creators of items in this collection, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law. This item is made available for research and educational purposes by the Moakley Archive & Institute.
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