1915 - Building exterior (Photograph by Clarence Blackall, American Architecht, submitted by Jeff Scofield/Jeff Scofield)
1920 - Theatre interior (Photograph from an archival source: cinematreasures.org, submitted by Jeff Scofield/Jeff Scofield)
2007-09-07 - Identified by James R. Stettner through information from the Estey Opus List, published in The Boston Organ Club newsletter, 1973-1979. -Database Manager
2023-08-31 - From Wikipedia: In 1876, Boston architect Levi Newcomb designed a warehouse and showroom for John and James Dobson, owners of the largest carpet mills in the United States. The five-story High Victorian Gothic building was constructed of Ohio sandstone with cast-iron store-fronts on the ground floor. The Dobsons relocated from the Blackstone National Bank building in early 1878. Boston businessman George White hired Clarence H. Blackall in 1913 to convert the basement and first two floors into a theater for the newly popular photo-plays. The architect's plan for the first floor shows a vestibule with a circular ticket office and a small lobby opening onto a long, narrow auditorium with a balcony, seating about 800 in total. There was a small stage, with an adjoining dressing room, and an orchestra pit, which contained an Estey organ with three manuals and thirty-three ranks of pipes. Acoustic design for the auditorium was done in consultation with Wallace C. Sabine, a professor of physics at Harvard University and a pioneer in architectural acoustics. The interior decoration, described as Florentine Renaissance, used Italian marble, dark mahogany and ersatz tapestry. Blackall also added a neoclassical facade carved from white Vermont marble. The theater was air-conditioned, as reported by the Boston Evening Transcript. The Modern Theatre, believed to be the first in Boston designed specifically for movies,[note 2] was opened on June 25, 1914, by Boston theater entrepreneur Jacob Lourie, with programs of silent films, vocal music performances and organ recitals. In 1927, Lourie installed Vitaphone equipment for a showing of Don Juan. The next year the Modern programmed The Jazz Singer, the first feature-length Vitaphone movie with both music and spoken dialogue. Renamed the Mayflower Theatre in 1949, by the 1970s it was, like other theaters in the area, showing adult films. The Mayflower closed in 1976 and fell into neglect. In 1977, David L. Archer, a 28-year-old actor and producer, began to renovate the theater for use as a community performance space. The venture was short-lived, and the Modern Theater closed in May, 1981, after hosting over 200 events. After several changes of ownership but with no progress on restoration, Suffolk University purchased the property in 2007, with plans to increase their stock of student housing. In 2009 they demolished the building after carefully removing the facade. CBT Architects of Boston designed a new state-of-the-art theater with a ten-story residence hall above it. The conserved original facade was attached to the new building. Suffolk's new Modern Theatre, a multi-purpose space seating 185, opened on November 4, 2010. -Jeff Scofield
2023-08-31 - Rebuilt by Estey in 1926 as Op. 2528. -Jeff Scofield
Source: From THE DIAPASON November 1914
Boston, Massachusetts
Modern Theatre
Estey Op. 1241 1914 3/33
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GREAT SWELL
16' Dbl Open Diapason 16' Contra Viol
8' Major Open Diapason 8' Major Open Diapason
8' 2nd Open Diapason 8' Clarabella
8' Gross Flute 8' Unda Maris
8' Melodia 8' Violin Diapason
8' Gemshorn 8' Salicional
8' Dulciana 8' Voix Celeste
8' Quintadena 8' Muted Viol
4' Principal 8' Muted Celeste
4' Flauto Traverso 8' Stopped Diapason
8' Tuba 8' Concert Flute
Concert Harp 4' Flute Harmonic
2' Piccolo Harmonic
ORCHESTRAL (from SW) III Solo Concert Mixture
8' Violin Diapason 8' Cornopean
8' Clarabella 8' Clarinet
8' Unda Maris 8' Oboe
8' Concert Flute 8' Saxaphone
8' Salicional 8' Vox Humana
8' Voix Celeste Concert Harp
4' Flute Harmonic
2' Piccolo Harmonic PEDAL
8' Saxaphone 16' Dbl Open Diapason
Tubular Chimes 25 16' Bourdon
Xylophone-Marimba 49 16' Bass Viol
Bar-Bells 37 16' Bass Flute 12
16' Trombone
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