The Wilbur Theatre is a historic performing arts theater at 244–250 Tremont Street in Boston , Massachusetts . The Wilbur Theatre originally opened in 1914, but underwent renovations in 2008. The Wilbur Theatre sits in the heart of Boston's historic theater district and is known for hosting live comedy and music.
6-521: The venue seats 1,093, but the main floor (orchestra level) has removable tables and seating, to create a general admission standing room (bringing capacity to 1,200). It features basic concessions, including a full bar, on each of the three floors (Orchestra, Mezzanine, Balcony). Clarence Blackall built the theater in 1913, and it was opened the following year. The Wilbur was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980 and designated as
12-794: A Boston Landmark by the Boston Landmarks Commission in 1987. In 1998 SFX Entertainment (now Live Nation ) bought the Boston theater properties of Jon B. Platt, which included the lease on the Wilbur. The lease ended in 2006. In 2007 the theater was put on the market. Bill Blumenreich, a former owner of the Comedy Connection in Quincy Market , leased the building in 2008. The theater continues to regularly host comedic and musical acts, as well as other events. The following specials were filmed at
18-557: A club for local architects and as a training program for draftsman. He designed the 1894 Carter Winthrop Building , which was the first steel frame structure in the city of Boston. In addition to its innovative technology, the structure also used terra cotta trim and featured a dramatic, deep, and overhanging cornice . Blackall is also credited with designing the Copley Plaza Hotel , the Foellinger Auditorium (1907) on
24-715: The University of Illinois campus, as well as the Little Building (1917) at Emerson College on the site of the Pelham Hotel (1857), the "first apartment house in any city along the Atlantic seaboard of the United States" according to architectural historian Walter Muir Whitehill. Blackall also designed Lowell, Massachusetts' first steel frame building, the ten story Sun Building (1912-1914). Opened in 1908 and designed by Blackall,
30-683: The Wilbur Theatre: Clarence Blackall Clarence Howard Blackall (February 3, 1857 – March 5, 1942) was an American architect who is estimated to have designed 300 theatres. Blackall was born in Brooklyn, New York , in 1857. He attended college at the University of Illinois School of Architecture , graduating with a B.S. in 1877, and received training at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He arrived in Boston, Massachusetts in 1882, where he
36-581: Was recognized for both his architectural innovations and his designs of significant Boston landmarks including the Colonial Theatre , Wilbur Theatre , Modern and Metropolitan (now the Wang Center for Performing Arts) theatres. Blackall was a senior member of the Boston architectural firm Blackall, Clapp and Whittemore , and in 1889 he helped establish the Boston Architectural College as
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