Boston Venues:

Agganis Arena
Avalon
Bank of America Pavilion
Berklee Perfomance Center
Boston Opera House
Boston Symphony Hall
Cape Cod Melody Tent
Charles Playhouse
Colonial Theatre
Conte Forum
Cutler Majestic Theatre
DCU Center
Fenway Park
Fleet Center
Gillette Stadium
Lowell Memorial Auditorium
Mullins Center
Orpheum Theatre Boston
South Shore Music Circus
Tanglewood
TD Banknorth Garden
TPC of Boston
Tsongas Arena
Tweeter Center Boston
Wang Center - Boston
Worcester Centrum Centre

You will find, almost every day of the year, performances of professional opera, musical theater, dance, classical music and drama in the Cutler Majestic Theatre at Emerson College. But it is also a 1903 fully restored beaux arts-style opera house.

Take the guided tour, learn what changed in the restoration process, and about why the city, state, and federal government chose to protect and preserve this amazing building for future generations to enjoy. And always remember that modern first class productions play the Majestic almost every single day.

That's why we say that the Cutler Majestic Theatre is a 21st century theater inside a 19th century building.

The Majestic Theatre was completed in 1903. Eben Dyer Jordan commissioned architect John Galen Howard to design The Majestic, who was one of only 400 American architects trained at L’Ecole des Beaux Arts in the late 1800s. But he attended MIT before moving to Paris. His design of the Majestic combines plain old Yankee ingenuity with the classical perfection, Rococo decoration, functional quality and pure visual fun taught at the Beaux Arts School. He also used the newly invented electric light bulb to proclaim the theater's grandeur by accenting the tall columns, soaring arches and stained glass of the facade. The pattern was repeated in the lobby and auditorium - 4,500 light bulbs in all.

While originally designed for opera and theatre, the Majestic has served many purposes. It was operated by the Shubert Organization and converted to vaudeville in the 1920's. By the mid-1950's, movies had taken over the stage, with attending alterations that transformed the lobby and covered much of the Beaux Arts splendor. By 1983, when Emerson College purchased the Majestic - then called the Saxon - from Sack Theaters, she had fallen into severe decline. But with patient and painstaking effort, Emerson College brought the Majestic back to life with new heating, air conditioning, plumbing and electrical systems, new stage floor and scenery, new dressing rooms, wheelchair accessibility, and into compliance with modern building codes. The College completed the final phase of restoration in 2003. The entire building has been restored to its original splendor.

This work has been so important to the Boston community that it has garnered two Boston Magazine "Best of Boston" awards, and the 1992 Historic Neighborhoods Foundation Award for enhancing and preserving the design and social heritage of the city of Boston. The theatre is a member of the national League of Historic Theatres, and former mayor Raymond Flynn proclaimed April 26, 1989 to be Emerson Majestic Theatre Day.

With their gracious lead gift in 1999, Ted and Joan Benard-Cutler spurred the restoration of this century-old performing arts venue. Emerson College closed the theatre in the Spring of 2002 for the final stage of restoration. It re-opened with Emerson College's EVVY's show, a televised award show honoring students and comparable to annual cable award shows such as the Oscar's, Tony's and Grammy's.

The Cutler Majestic Theatre plays a unique role in the Boston community, as does Emerson College. It is a Boston landmark and the second oldest
theatre in Boston's downtown Theatre District.

It houses several of Boston's finest not-for-profit arts organizations, plays host to special productions that leading Boston-area arts groups think are important enough to play downtown, and serves both as a laboratory for Emerson College students to gain experience in the arts and crafts of live communication and as a key production facility for the Division of Performing Arts' Emerson Stage. The resulting range of exciting, innovative and fun events has kept the Cutler Majestic Theatre "lighted" more consistently than any other Theatre District facility, with the broadest and most diverse menu of artistic events.

Online Cutler Majestic Theatre Boston Tickets

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