PCAD Display Options
PCAD Display Options
Select theme to display preview image.
AKA: The Saxon Theatre, Boston, MA; Emerson Majestic Theatre, Boston, MA
Structure Type: built works - performing arts structures - theatres
Designers: Howard, John Galen, Architect (firm); John Galen Howard (architect)
Dates: constructed 1901-1902
Building History
Originally, John Galen Howard designed the Majestic Theatre for James M. Wood, a facility intended to house live productions in 1902. By the 1920s, it accommodated many vaudeville programs. In the 1950s, the Majestic was converted to exhibit motion pictures exclusively. Over the years, traces of Howard's Beaux-Arts Classicism were removed or obscured.
The Sacks Theatre chain operated the venue until 1983, changing its name to the Saxon Theatre, early on.
Nearby Emerson College purchased the building in the 1980s for re-use as the campus performing arts center. It had renovated the venue by 1989, restoring its original Beaux-Arts decor.
The Majestic seated 976 when it opened in 1903.
PCAD id: 801
