In the 2004-2005 season, Somerville and Boston theatregoers were treated to a diverse array of vibrant productions staged in numerous area theatres. Many of the theatres were lavishly transformed by millions of dollars in private funding and extensive technical upgrades in architectural additions. Boston even welcomed a stunning new state-of-the art construction that will make theatregoers in other cities envious.

     This explosion of well over $100 million in theatre construction activities injects a dazzling burst of creative energy, giving rise to a resurgence of historical Boston as a hub of culture.

     Edward Albee built the historic Opera House on Washington Street in tribute to his business partner, B.F. Keith, the father of American vaudeville. It opened in 1928. Albee commissioned Thomas Lamb, the preeminent theatre architect of his day, to generate the design. Lamb drew much inspiration from the Paris Opera House.

     Times change. When the popularity of vaudeville waned, the Opera House had to show movies for income. In 1965, as movies began to dominate popular culture, it became known as the Savoy when Sack Theatres purchased it. Sack Theatres further renovated it, in order to show movies on two giant, separate screens.

     Thirteen years later, Sarah Caldwell spearheaded a gracious attempt to reclaim the Opera House for live theatre performances, staging her own company’s productions there. However, mounting debt eventually forced her and investors to close its doors in 1990.

     Up until Sarah Caldwell’s intervention in 1978, this handsome cultural landmark stood sadly empty, darkened, boarded up, while the rest of Washington Street was declared “The Combat Zone” by city government. Seedy porn shops took over, along with 25-cent live peep shows, and prostitutes strutting their stuff. 

     In 1996, along with the neighboring theatres The Paramount and The Modern, Mayor Thomas M. Menino had the Opera House placed on the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s list of 11 of their most endangered historic sites.

     Clear Channel Entertainment, a powerful and resourceful national media and entertainment conglomerate, wisely invested $40 million to restore this Boston architectural gem to its original grandeur.

     David Anderson, President of Theater management of Clear Channel Entertainment said that the Opera House is the “crown jewel” of the eighteen theatres they own and operate around the country.

     Tony McLean, president of Broadway in Boston, a CCE subsidiary, beamed in January 2004, “The new Opera House will be beautiful and it will take your breath away.”

     In June 2004, on schedule and with much fanfare, Disney’s flagship musical, “The Lion King” majestically leapt out onto the newly restored stage of the 2,500 seat, opulent Opera House.

     It turned out to be the perfect home to showcase the exceptionally creative, award-winning talent of Massachusetts native Julie Taymor.

     “The Lion King” will run until Feb 20. Other magnificent plays will follow, including Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “The Phantom of The Opera”.   

     Broadway in Boston also manages three other theatres; the Colonial Theatre, the Wilbur Theatre and the Charles Playhouse.

     At the Colonial Theatre, “Mamma Mia”, the ABBA Musical, enjoyed a house-packed 7-week run with audiences consistently singing along and stomping their feet.    

     “Evita” graced the Colonial in November and Boston Ballet’s “The Nutcracker” closed out joyous performances in year 2004.

     Mel Brooks’ “The Producers” and Neil Simon’s “Sweet Charity” will be featured in February and March this year. “Little Shop of Horrors” is set to creep up in May, all at the Colonial.

     Around the corner, down the street from the Colonial is the Wilbur Theatre. A series of one-woman shows was presented there; Joan Rivers in “Broke and Alone…” was her typical, classic “Can We Talk,” self, sparing no one in a biting, two-hour standup act. Elaine Stritch in “Elaine Stritch at Liberty,” turned confessional in her own tell-all life-story of reckless years in love and in showbiz, name-dropping the rich and famous.

     Both shows were attended mostly by baby-boomers who had followed their respective showbiz careers on television and on Broadway.

     In March, Ben Gazzara (cited by Stritch as one of her paramours of yesteryear), will star in a one-man show as enigmatic New York Yankee Yogi Berra, whose well-known quotes will surely bewilder and amuse.   

     The Charles Playhouse will continue to stage two long-running, popular shows; the avant-garde “Blue Man Group” and the insanely fun “Shear Madness”.

     In 2004, Boston University’s Huntington Theatre demonstrated an ambitious reach by sponsoring other smaller theatre groups.

     Michael Maso, Managing Director of the Huntington Theatre Company said, “It’s an extraordinary time for both the Huntington and Boston’s theatre community.”

     In partnership with the Boston Center for the Arts, Huntington   

Theatre built the Theatre Pavilion. The Theatre Pavilion houses two new stages: the 360-seat Virginia Wimberly Theatre and the 200-seat Nancy and Edward Roberts Studio Theatre.

     The building design also contains rehearsal halls, a teen resource center, state-of-the-art backstage facilities, and a 200-space parking garage.

     Since the arrival of Artistic Director Nicholas Martin in 2000, the

Boston University Theatre has enthusiastically encouraged and commissioned new works promoting local talents.

     Among the first of such new works from a local playwright is “Sonia Flew” by Melinda Lopez.

     Lopez said, “Boston is a great place to be a playwright. It’s a great city to be making theater in.” Lopez said she was honored and grateful to the Huntington Theatre for producing her work at the Wimberly.

     In March, the stage of the Wimberly will howl with an urban, in-your-face play by the Latino trio known as “Culture Clash in AmeriCCa.”

     To many in theatre arts, having the opportunity to perform on Huntington’s new stage at the Pavilion Theatre is a dream.

     “Finally, I can stop pinching myself,” said Jacqui Parker, founding director of the African American Theatre Festival. “We needed a larger place to perform and the Huntington Theatre Company allows us to realize that dream.” 

     Parker said the AATF is passionately committed to celebrate the voice of color by bringing song, dance, poetry, and storytelling to the stages in Boston.

    Huntington’s Managing director, Michael Maso said, “The Theatre Pavilion, an additional second stage, also means the Huntington Theatre Company can now host many of Boston’s other, excellent, small theatre companies such as the SpeakEasy Stage Company and the Sugan Theatre Company.

     The Huntington Theatre produced memorable plays in 2004, including Broadway mega-star Nathan Lane’s turn as “Butley”, Joe Orton’s farce “What the Butler Saw”, the Tennessee Williams love story “The Rose Tattoo”, and Teresa Rebeck’s game of love “Bad Dates”. Rounding the year out was Lanford Wilson’s tumultuous, edgy “Burn This.”

     In 2004, newly refurbished, elegant theatres opened their welcoming doors. Playwrights, actors, directors, choreographers, scenic, costume and lighting designers, audio engineers and musicians all continued to devote their lives to the arts in Boston.

     And as the lights go down and the curtains come up, we clutch our programs and enjoy the best the arts have to offer.