Wang Theatre

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title: "Wang Theatre" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1925-establishments-in-massachusetts", "boston-theater-district", "buildings-and-structures-in-boston", "clarence-h.-blackall-buildings", "national-register-of-historic-places-in-boston", "renaissance-revival-architecture-in-massachusetts", "theatres-completed-in-1925", "theatres-in-boston", "theatres-on-the-national-register-of-historic-places-in-massachusetts"] description: "Theater in Boston, Massachusetts" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wang_Theatre" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Theater in Boston, Massachusetts ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox venue"]

Field	Value
name	Wang Theatre
former_names	Metropolitan Theatre (1925–1962)
Music Hall (1962–1980)
image	Wang_Theatre_-Boch_Center(54954249101).jpg
image_size	250px
address	270 Tremont St.
location	Boston, Massachusetts
coordinates
type	Theatre
opened	1925
owner	Boch Center
operator	Boch Center
Madison Square Garden Company (co-booking)
capacity	3,500
embedded	{{Infobox NRHP
embed	yes
name	Metropolitan Theatre
coordinates
locmapin	Boston#Massachusetts#USA
built	1923
architect	Blackall, Clapp & Whittemore; Multiple
architecture	Renaissance
added	December 9, 1980
mpsub	Boston Theatre MRA
refnum	80000445
<ref name	"nris"
website
public_transit	Tufts Medical Center (Orange Line)
Boylston (Green Line)
::

| name = Wang Theatre | nickname = | native_name = | native_name_lang = | fullname = | former_names = Metropolitan Theatre (1925–1962) Music Hall (1962–1980) | logo_image = | logo_caption = | image = Wang_Theatre_-Boch_Center(54954249101).jpg | image_size = 250px | image_alt = | caption = | pushpin_map = | pushpin_mapsize = | pushpin_map_caption = | pushpin_label_position = | address = 270 Tremont St. | location = Boston, Massachusetts | coordinates = | type = Theatre | event = | broke_ground = | built = | opened = 1925 | renovated = | expanded = | closed = | demolished = | owner = Boch Center | operator = Boch Center Madison Square Garden Company (co-booking) | architect = | seating_type = | capacity = 3,500 | suites = | record_attendance = | volume = | tenants = | embedded = {{Infobox NRHP | embed = yes | name = Metropolitan Theatre | nrhp_type = | image = | caption = | location = | coordinates = | locmapin = Boston#Massachusetts#USA | area = | built = 1923 | architect = Blackall, Clapp & Whittemore; Multiple | architecture = Renaissance | added = December 9, 1980 | mpsub = Boston Theatre MRA | refnum = 80000445 | website = | public_transit = Tufts Medical Center (Orange Line) Boylston (Green Line)

The Wang Theatre is a theater in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It originally opened in 1925 as the Metropolitan Theatre and was later renamed the Music Hall. It was designed by Clarence Blackall and is located at 252–272 Tremont Street in the Boston Theatre District. The theatre is operated as part of the Boch Center. The theatre was designated as a Boston Landmark by the Boston Landmarks Commission in 1990.

Metropolitan Theatre

The structure was originally known as the Metropolitan Theatre when it opened in 1925. The Metropolitan Theatre was developed by Max Shoolman and designed by architect Clarence Blackall, with the assistance of Detroit theatre architect C. Howard Crane. It seats more than 3,600 people.

Music Hall

In 1962 it became the home of the Boston Ballet and was renamed the Music Hall. During the 1960s and 1970s, audiences could see the Stuttgart Opera, the Metropolitan Opera, Bolshoi Ballet and Kirov Ballet as well as popular movies and performing artists. With time, though, the venue could no longer attract the large touring companies because of the size of its stage as well as its outdated production facilities. Converted to a non-profit center in 1980 and renamed the Metropolitan Center, it was able to attract theatrical performances again.

Bob Marley and the Wailers' 1978 concert at the Music Hall was released in 2015 in honor of Bob Marley's 70th birthday as Easy Skanking in Boston '78.

Wang Center

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8b/Boston_MA_Wang_Theatre_plaque.jpg" caption="Plaque adorning the front of Wang Theatre"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d1/Wang_Theater.jpg" caption="Lobby Interior"] ::

In 1983, Dr. An Wang made a very large donation, and the theater became the Wang Center. From 1989–1992, $9.8 million was raised to restore the Theatre to "its glory days of the 1920s". Boston based architecture firm Finegold Alexander & Associates restored the theatre with Conrad Schmitt Studios performing the elegant decoration, gilded moldings, murals, scagliola and marbleized surfaces.

In 2008, the Citi Performing Arts Center announced a co-booking arrangement with The Madison Square Garden Company for the Wang Theatre.

The lobby was used in the movies American Hustle, for the live band performance and casino scenes, and The Witches of Eastwick, as part of the house in which Jack Nicholson's character lived. It was also used for numerous scenes in the ABC TV pilot Gilded Lilys. The Witches of Eastwick

References

References

1. {{NRISref. 2008a
2. (December 8, 1983). "Improvements in Evidence at the Wang Center Dedication". Boston Globe.
3. Arthur J. Singer and Ron Goodman. (2011). "Boston's Downtown Movie Palaces Images of America". Arcadia Publishing.
4. Morse, Steve. (February 17, 2023). "Marley concert from 1978 marks reggae legend's 70th birthday – The Boston Globe".
5. (June 3, 1983). "Met Center gets a $4m Gift from the Wang Family". Boston Globe.
6. [http://www.citicenter.org/frame-the-center.html Wang Theatre History]
7. [http://www.conradschmitt.com/portfolio/projects/?projectID=140 Project info]
8. Waddell, Ray. (August 7, 2008). "MSGE Expands Boston Footprint".

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