By Michael Perna Jr.
Contributing Writer
WORCESTER – The history of theaters in Worcester goes back to the year 1857, when a playhouse (no movies had been invented yet) called Piper’s Worcester Theatre was opened on Front Street, across the street from Worcester City Hall. The venue went by a number of names over the years, including the Athenaeum, the Musee, the Front Street Opera House, and the Park.
Unfortunately, the event that marked Piper’s story in history took place in 1863, when Shakespeare’s King Richard the Third was performed there. The leading actor in the play was John Wilkes Booth, who two years later was the person who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln.
Movies debut in early 20th century
When the 20th century came around, movies were making their debut, although with no sound as yet. When sound was added to the movies, things really took off and more and more theaters were built. In Worcester, these included the Pleasant Street Playhouse. Built in 1891 as a venue for live performances, when movies came out the name was changed to the Pleasant Street Theater. Again, in 1940, the name was changed, this time to the Olympia Theater.
In 1956, E. M. Loew bought the theater and renamed it The Fine Arts. In the 1960s, the Fine Arts started showing pornographic movies, much to the dismay of many people in the surrounding area.
Other notable theaters included the Rialto, located on Millbury Street, which opened in 1918. The theater charged ten cents admission and became known as a place where patrons would be given free dinnerware. The theater was in operation until 1959, when I-290 was built and took part of the building – the rest of the building burned down in 1988.
The Royal theater was on Main Street, next door to what was then called the Worcester Public Market. This theater operated until 1955. The building was later torn down and the (now former) Registry of Motor Vehicles building took its place.
The Capitol Theater was on Franklin Street. It opened in 1926 and closed in 1966, reopening a year later at the Paris Cinema. A personal recollection: Going with my father to watch “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” – the first movie I had ever been to – around 1956 or so, when I was six years old.
The Paris Cinema later transitioned to showing adult films. After period of trouble with the city police, the theater was closed down for good in 2006. The building itself was torn down in 2017.
Oldest theater being renovated
What is said to be the oldest theater in Worcester is what was known for most of its history as the Olympia Theater on Pleasant Street, which opened in 1891 as an opera house. In more recent years it was known as the Fine Arts, then the New Arts Cinema. After being closed for many years, the theater is currently under renovation after being purchased by a local family.
Of course, in more recent years, people remember other more modern venues, such as the Webster Square Cinemas, and the Showcase Cinemas on Southbridge Street near Federal Square – which has been transformed into the Hanover Theater and Conservatory for the Performing Arts.
The Showcase Cinemas Worcester North complex housed 18 movie screens and was closed at the start of the COVID-19 epidemic, then torn down completely in 2022. There was also the Worcester Center Galleria Theater on the lower level of the building – this was closed in 2004, and the entire complex eventually was torn down.
Today’s lack of movie theaters
Over the years, there was also a scattering of smaller movie theaters located at various points around the city of Worcester – these were basically put out of business by the newer, more up-to-date theaters.
What has resulted is that, for the first time in well over one hundred years, there is not one active movie theater in the entire city of Worcester. It’s a far cry from when crowds of movie-goers would flock to numerous movie theaters to see the latest Hollywood releases.
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