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Cutler Majestic Theater "one of Boston's greatest gems," but is it haunted?

By
Chris Tanaka
Chris Tanaka
Chris Tanaka co-anchors the morning news on WBZ-TV. He joined WBZ in 2022 after most recently working in Cleveland, Ohio.
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Chris Tanaka

/ CBS Boston

BOSTON - Boston's Theater District is a constant buzz of activity and one spot that's been a mainstay in the neighborhood for more than 120 years is the .

"One of Boston's greatest gems"

The 1,200-seat theater was built in 1903.

"It's one of Boston's greatest gems, in that it's been around since the turn of the century," said Ronee Penoi, the director of artistic programming at Emerson College.  

The ornate, Parisian-inspired theater was designed by John Galen Howard. It was part of a thriving scene at the turn of the century. However, the curtain eventually came down on all that grandeur.

theater.jpg
The stage at the Cutler Majestic Theater. CBS Boston

"In the 50s, it was converted into a movie theater for a number of decades, fell into quite a bit of disrepair," Penoi told WBZ-TV.

In the 1980s, Emerson College made the bold move to buy and renovate the theater and it's paid off. Now it's home for theater students and more.

"In addition to having our own productions, we also think about, where is there opportunity to be sharing this space with the community?" said Penoi.

Supernatural encounters?

Legend has it, they also share the space with the supernatural. Penoi said one former staffer saw something in a theater box.

"What he had seen was a woman sitting in a dark blue dress, just like you would have been dressed to go to the theater at the turn of the century with some lace on her cuffs and a hat," said Penoi.

She said some people have had closer encounters.

"An Emerson student, a number of years ago, was working up here in the balcony and felt a hand between their shoulder blades push him towards the end of balcony," said Penoi.

There are also stories of the balconies' spring-loaded seats staying down, with no one sitting in them, the voices of children playing onstage and more. Whether you're a believer or skeptic, one thing is certain: there's a palpable energy in the grand, old theater.

"What you will experience is really feeling in this space, the sense of all of the audiences that have been here before you and being part of a real Boston community."

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