From Grassroots to Glory: How a group of ushers saved the Colonial Theatre
By: Lillian Kollross
It all began on December 20, 1900. The show was Ben-Hur. A cast and crew of 350 people, accompanied by eight live horses and a young Winston Churchill, graced the Colonial Theatre on opening night. Located in the heart of downtown Boston, the Colonial Theatre is the oldest continuously operating theater in the city and home to many pre-Broadway shows like Anything Goes (1934), Bob Fosse’s Follies (1971), and Rodger and Hammerstein's Oklahoma (called Away We Go! when it premiered in 1943).
History fills the walls as legendary moments in theater history have occurred at the Colonial Theatre. One such moment was during call-outs for his show Dancin’, when legendary choreographer and dancer Bob Fosse was practicing a new tap routine on top of an onyx table. Fosse danced so hard that he chipped the table. Since then, performers at the Colonial have rubbed the chipped spot for good luck.
Throughout its 124 years of operation, the Colonial Theatre has been owned by several different theater groups. In 2003, Emerson College, a small liberal arts college located next door to the Colonial, sought to lease the theater. Since the entire campus was mostly on Boylston Street, the president at the time, Lee Pelton, thought the Emerson Colonial Theatre would be the perfect addition.
The Colonial Theatre located next to Emerson College on Boylston Street.
The lease stated that Emerson was responsible for the outside of the building. The college could then lease out the inside performance space to different theater groups. This also meant that when the theater group made a certain percentage of money on a show or performance, they would have to pay some of that money to their landlord, Emerson College.
From 2003 to 2015, the theater was leased out to Broadway in Boston, Broadway Across America, and Citi Performing Arts Center. Each group would only sign a two- to three-year lease on the Colonial. The short stints of ownership meant that nobody wanted to do any work to upkeep the theater.
“Each one of them did minor work. The rugs were worn out. The furniture was shabby. No one invested in the heating system or whatever,” said Carol Arlauskas, the chief usher at the Colonial Theatre. “So by the time it closed in 2015, the ceiling, the roof was leaking into the orchestra. The sound system was not great. The restrooms were in bad shape. The rugs in what is now known as the Orchestra Lounge were bare thread.”
As the building began to fall apart, so did the amount of performances. In 2015, the Citi Performing Arts Center was in charge of the Colonial and was not scheduling enough performances, causing the theater to lay empty “an average of five out of seven days.” They were also ending profitable shows early so they could avoid paying Emerson the extra fees.
“They had a triple lease, and [Citi Performing Arts Center] would shut down every show before they made any money on it. President Pelton's biggest complaint at the time was not that he wasn't making money off of [the Colonial Theatre]; it was that people used the outside as an ashtray,” said Arlauskas. “He didn't like Boylston Street being used as an ashtray.”
When Citi Performing Arts Center’s lease ended on October 15, 2015, Emerson College closed down the Colonial Theatre to evaluate what to do with the building. There was a chance the theater would be shut down forever.
For a group of Colonial ushers, this simply could not happen.
“At first, what happened was a group of us got together and discussed it, and we were like, ‘This is crazy. We need to do something.' I took the reins on it as far as being president of the union and being our leader to start the committee. We developed what was called the Save the Colonial Committee,” said Jim Mootos, President of the Local B4 Union.
A group of nine ushers, Jim Mootos, Carol Arlauskas, Lucille Ferragamo, Janet Bates, Barbara Welch, Nancy Radford, Cathy Butterwitz, Jake Catsaros, and Dick Rousseau, started the Save the Colonial Committee. Under Rousseau’s leadership, the committee met once a month to discuss what they could do to reopen the Colonial. One of the first steps they took was to get on social media.
A photo of the Save the Colonial Committee on the last page of the Save the Colonial book.
“So we got together about 2016. We started a Facebook page. It's just still up, Save the Colonial Facebook page,” said Arlauskas. “One of the kids, Jake, was from Emerson, and he taught a bunch of old people here how to use Facebook, how to buy ads, and how to get more clicks.”
For weeks, there was no word about what would happen to the theater. Then, a rumor was heard that Emerson wanted to turn the building into their new dining hall and student center. With the committee's social media accounts active, the word began to spread. They created an online petition that was even signed by Broadway legend, Stephen Sondheim.
“I’ve had shows which I tried out in the Colonial, and it’s not only beautiful but acoustically first-rate, two qualities which are rare in tandem, even on Broadway,’’ Sondheim reported to the Boston Magazine. “For those of us involved in musical theater, it’s a treasure and to tear it down would be not only a loss, but something of a crime.”
The group continued its grassroots efforts to gain local support. They made t-shirts with the words “Save the Colonial” to wear around town.
“We had buttons made that we would pass out on the slide at other theaters. So we would say, This is what's happening at the Colonial. So we gave everyone a small button that said, Save the Colonial.” said Lucille Ferragamo, a committee member.
The committee hosted trivia nights at a local pub to raise money for their grassroots efforts. The group also went to New York City for a two-night show hosted by past Colonial performances to raise awareness and honor the theater. One of the members, Janet Bates, even wrote and put together a Save the Colonial book that is filled with stories from current and past employees and performances about why the Colonial is special to them.
The book and T-shirt that the Save the Colonial Committee made.
Throughout all their efforts to reach the college, Emerson still wouldn’t listen.
“Emerson would not give us a list of the names of the boards of directors. They wouldn't say where they were meeting. They wouldn't give us phone numbers. They wouldn't accept us.” Arlauskas said. “Janet Bates went out and brought them scones and letters and flowers, and we still didn't get in anywhere. They ignored us; as was pointed out for a communication college, they didn't do a great job communicating."
Since the committee was not getting anywhere with Emerson, they started to get discouraged. They felt as though they may never see the inside of their beloved theater again. So, the group decided to host one last event.
“We were going to go to the Colonial and stand out front, and we said to President Pelton, ‘We are going to have this candlelight vigil, and we're going to invite the media.’ And he said, ‘If you don't do anything, I will give you a heads up, a four-hour heads up of [which theater group] is signing for [the Colonial]," said Arlauskas.
The outside of the Colonial Theatre.
President Pelton kept his promise and announced that the Colonial would remain a theater under the new leadership of the Ambassadors Theatre Group (ATG). ATG, now ATG Entertainment, is an international live entertainment organization based in the United Kingdom that specializes in renovating old theaters. ATG had signed a surprising four-decade lease on the Colonial.
When the group found out that the theater was saved, they had to celebrate.
“And then finally, we get word that ATG is taking a lease out for 40 years on the building. So we have a picture of us standing in front of the Colonial. We open champagne on the street. We ask someone walking by. I had the big iPad and asked, ‘Would you film this historical moment?’ said Ferragamo. “I've got that picture of us raising our champagne glasses to the Colonial.”
Members of the Save the Colonial Committee make a toast to the Colonial Theatre.
Photo courtesy of Lucille Ferragamo.
ATG quickly got to work renovating the theater. From installing a new heating and cooling system to touching up the gold and silver hand-painted wallpaper, the Colonial was completely renovated. ATG even found the original rug makers, who also designed rugs for Buckingham Palace, to custom-make new rugs. During the process, a shocking discovery was made.
“Through the restoration process, it was found that the walls were not red, that they were teal behind there. We were all mesmerized. Even to the point when the ATG was going to reopen the theater with Moulin Rouge, the producers of Moulin Rouge wanted the Colonial because of so much red in the decor. And little did they know when they came there,” said Mootos. “Their production company was allowed to cover the walls with red fabric. It wasn't until subsequent shows that we got to see the actual teal wall behind.”
A photo of the opening night of Moulin Rouge that hangs backstage at the Colonial.
During renovation, the theater was in the process of receiving historic status. However, if the Colonial received historic status, there would be certain aspects that would have to remain unchanged, like seat size, bathrooms, and walls. The building was decided to only have historic status for the outside structure and not the inside. This allowed ATG to add necessary changes to the theater, like creating an accessible bathroom with changing tables and adding heating and cooling.
For almost a year, the theater was closed for renovations. Opening day was set for June 27, 2018. ATG had secured the world premiere of the musical “Moulin Rouge” to be the opening show. A ribbon cutting was held on June 27th, with former Boston Mayor Marty Walsh there to help cut the ribbon. The entire committee was invited to attend.
However, the actual opening day was pushed back two weeks due to construction.
“I can remember Carol and I walking through the night before opening night, and there were still wooden boards in the promenade. The carpet hadn't come in yet. They had finished the fabric and the seats. The interior of the theater was done. The lobby, the main lobby promenade, was not finished yet. The bar wasn't even completely nailed together yet,” said Mootos. “I can't imagine how many hours went into getting things finished before opening night. It was that close. It was really, really close."
Finally, on July 10, 2018, the Colonial Theatre reopened its doors for good. When staff returned for their first shifts back, there were many emotions.
A photo of the Colonial Theatre and Boylston Street from the early 1900's
that hangs in the new accessible bathroom.
“A lot of tears, a lot of smiles, laughter, happiness, tears because of what they were going to do to it and how beautiful they made it. Smiles and happiness because we helped spearhead this and did it,” said Mootos. “It was elating. It was just like tingles went through my body.”
Currently, the Colonial Theatre is better than ever. The theater has welcomed several new pre-Broadway shows like “A Beautiful Noise: A Neil Diamond Musical” and “The Queen of Versailles.” Since the passing of the live theater tax credit bill in Massachusetts, the theater is set to see even more pre-Broadway shows.
Without the grassroots efforts of the Save the Colonial Committee, the Colonial would have become a dining and student center. While the fight was not easy, it was necessary.
“The world needs the arts. I believe in the arts. And if you believe in it, keep fighting. Persevere. Persevere,” said Ferragamo. “I would just say that about anything in life. If you believe so much in a cause, you just can't be passive. You just can't be passive and let someone else do it.”
A video of members from the Save the Colonial Committee talking about why they love the Colonial Theatre.
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