Plans For Tryout Home of PORGY AND BESS, OKLAHOMA!, FOLLIES To Convert Into Emerson College Student Center

Last month BroadwayWorld reported that Boston's 115-year-old Colonial Theatre, where classics like PORGY AND BESS and OKLAHOMA! and FOLLIES were tried out and worked on before coming to Broadway, would be closing this month for at least a year, with the future of the gorgeous space owned by Emerson College not yet determined.

Today's Boston Globe reports of a radical plan that would transform the venue into a dining hall/performance space, as part of a larger Colonial Student Center.

Malcolm Gay writes, "According to architectural renderings and other documents obtained by the Globe, the potential plan in question calls for the Colonial Theatre's orchestra-level theater seating to be removed and replaced with round dining tables and countertop seating. Portions of walls would be demolished, giving the dining hall access to a new cafeteria-style food service area. The majority of the food serving area would be in the Walker Building, in a space that currently serves as a bookstore."

"Emerson College president Lee Pelton emphasized that the plan detailed in the documents is but one of several options the college is considering and that no final decision has been reached."

Click here for the entire article.

Click here for a previous BroadwayWorld feature on Broadway shows that tried out at the Colonial, including PORGY AND BESS, OKLAHOMA! and FOLLIES.