Cutler Majestic Theatre

A Boston landmark. A working theater. A stage for the next generation of artists. The Cutler Majestic Theatre gives students the chance to create and perform in one of the city’s most iconic venues.

Located in the heart of Boston’s Theater District, the Cutler Majestic Theatre serves as both a professional performing arts venue and a hands-on learning environment. Throughout the year, students and audiences experience theater, dance, music, comedy, and special events in a space that brings together artists from across Boston and beyond.

Whether they’re performing onstage or working behind the scenes, students gain real-world experience in a theater that combines historic architecture with modern production capabilities. More than a century after it first opened, the Cutler Majestic remains a place where stories are told, creativity thrives, and new artists take the stage.

History

When the Majestic Theatre opened in 1903, it represented the future of live entertainment. Designed by architect John Galen Howard, the theater dazzled audiences with soaring arches, stained glass, ornate detailing, and thousands of electric light bulbs—an ambitious vision for a new era of performance.

As Boston changed, so did the Majestic. Over the decades, the theater hosted opera, plays, vaudeville acts, and motion pictures, remaining a gathering place for audiences and an important part of the city’s cultural life.

By the early 1980s, however, the theater had fallen into severe disrepair. When Emerson acquired the Majestic in 1983, the College took on a challenge bigger than restoration. It set out to preserve a historic landmark while reimagining what the theater could become for future generations of performers, creators, and audiences.

Located just steps from Emerson’s campus, the Cutler Majestic Theatre gives students access to a historic venue that serves as both a classroom and a creative hub.
Whether your passion is acting, directing, design, production, or stage management, you’ll have opportunities to put your skills into practice through live productions.

Revitalization

When Emerson acquired the Majestic Theatre, the building was in severe decline and the surrounding Theater District was struggling as well. Rather than simply restoring the theater itself, Emerson saw an opportunity to invest in the future of the neighborhood and help revitalize a historic part of downtown Boston.

Working alongside city and state partners, Emerson helped support efforts to preserve the district’s historic theaters while encouraging new development, businesses, and public spaces. Over time, those investments helped transform the area into the vibrant cultural destination it is today.

The College also made the Theater District a central part of its own future, gradually expanding its campus into the neighborhood and adapting historic buildings for classrooms, residence halls, offices, and student spaces. As students, faculty, artists, and audiences returned to the area, the district once again became a hub of activity and creativity.

At the center of that transformation stood the Majestic itself. Following a decades-long restoration completed in 2003, the theater reopened as a modern performance venue while preserving the architectural character that has defined it for more than a century. Today, the Cutler Majestic Theatre—named for the late Ted Cutler ’51, LHD ’07, a beloved Emersonian, Trustee emeritus, and a generous arts philanthropist—stands as both a symbol of Emerson’s commitment to the arts and one of the anchors of Boston’s Theater District.

Awards

  • 37th Annual Preservation Award (2009), The Victorian Society in America, New England Chapter
  • National Preservation Honor Award (2004), National Trust for Historic Preservation
  • Award for Outstanding Restoration Project (2004), League of Historic American Theatres
  • Modernization Grand Prize Winner (2004), Buildings magazine
  • Section Award (2004), Illuminating Engineering Society of North America
  • Boston’s Best (2004), Improper Bostonian
  • Preservation Award for Outstanding Achievement (2003), Massachusetts Historical Commission
  • Preservation Achievement Award for Significant Renovation and Restoration Preserving Boston’s Architectural or Cultural Heritage (2003), Boston Preservation Alliance
  • Ted and Joan Cutler and Cutler Majestic Theatre Day proclamation (October 30, 2003), Boston City Council
  • Historic Preservation Award (2001), Boston Society of Architects, recognizing Emerson College for its “exemplary standard of care for the Emerson Majestic Theatre and Little Building, and other historic properties”
  • Historic Neighborhoods Foundation Award (1992), honoring efforts to enhance and preserve the design and social heritage of the City of Boston
  • Best of Boston (1989, 1992), Boston magazine
  • Emerson Majestic Theatre Day proclamation (April 26, 1989), by Boston Mayor Raymond Flynn