With their gracious lead gift in 1999, Ted and Joan Benard-Cutler spurred the restoration of this century-old performing arts venue. Emerson College closed the theater in the spring of 2002 for the final stage of restoration. It re-opened with Emerson College's EVVYs show, a televised award show honoring students and comparable to annual cable award shows such as the Oscar's, Tony's, and Grammy's.
The Cutler Majestic Theatre plays a unique role in the Boston community, as does Emerson College. It is a Boston landmark and the second oldest theater in Boston's downtown Theatre District. It houses several of Boston's finest not-for-profit arts organizations, plays host to special productions from leading Boston-area arts groups, and serves both as a laboratory for Emerson College students to gain experience in the arts and crafts of live communication and as a key production facility for the Department of Performing Arts' Emerson Stage. The resulting range of exciting, innovative, and fun events has kept the Cutler Majestic Theatre "lighted" more consistently than any other Theatre District facility, with the broadest and most diverse menu of artistic events.
Emerson College has restored John Galen Howard's vision, including:
- Ornate gold leaf with intricately colored washes
- Plaster grape arbors, pomegranates, and leafy vines
- Classical pilasters, capitals, and cartouches
- More than 5,000 replica lighting fixtures
- Marble, scagliola, marezzo, tile, and brass
- Seating and carpeting replicating 1903 originals
- Stained glass windows in the Tiffany and Company style
- Murals by William deLeftwich Dodge
- Terra cotta classical façade
- Marquee and canopy reflecting 1903 originals
Elkus/Manfredi Architects set out to restore the Majestic’s visual splendor. But this Boston firm also employed Yankee ingenuity and upgraded the Majestic to modern standards of comfort, safety, and functionality. Those improvements include:
- Wider, more comfortable seats
- Wider aisles
- More legroom
- Safety rails
- Expanded washrooms in more locations
- More lobby areas with food and drink amenities
- Improved heating and air conditioning
- Tickets on sale any time by phone or Internet
- Expanded accessibility for audience and artists
- New, more comfortable dressing rooms
- 21st-century stage systems