Colonial Theatre, Boston

E270196

historic theatre performing arts venue playhouse theatre

Colonial Theatre in Boston is a historic playhouse renowned for hosting major theatrical premieres, including the first performance of George Gershwin’s opera "Porgy and Bess."

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All labels observed (2)

Label	Occurrences
Colonial Theatre	2
Colonial Theatre, Boston canonical	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T2479564 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Colonial Theatre, Boston
Context triple: [Porgy and Bess, premiereLocation, Colonial Theatre, Boston]

A. The Colonial Theatre
The Colonial Theatre is a historic performing arts venue in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, renowned for its early-20th-century architecture and role as a cultural centerpiece in the Berkshires.
B. Coolidge Corner Theatre
Coolidge Corner Theatre is a historic independent cinema and cultural venue in Brookline, Massachusetts, known for its art-house films, repertory screenings, and community-focused programming.
C. James Theatre
James Theatre is a historic cinema and performance venue located in the town of Dungog, New South Wales, Australia.
D. Old Boston Music Hall
Old Boston Music Hall was a historic Boston concert venue that served as the city’s principal home for orchestral and other musical performances before the opening of Symphony Hall.
E. Lowell Memorial Auditorium
Lowell Memorial Auditorium is a historic performing arts and events venue in downtown Lowell, Massachusetts, known for hosting concerts, theater productions, and community gatherings.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Colonial Theatre, Boston
Target entity description: Colonial Theatre in Boston is a historic playhouse renowned for hosting major theatrical premieres, including the first performance of George Gershwin’s opera "Porgy and Bess."

A. The Colonial Theatre
The Colonial Theatre is a historic performing arts venue in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, renowned for its early-20th-century architecture and role as a cultural centerpiece in the Berkshires.
B. Coolidge Corner Theatre
Coolidge Corner Theatre is a historic independent cinema and cultural venue in Brookline, Massachusetts, known for its art-house films, repertory screenings, and community-focused programming.
C. James Theatre
James Theatre is a historic cinema and performance venue located in the town of Dungog, New South Wales, Australia.
D. Old Boston Music Hall
Old Boston Music Hall was a historic Boston concert venue that served as the city’s principal home for orchestral and other musical performances before the opening of Symphony Hall.
E. Lowell Memorial Auditorium
Lowell Memorial Auditorium is a historic performing arts and events venue in downtown Lowell, Massachusetts, known for hosting concerts, theater productions, and community gatherings.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (46)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	historic theatre ⓘ performing arts venue ⓘ playhouse ⓘ theatre ⓘ
address	106 Boylston Street ⓘ
alsoKnownAs	Emerson Colonial Theatre ⓘ
architect	Clarence Blackall ⓘ
architecturalStyle	Beaux-Arts ⓘ
associatedWith	George Gershwin ⓘ
country	United States of America ⓘ surface form: United States
culturalSignificance	important venue in American musical theatre history ⓘ
function	live theatre performances ⓘ musicals ⓘ plays ⓘ
hasFeature	balcony seating ⓘ proscenium stage ⓘ
hasOrnamentation	elaborate interior decoration ⓘ
hasWebsite	https://www.emersoncolonialtheatre.com/ ⓘ
historicDesignation	listed on the National Register of Historic Places ⓘ
historicUse	tryout theatre for Broadway productions ⓘ
hostedFirstPerformanceOf	Porgy and Bess ⓘ surface form: George Gershwin’s opera Porgy and Bess
locatedIn	Massachusetts ⓘ United States of America ⓘ surface form: United States
location	Boston ⓘ
near	Boston Common ⓘ Boylston station ⓘ surface form: Boylston Street subway station
neighborhood	Downtown Boston ⓘ
notableFor	hosting major theatrical premieres ⓘ pre-Broadway tryouts ⓘ
notableProduction	A Little Night Music ⓘ surface form: A Little Night Music (pre-Broadway tryout) Follies ⓘ surface form: Follies (pre-Broadway tryout) La Cage aux Folles ⓘ surface form: La Cage aux Folles (pre-Broadway tryout) Oklahoma! (stage production) ⓘ surface form: Oklahoma! (pre-Broadway tryout) Porgy and Bess ⓘ
opened	1900 ⓘ
openingDate	December 20, 1900 ⓘ
operator	Emerson College ⓘ
ownedBy	Emerson College ⓘ
premiered	Porgy and Bess ⓘ
premiereDateOfPorgyAndBess	September 30, 1935 ⓘ
region	New England ⓘ
renovated	1990s ⓘ 2010s ⓘ
reopened	2015 ⓘ
seatingCapacity	approximately 1700 ⓘ
significance	one of Boston’s oldest continuously operating theatres ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (3)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Porgy and Bess → premiereLocation → Colonial Theatre, Boston ⓘ

My Man’s Gone Now → premiereTheatre → Colonial Theatre, Boston ⓘ

this entity surface form: Colonial Theatre

Emerson Colonial Theatre → originalName → Colonial Theatre, Boston ⓘ