Reliving History At Beverly's Cabot Theater As It Turns 100

BEVERLY, MA — The Cabot Street Cinema Theater opened nearly 100 years ago as a response to a nation in crisis.

The country was slowly recovering from the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918. Troops were returning home from the ravages of World War I. It was a country full of pain, political division and social detachment.

"It's something I think about almost every day," Cabot Executive Director J. Casey Soward told Patch. "The timing of the Cabot's original opening was the result of the flu of 1918. They built theaters then to bring people back out in public after a war and a pandemic. We think of this as a crazy time. That was even more of a crazy time."

It was theaters and music that ushered in the Roarin' 20s and a renewed sense of culture and optimism on the North Shore, and throughout the country.

Soward is hoping the Cabot will help fill that role in a second century following the coronavirus health crisis the way it did when its doors first opened in December of 1920.

"Right now, we're living in a world that doesn't have live music and doesn't have live performances," Soward said. "We've seen here at the theater how people can use those events as a way to connect with friends that maybe didn't agree on some issues, and then they come together at a concert, as a way to mend that fence."

Until then, the theater — which has been closed to public performances since the onset of the pandemic in March — will have to celebrate its first 100 years virtually with its "Lights. Camera. Cabot. Here's To The Next 100" event on Dec. 3 at 7 p.m.

The event will feature more than a dozen artists filmed both on location and from a closed set within the theater streamed for free to all those who register.

"It's been an interesting year for us," Soward said. "But this event is very, very exciting for us. We've known for the past three, four months we were going to be going heavily in the digital direction and this will be our first big production in that regard."

Soward said plans for the centennial celebration began about 3½ years ago as part of a fundraising campaign for renovations to part of the building. But the crowning jewel of that fundraiser in December 2020 was put in doubt when the virus closed the theater this spring, with the realization coming this summer that it would not reopen in time for a live-audience event by the end of 2020.

So plans shifted to the virtual event that will include performances from celebrated artists such as Jon Butcher, Martin Sexton, Grace Potter, Rodriguez, John Hiatt, Raul Malo, Chris Thile and the Fantastic Negrito, plus others still to be announced.

There will also be a live unveiling of the new lobby renovated during the theater closure and a tribute to the Cabot's "Founders" — Henry Bertolon, Bill Howard, Rich Marino, Thad Siemasko and Paul Van Ness — who helped save the theater when it appeared on the verge of a permanent shuttering six years ago.

Soward said the determination was made early to keep the event free for anyone who wants to watch so they can celebrate both the theater's history and its promise for the future.

"Part of it is that we are so appreciative of the support we have received over the past six years, and the theater has received over the past 100 years, that we really wanted it to be a gift for this community," Soward said. "This still exists, and we wouldn't be able to do that without the people who come every week to shows and performances. We wanted this to be a show of gratitude."

Soward said in the first five years he was with the theater upon its 2014 resurgence that yearly attendance went from 10,000 in 2014 to 90,000 in 2019. He added that attendance was on pace for 100,000 in 2020 when the theater shut down in March.

"We were going to have our biggest year ever," he noted. "We were off to an amazing start."

While the end of the year — and certainly the 100th year celebration — is not going to be everything anyone at the Cabot hoped it would be, the promise of the centennial event is that it is a sign that through its work in recent years, as well as help from sponsors and the community, the theater will be everything it can be for the North Shore arts community when it is allowed to be once again.

"This will be something we always remember where we took advantage of this moment to be creative and collaborate with our friends to make something special happen," Soward said. "We are doing a lot of work to make sure we are there and are part of this healing that will need to take place."

Related Patch Coverage: Cabot's 100th Celebration Goes Virtual In December

Cabot Theater Gets Creative As Venues Struggle Through Pandemic

The Cabot Announces Big Names For Beverly Fall 'Porch Sessions'