Union Theatre - Attleboro, MA

The Union Theatre in Attleboro, MA originally opened in 1918 as a vaudeville and silent movie theater. It was operated by B & Q Associates and had 1,101 seats. Because of the decline in vaudeville, and the rise of the modern talking motion picture, the Union underwent a remodel in 1927 to give it the ability to show “talkies.” 

Another remodel happened in May 1939 when air conditioning was added to the theater. The Union was divided into multiple screens in 1986 so that it could show multiple movies at a time. It was renamed the Roxy Theatre, then the Attleboro Cinema before returning to the Union Theater. It closed as a movie theater in the 1990s.

During the early 2000s, the Triboro Youth Theatre rented the Union and performed Broadway musicals. They removed the wall dividing the lower level into two screens and removed the drywall covering the original stage. Musicals held at the theater during this time include Peter Pan, Jesus Christ, Superstar and South Pacific. However, this was short-lived as the theater was not up to code, and they released the Triboro Youth Theatre from their rental agreement. 

In September 2015, thieves broke into the theater, stole the sound amplifiers from the projectors and some lenses. The owner of the theater used the marquee to ask for its return. It read “Wanted: Stolen Projector Equipment Returned” for several months after the theft. The theater remains closed.