Byde-A-Wyle / Long Beach / Unique / Boston Theatre

 336 on the Pike Long Beach, CA 90802 | map |  

 

Opening: March 2, 1908 as an open-air legit venue called the Byde-A-Wyle. Thanks to Ronald W. Mahan for the data. It had a full stage but in this view perhaps taken during their first season they hadn't put a roof over it yet. On the left it's a slice of the Wonderland Theatre at 330 on the Pike, the house that would end up as the Gaiety Theatre. Thanks to Michelle Gerdes for locating this shot on eBay. The location was on the beach side of The Pike in the middle of the block between Cedar Walk and Chestnut Pl.

 

Seating capacity: Not known 

 

 

 

A detail from a 1908 Sanborn Map appearing courtesy of Ronald W. Mahan. The Pike is shown as the "Walk of a Thousand Lights." The Byde-A-Wyle is shown in blue over on the lower left. Also see a larger section of the map.

 

The Cal State Long Beach page about the Byde-A-Wyle notes that "Fatty" Arbuckle was playing summer stock for $50 a week in the 1908 season at the theatre. While in Long Beach he met and proposed to Minta Durfee. They were married by the Mayor, in a ticketed event, on the stage of the Byde-A-Wyle. The theatre was located east of the Virginia Hotel, where the wedding reception was held. The hotel, which opened in 1908, was located between Chestnut and Magnolia, south of Ocean Blvd.

 

 

 

A program for "The Wheel of Fortune," a presentation of the Byde-A-Wyle Musical Comedy Co. with
Roscoe Arbuckle and Minta Durfee. In the lower right they're advertising the August 5, 1908 "Society Night" wedding of the happy couple onstage. Tickets were 25, 50 and 75 cents. The program is from the Ronald W. Mahan Collection and can also be seen on the Cal State page "Early Long Beach Theatres and Cinemas: Burgeoning 'Hollywood,' The Pike and Theatre by the Sea." 

 

The September 11, 1909 issue of Southwest Contractor and Manufacturer noted: "It is represented that E. B. Campbell, S. L. Mack and A. Berheim of Bakersfield have purchased the Byde-A-Wyle theater and four lots and they will erect a new theater building." An item in the November 23, 1909 issue of the Los Angeles Daily Journal noted a contractor named J.W. Crane had secured a permit for $500 worth of repairs at the theatre. These items may represent a new auditorium being constructed with a roof.

In the 1909-1910 city directory it's listed as the Long Beach Theatre at 336 The Pike with Frank M. Clark as manager. There had been a Long Beach Theatre on Locust Ave. (about 5 blocks away) running c.1907-1908. It's unknown if that management was connected with this venue for the 1910 season. 

 

 

By 1910 it was called the Unique Theatre with Messrs. Bray and Ebrite operating it. This ad from September 1910 was located by Ken McIntyre for a Facebook post on Ken's Movie Page.  

 

In the 1911 city directory James C. Bray was listed as the proprietor. The venue was soon renamed the Boston Theatre and is listed with that name in the 1912, 1913-14 and 1915-16 city directories with a 344 address. They goofed in the 1914-15 book and listed it as 433 The Pike.  F.H. Wiswell was operating the theatre for at least part of this time.

 

 

A c.1913 program at the Boston. Thanks to Jeff Greenwood for sharing this from his collection of memorabilia related to his great-grand-aunt Anna Robinson. She was a singer, actress and vaudeville performer, here billed as "Happy Anna Robinson." In earlier years was sometimes billed as "The Little Girl with the Big Voice" and "The Great Coon Shouter."  

 

 

An ad from Jeff's collection for the half-week Anna was appearing at the Boston.

 

A publicity photo of Anna. With her magician husband Frederick Palmer they appeared in vaudeville theatres for years together with acts such as "Palmer and Robinson, The Sorcerer and the Soubrette" and "The Maid and the Mountebank." In 1905 they had played at Fischer's Theatre and the Unique Theatre in downtown L.A. Other engagements by Anna in the area included the Colonial in East L.A., the Optic in Whittier and the Bentley Grand on the Pike. Thanks, Jeff!  

 

 

 

The theatre is shown as the Boston with an address of 348-360 in this detail from image 28 of a 1914 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from the Library of Congress collection. A new building, seen in blue at 334-338-348, has taken over the lot formerly used for the Byde-A-Wyle's entrance arch.

 

Others theatres on the beach side include the Wonderland / Gaiety at 330-332 and the Art Theatre at 314. The circle in the lower right is the Looff carousel. On the north side were the Pastime at 311, the earlier Tarrytown / Palace of Pictures at 313 (not shown as theatres on the map), the Bentley at 319, the Bijou Theatre at 333 (here seen as 329-31-35) and the Arrowhead / Joyland at 339.

 

Closing: Perhaps sometime around 1916.
 

Status: It was demolished and replaced by other buildings.

 

 

An inside view: 

An undated interior look at the Byde-A-Wyle after they put a roof over it. Note the boxes on either side of the proscenium. Thanks to the Ronald W. Mahan Collection for sharing the image.

 

 

More exterior views:

c.1909 - A shot looking east that gives us views of all three theatres on the south side of the 300 block. The image of this postcard is from the Ronald W. Mahan Collection and makes an appearance on the Cal State Long Beach page about the Byde-A-Wyle. 

Just left of center it's the Wonderland / Gaiety building. Two buildings to the left of it we get a side view of the clamshell entrance of the Art Theatre at 314. On the right the Byde-A-Wyle, now with a black structure seen in the upper right of the image. By this time they had put a roof on the venue. To the right of the entrance it's Wells & Co. Real Estate. They were listed as "on the Pike" in the 1908 city directory and with a 340 address in the 1909-1910 edition.

 

 

 

c.1915 - That red roofed structure with a stagehouse on the right side appears to be the Byde-A-Whyle -- or whatever it was called when the card was done. In the center is the Virginia Hotel. It's a card from the site Card Cow. 

 

 

c.1916 - "Best Vaudeville including pictures -- best acts available." The theatre had been renamed the Boston in this photo from the Ronald W. Mahan Collection. It appears on a Cal State Long Beach page they have for a later name for the Byde-A-Wyle, the Boston Theatre. We're looking at the west end of the building with the stage, facing Chestnut St. 

 

  

c.1922 - We're looking south across The Pike, most likely from the stagehouse of the Bentley Theatre.  The Byde-A-Wyle is gone. Its entrance had been in the center of the image with the auditorium stretching off to the right. The building that had housed the Wonderland/Gaiety is the one with the curvy mission-style parapet a bit left of center. Two buildings to the left of the Gaiety note the squat building with the reddish roof that used to be the Art Theatre at 314. Thanks to Michelle Gerdes for sharing this card from her collection.

 

 

c.1978 - The Byde-A-Wyle had once been in that location on the right with the stage about where the dark paint job of the tattoo establishment ends. We're looking east east along The Pike from Chestnut Pl. Thanks to Rick Warren for sharing his photo on Flickr. Also see the 26 photos in Rick's "Pike Amusement Park" album and the 144 great views in his "Old Long Beach Buildings" album. 

 

The top of the facade of the building once housing the Gaiety Theatre at 330 can be seen with the curvy parapet just beyond the "Penny Arcade" sign. That imposing building on the left is on the site of the Joyland Theatre, once at 335. 

 

 

2019 - In this view we're looking south on Chestnut Pl. with Seaside Way seen on the right. The 300 block of The Pike once ended here. The Byde-A-Wyle's stage was once in just a bit from where that garage entrance now is. Photo: Google Maps 

 

More information: There isn't any more at the moment about the Byde-A-Wyle. 

 

The pages about the Gaiety, Tarrytown and the Joyland have additional views of the 300 block between Cedar Walk and Chestnut Pl. 

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