Hovey Players has been producing provocative and timely theater since 1936. Located near the historic Moody Street in Waltham, MA in the Abbott Memorial Theater, Hovey is among the most intimate performance spaces in New England. Neon lights guide the patrons downstairs and into our 50 seat blackbox; reminiscent of a 1920’s speakeasy.
Our History
In 1936 a group of local thespians calling themselves the “Dramatists” produced their first play, Are You Intruding. They were invited by the Hovey Memorial Society (a men’s club) to use their newly-constructed, 1,300 seat, Hovey Memorial Building as their performing location. After the success of the Dramatists first effort, the Hovey Memorial Society invited the Dramatists to take up permanent residence at the hall. And so the Hovey Players were born.
Many productions took place at the Hovey Memorial Building between 1936 and 1952. Well-used by both the Players and other groups, it was the only amateur space available in the area of this size. The players met monthly in individuals’ homes.
For the 1945-46 season, Hovey Players recorded a membership of about 100 and season ticket holders of about 500 (that grew to 900 by season's end). Membership/sponsorship/season tickets were $2.40/season, tickets at the door were $.90, except for the year’s musical, which was $1.50. Ushers wore formal dress, and the pre-show curtain speech was followed by the playing and singing, in the dark, of the Star Spangled Banner.
For the spring musical in April of 1946, Victor Herbert’s Sweethearts, Hovey altered their original rules and opened the casting call to all.
In 1952, the Hovey Memorial Society dissolved and the building was sold to the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 1507. We left our birthplace. When the IBEW took over the building they began to charge high fees to renters. That and the advent of the television changed the economics of live performance. Eventually the building fell into great disrepair and was sold to SGI International (a Buddhist group) in 1998 for only $400,000. The Hovey Players performed one last time at the building. It was a one night only performance, a review called Back To Our Roots. SGI has since renovated the interior into a temple, walling off the balcony. The stage is forever dark.
Without a home after IBEW bought the Hovey Memorial Building, for two decades we performed in churches, schools (particularly Lexington Jr. High School), the Boys and Girls Club, and in small halls throughout the area. The 1960-1961 Season was the first year we performed a summer show (in a church). The group used the basement of 740 Main St as a workshop and clubhouse/rehearsal space.
Finding a New Home in the Abbott Memorial Theater
In 1973 the Hovey Players constructed a theater in our rehearsal/workshop space in the basement of the D’Angio Building at 9 Spring Street. In 1983, this space was dedicated as the Abbott Memorial Theater in honor of a beloved member, the late Dr. Alden Q. Abbott. The Abbott was a smaller theater, but contained large heart and great talent.
The History of Hamblin Hovey, Namesake of the Original Hovey Memorial Building
Hamblin Levi Hovey was born June 17, 1838. His father died when he was only six months old, and he went to East Ware, MA with his mother to live with her parents. He lived there with them until he was ten years old, at which point his mother married Mr. Emerson and they all moved to Gilmanton, NH, where he lived until he was fifteen. He then went to live with his uncle, Daniel Gove Currier, in Waltham, MA where he attended the local high school. He became a clerk in his uncle’s retail clothing store, then with Bean & Clayton, and later with H. W. Smith, Dock Square, in Boston.
He was a quiet boy with studious tastes and early on became a member of the Everett Literary Society, which was composed of some of the brightest young men in the town. It was there that he formed many close friendships which he carried throughout his life.
In 1861, he enlisted in Company M. of the First regiment of Massachusetts cavalry, and went with the regiment to Hilton Head, SC. When he returned to Waltham in October 1867, he was employed into the office of J. W. Parmenter: coal, wood, and brick dealer.
He married Harriet Adelaide, daughter of his employer Jonas Willis Parmenter and Harriet (Kingsbury) Parmenter on June 3, 1868 in Waltham. He died suddenly on May 12, 1904.
In 1935, the Parmenter family commissioned several buildings. Two were named in honor of Hamblin Hovey. One was the 1,300 seat auditorium christened the Hovey Memorial Building. The second was Hovey Hall, a smaller dance hall, which is also now long gone. The Hall consisted of a fully functional stage, a flat orchestra area which could accommodate 25 large round tables or 500 auditorium style seats. The orchestra was surrounded on three sides by a balcony, seating an additional 750 or more seats. The orchestra was often used for performance and as an arena for boxing events.
Hovey Players would like to thank the Hovey family for their many contributions to our theater.