The most Bostonian of the Theater District theaters, the Wilbur derives its architecttural forms from late-eighteenth- and early-nineteenth-century American and English architecture. For example, the handsome doorways are closely modeled on the Adam Thaxter House (
BH19
) at 59 Mount Vernon Street. Swags, urns, and medallions abound, in homage to the work of British architect Robert Adam. A rectangular proscenium ornaments the intimate and refined auditorium, which seats one thousand. Here, Marlon Brando gained stardom in A Streetcar Named Desire (1947) and Thornton Wilder's Our Town (1938) began its pre-Broadway run.