The Colonial Theatre was designed by the architectural firm of Clarence Blackall and paid for by Frederick Lothrop Ames Jr.

[1] Ben-Hur operated with a cast and crew of 350 people and featured eight live horses on stage in full gallop during the chariot race scene.

[7] After protests from faculty, alumni, historians and theatrical personnel, and over 7,000 signatures on a Change.org petition, including playwright/composer Stephen Sondheim and New York Times theatre critic, Frank Rich, Emerson President M. Lee Pelton announced on March 3, 2016, that the college would instead renovate another building into a dining hall and gathering area and seek to bring live performances back to the Colonial.

In a deal that was partly facilitated by the City of Boston, the college and ATG have both agreed to make substantial capital improvements to the venue which is now to be called the Emerson Colonial Theatre.

[10] It reopened in July 2018 featuring the premiere of a new musical, Moulin Rouge!, based on the film by Baz Luhrmann, prior to its Broadway run.