The Cabot Theatre is a North Shore treasure, a legacy of the visionary showmanship of the Ware Brothers. Opened in 1920 as a dream palace of vaudeville and silent movies, it was hailed as “the most impressive auditorium of its size east of New York.” This Ware Theater shared a distinguished architectural pedigree, designed by the architects of Boston’s Athenaeum and Olympia Theater and Dorchester’s Strand Theater. For its first 40 years, it served as a center of community life for downtown Beverly.