The Curtain Call Café

The Curtain Call Café, the large area on the ground level, to the right of the theatre’s main entrance, went through different names and transformations over the years.  In the movie house days, it was a grocery store and was transformed into an Art Gallery in the early days the theatre. When the theatre space went through major renovation, the Art Gallery was transformed into the Curtain Call Café. 

A 1968 issue of Wayside Inquirer provides a detailed description of this transformation, describing the space as a “room full of atmosphere designed to augment your pleasures before and after the theatre.”  It continues with a detailed description of the paneling and glass:

The 16th century Tudor paneling that graces a third of the room also provides the
base panels for the buffet bar. This paneling was imported in the 1920s by the
famous interior designer Dr. Rosenbach, whose museum quarters in New York
provide furniture and fittings for many elaborate mansions built in the early 20th
century.  The panels came from a castle in England to stand at the end of a great
hall in a Philadelphia town house.  Now, for our pleasure, these carved and pieced
walls of wood, a mantle and a doorway, are again erected.

Mounted on wall brackets are half-figure wood carvings of 19th century heroes
of Great Britain’s overseas empire.  Who’s Who?  Can you tell which they are - -
Lord Douglas, General Haig, General Kitchner, Bobby Burns or Lord Duff?

Stained glass and tiffany shades of excellent quality set off the Buffet Bar, Victorian splendors of significant craftsmanship which are again in vogue.

The metal grills on the walls hold a collection of oddments and ornaments practical
and impractical, either decorative or once useful.  On another grill there is a collection
of etchings of obscure American presidents - - do you know who they might be?

The chairs are old English tavern chairs, the tables and benches are from various
periods - - William and Mary Queen Anne, Tudor English and Victorian.  (Wayside Inquirer, perhaps 1968)

At some point, possibly around 1973, the Curtain Call assumed an additional feature  - - this was the ability to actually order food.  An undated newspaper clipping describes this phase as follows:

The Café Curtain Call, adjacent to the Wayside Theatre, was designed several years
ago by the Wayside Inn General Manager, Herbert White.  The café has changed
many times during the years, but it remains a charming, delightful complement to
the Theatre in the summer and an interesting night spot for all ages in the winter.

Adorned with antiques, Tiffany lamps, and English and Jacobean wall paneling,
the Curtain Call has become known as a place for many faces.  Pam and Phil Ungar
took over the curatorship of the café a year and a half ago, and with them came
many new and exciting ideas.

The seasoned proprietors initiated private parties with special hors d’oeuvres,
and also folk music recitals.  John Jackson, noted Rappahannock folk singer, was
filmed by a private company on location in front of the Curtain Call’s Jacobean
paneling.  Bluegrass music, a part of the local heritage, became very popular in
the Curtain Call, too.  And late winter, the “young” generation found there was finally
a place where they could go to have a beer and listen to good rock music in comfort.

With the return of the summer season to wayside Theatre came another change
to the Curtain Call.  Phil and Pam started to serve delicious Omelette francaise; wonderful French-style omelettes with your choice of ham, cheese, sautéed onions
or peppers, salad, and hot garlic bread.

Everyone is wondering what Pam and Phil will do at the end of the summer theatre season.  Who knows - - maybe crepes suzettes?  (Wayside Inquirer (1968)

Over the years, The Curtain Call was a place for people to gather before a show, meet during intermission, as well as a chance to mingle with the cast while having a post- performance drink.  The type of refreshments that were available has varied over the years but the main fare consisted mainly of soft drinks, beer or wine, and various candies and nibbles.  It was also a place where rehearsals were conducted, a performance space for small, intimate-type productions and cabaret musicals, as well as the meeting place for various organizations including the Wayside Board.  It was also the place for opening night parties where the cast and staff would assemble to exchange congratulations among one another, and enjoy the opening night festivities. 

At an early point in the building’s history, there was a change in the way one entered the Curtain Call.  The door that opened on to the stairs to the second floor was sealed off requiring one enter the Curtain Call through a separate door that had been cut into the glass wall that faced Route 11.  And, through most of the Theatre’s history, entry to the second floor was by the door at the foot of the stairs, while the door to the Curtain Call was immediately to its right.

There was little change to the room until after the passing of Leo Bernstein when some of the décor and furnishings were claimed by the family.  The most recent change in the room came after the theatre closed, and the property was transformed into a brewery.  The Curtain Call then became The Den, a restaurant as well as a venue for small musical groups to perform.