The First Season: 1963

While confusion remains regarding what actually took place at Wayside Theatre during the years 1961 and 1962, there is abundant evidence supporting the very successful 1963 season.  Among the documents for that year is a single-page playbill and a 12-page season booklet that gives the summer schedule and actor bios along with advertisements of local businesses.  Included in this booklet is a greeting to Wayside’s first season written by Producing Director, Larry Gleason.  Some local newspapers displayed two-column ads for the theatre giving the titles of plays, the dates, curtain times, and ticket prices.  Local writers give information about the plays along with multi-column biographical sketches of the actors and staff who were hired for the 1963 summer season.  One advertisement urged the reader to “See these Broadway shows performed by a professional New York cast, including Andrea Miller” and, by doing so, one could save 33% on the price.  Prices were listed at the bottom stating that tickets could be purchased by mail simply by writing to Wayside Theatre, POB “A,” Middletown, Va., or calling Stephens City 776.  (Wayside Theatre Advertisement.  NVD, 20 May 1963).

Closer to the actual opening of the season, the same newspaper printed a four-column-wide announcement for an open house at “Virginia’s Newest Summer Theatre.”  Readers were encouraged to “Drop by and Look Around.”  Included in the announcement was the title opening show and dates of performances - - “a comedy hit direct from 85 weeks on Broadway” (“Wayside Theatre Open House.” NVD.  8 June 1963).  Next to the Theatre’s ad was one for The Wayside Inn that suggested one could spend the weekend there and enjoy a nearby theatre performance.

News of Wayside’s opening even appeared in a column of a Washington, DC paper that listed the summer season and the opening date as June 18, 1963.  In a small space, a great deal of information is given about this new venture.      

This notice (left) calls attention to the fact that the actors performing at Wayside are professionals holding membership in the Actors’ Equity Association.  This emphasis was to distinguish this theatre from the successful amateur groups located in Winchester,  Berryville, and nearby communities.

The transformation of the old movie house into a theatre is also featured in an article that began, “Final preparations are being completed at the Wayside Theatre, Middletown for the summer stock season to open on Tuesday, June 18.  The building has been extensively renovated … for patrons of the nine-play series” (“Middletown Theatre ….” TWaS. 13 June 1963).  A similar announcement refers to the extensive renovations to the building along with information on the nine-play season, and states that one can enjoy the productions in the comfort of recently installed air-conditioning. 

A resident cast of 15 actors will be at Middletown throughout the summer stock
season.  Working in true repertory fashion, an actor may play a leading role one
week and a butler the next.  The Wayside Theatre is under the guidance of Producer Larry Gleason, familiar to Washington theatre-goers as Artistic director of Theatre
Lobby.  This past year, in addition to his duties at Theatre Lobby, he was Casting Consultant for Arena Stage in Washington (“Wayside Theatre Opens ….” NVD. 17
June 1963).   

One can’t help but notice that Larry Gleason is listed as the Artistic Director for the 1963 season, despite his name never appearing in the Theatre’s list of Artistic Diretors or in any of the historical documentation about the Theatre.  Information about Gleason is sparse, but a few sentences from the “Who’s Who in the Company” section of the 1963 season’s booklet states,

Larry Gleason is a serious young theatre enthusiast who has packed a great deal
of professional experience into a few years.  This past year (1962) he served a dual
role of Artistic Director of Theatre Lobby and Casting Consultant for Arena Stage of Washington.  He has worked as director, actor, producer and lighting designer at such theatres as Charles Playhouse (Boston), New England Playhouse (Vermont), Putnam County Playhouse (Lake Mahopac, NY) and Poets Theatre (Cambridge, Mass).  Mr. Gleason holds a degree from Boston College … (“Wayside Theatre presents ….”   Wayside Theatre Booklet, 1963).  

Gleason had other East Coast theatre connections. The booklet extends appreciation to six names for their help with the season to whom “the Wayside Theatre wishes to express sincere thanks [to those] whose advice and assistance were of infinite value.”  One name that stands out from the list is that of Zelda Finchandler, founder of Arena Stage in DC, where Gleason had connections.  Gleason also expresses thanks to his alma mater, Boston College, for the use of lights that were loaned to Wayside for this first season (Wayside Theatre Booklet, 1963).

The paragraph about Gleason found in the 1963 booklet could clarify some of the mystery regarding the chronology of Wayside’s Artistic Directors as he writes, “During our first season you shall meet many people on our stage, we trust you will welcome their work,” thus confirming that 1963 was Wayside Theatre’s first year of operation.  The Welcome is signed, “Cordially, Larry Gleason, Producing Director.” This title could account for Gleason never being listed as Artistic Director, although various titles for that position have been used over the years for the person in charge. (“Wayside Theatre presents …” 1963 Booklet).

In another source, Gleason extends his appreciation for the area’s support.  “We are deeply gratified with the response so far.  We’ve received a warm and wonderful welcome from the people here, and we know we’ll have a marvelous season.”  In conclusion, he refers to the box office’s flexibility, stating that “if a patron is unable to attend a performance on the date of his season ticket, a suitable exchange could be arranged” (“Wayside Theatre Opens ….” NVD. 1 June 1963).  

More information on Wayside’s first season is found in a travel column of a DC newspaper that reads,

the newest star on the Washington entertainment horizon is the Wayside Theatre,
75 miles away in the Shenandoah Valley at Middletown, Va.   A summer stock com-
pany under [the] direction of Larry Gleason, opened the season there last week.  The
old theater, which has been modernized and air conditioned is filling up night after night.  Opening production was ‘Come Blow Your Horn.’ ‘Charley’s Aunt’ is on now.  

Further along, Glaser lists the names of actors whose acting skills he particularly liked, and adds that, “Wayside Theater is an adjunct of the Wayside Inn, which has been restored and put in modern operating shape by Washington’s Leo Bernstein” (Glaser. “Oldest U.S. Motor Inn ….” The Washington Daily News. 25 June 1963).   Another tribute to the new organization comes from an un-signed reviewer who attended the opening night of the first season, and states that the Neil Simon comedy “was a wise choice for the company’s first production and ushered in a nine weeks season of summer theatre.” The author names each actor and gives a brief comment about their work. (“Summer Stock Production ….” NVD.  20 June 1963).

After attending one of Wayside’s 1963 performances, another writer waxed eloquently on the joys of having professional theatre in the Shenandoah Valley, stating,

At long last we made the stone’s throw [journey] to Middletown to the Wayside
Theatre. It’s amazing and gratifying how many from Warren [County] have been attending regularly our first nearby summer stock productions.  A good portion of
our theatre-goers has season tickets.  Who said Front Royal suffered cultural lag?  

The writer continues by ommenting on the fine acting in the play, Summer and Smoke, and the impressive titles of plays scheduled for the remainder of the season.  He pronounces the performance he attended “compelling” and adds, “The arrangement and sets of the small air-conditioned theatre pleasantly swallow the audience into the acting …, a delightful evening was over too soon (ERB. “Coffee Break.”  TWaS.  25 July 1963).

Another writer refers to the up-coming 1963 season with a rehearsal photo of cast members in Come Blow Your Horn, showing New York actors Andrea Miller and Doug Plumley, along with Jeanne Milton, wife of a local Winchester doctor.  Included is a list of the plays for the 1963 season and performance times:  8:30 during the week, with matinees on Saturday and Sunday at 2:30.  Of particular interest to the twenty-first century reader accustomed to ten-digit telephone numbers, is the Theatre’s Box Office telephone number: Stephens City, 776. (“Summer Stock Play ….” WES. 14 June 1963).

Further into the 1963 season, an article appearing in a Front Royal paper states, “Live theatre has reached the half-way mark in its first season in the Shenandoah Valley.” Some names of the Wayside ensemble are listed:  Andrea Miller, Ian Sullivan, David Craven, Craig Vandenburgh, John Nahas, Richard Foltz, with two additional members, Joel Warfield and Jonathon Farwell.  “Wayside players are professional actors from New York and from the Arena Stage in Washington.  Sets are original with each production and the Middletown Theater is comfortably air-conditioned” (“Summer Stock Proves Hit …. ” TWaS.  25 July 1963). 

The comfort of air-conditioning is consistently mentioned in these early reviews as a draw to Middletown.  How interesting to read that this was so boldly advertised as a welcome treat, when seen from a twenty-first century perspective where it is taken for granted!

Other articles in the local press were designed to keep the public informed on the activities in Middletown.  One gives the schedule for the upcoming eleven-week, nine-play season under a banner heralding the Theatre’s opening. The first paragraph states, “Plans are being completed at the Wayside Theatre here for the summer stock live play season to open Tuesday night.  The building has been extensively renovated and air conditioned for patrons of the nine play series” (Summer Stock Play ….”  WES 14 June 1963).  The article concludes with the names of the 15 actors featured throughout the summer-stock season,   

Even out-of-state papers wrote about the new organization’s first season. The entertainment editor for a Maryland paper describes her experience attending a performance …

in a location quite a few miles from here, across the river and over the hills to Middletown, Va. ….  The Wayside Theatre, which takes its name from the Way-
side Inn under whose auspices it operates, is a venture of young professionals
who have ingeniously converted an old movie theatre into a playhouse.  The
actors came to Middletown from off-broadway, Theatre Lobby and Arena Stage
in Washington, and universities and groups throughout the country.  All of them
are working for a successful summer playhouse in this small town” (Buckey. “New Summer Theatre ….” The Montgomery County Sentinel. 25 July 1963). 

The phrase, “professional Summer Stock,” appears frequently by writers when referring to the quality of Wayside Theatre performances as a lure to attend.  Others suggest combining their theatre entertainment with a stay at the Wayside Inn – creating a great evening at an affordable price.  Such an ad for the Inn was designed to lure tourists to the Shenandoah Valley and announced a real bargain, “Wayside Theatre - - ‘Make it a Wayside Evening’ on Thursday and Saturday with a Wayside (Inn) Theatre Special:  a combination buffet and Theatre for $4.75” (ERB. “Coffee Break.” TWaS.  25 July 1963).

Having a summer-stock company consisting of actors from New York suddenly producing professional live theatre in the small town of Middletown might have been looked upon with some suspicion by the local residents.  One actor recalls that the opening night of the season’s fifth play, Summer and Smoke, fell on the night of the Fireman’s Ball.  He recalls, “The audience was filled with firemen and their wives who, as the play ended, applauded and stood up.  Then they formed a receiving line [and] they shook the hands of all of us ….  Many of the townspeople said ‘thank you, this was my first’ ” (Buckey. “New Summer ….” The Montgomery County Sentinel. 25 July, 1963).  

One New York actress was featured by the Frederick County and Winchester fire companies in a short parade held in Middletown at 7:30 p.m. “honoring Miss Andrea Miller, Marshall of the recent Apple Blossom Festival Firemen’s parade, [who] is a member of the Wayside Theatre’s summer stock company” (“Middletown Parade will ….” NVD. 15 June, 1963).  As was the custom at that time, each fire company entered a piece of fire equipment in the parade along with the drum and bugle groups and majorettes.  Following the parade, Miss Miller was presented with a key to Middletown by Mayor Archie Manuel. (Photo: “Andrea Miller Stars ….” NVD.  18 June 1963). 

Wayside’s eight-play, ten-week schedule kept the actors very busy with rehearsals and performances, while other staff members were managing ticket sales and advertising, and the tech people were involved with set and costume construction.  Everyone at the Theatre certainly had a job to do, especially during that initial 1963 season. One reporter shared a conversation she had with the Theatre’s General Manager, who was also the wife of producing director, Larry Gleason. When asked about her role in the Wayside company, she replied,  “Not much.  I just give the cast a ballet lesson every day,” referring to the upcoming performance of The Fantasticks.  She described her duties as General Manager as fluctuating between “providing Kleenex and paper towels to formulating top-level policy” and further states that she and her husband (both in their twenties) “are obviously delighted with their venture and full of hope for its success ….”  The article concludes on a positive outlook: “The opening night audience - - to judge from their remarks on the way out - - went home determined to support these enterprising young people and help them to establish the first successful summer theatre in Northern Virginia” (Dillard. 20 June 1963).

In return for the support shown by the community for the newly former theatre company,  the actors expressed their gratitude by giving a benefit performance for the Warren County Mental Health Association and its affiliate, the Northwestern Psychiatric Clinic in Winchester.  From all reports, this event was well-received.  (“Wayside Theatre Performance ….” TWaS. 8 Aug. 1968).

The majority of the reviews for the 1963 season are succinct, consisting of only a few paragraphs.  There are some lengthy articles that deal with the theatre and staff that include biographical and professional information on these New York and DC actors.  Perhaps the most positive article celebrating Wayside’s arrival in the Valley is in a review of the June 18, 1963 opening night performance of Come Blow Your Horn.  The writer proclaims,

Well, there’s a new theatre in the neighborhood.  Not an amateur theatre, nor
a touring group like Barter, but a professional establishment, settled in for the
summer in Middletown, under the direction of an enthusiastic young Bostonian,
Larry Gleason. Name:  Wayside Theatre (Dillard. 20 June 1963). 

At the 1963 season’s opening night performance, those who had been instrumental in the creation of Wayside Theatre were recognized and awarded the name Angels.  This recognition most likely took place prior to the opening curtain after the director’s welcoming words. It states:  “Larry Gleason, producing director of the 11-week season of performances, greeted the audience.  He also dubbed three active members in the theatre project ‘Wayside Theater Angels.’ The plaudits went to Tom Baldridge, John Williams and Leo Bernstein” (“Summer Stock Performance ….” TWS. 19 June, 1963).  It is quite likely that the recognition of such benefactors as Angels could have served as a precursor for the Leo Awards, first bestowed in 2001.

All the reviews of the season’s opening night performance give praise to the cast, including one local Winchester actress, Jeanne Milton, who is recognized as being quite comfortable being on stage with the New York professionals.   Another writer finds it difficult to single out any particular actor in the performance, but states that, “Ian Sullivan and Craig Vanderburg, as the brothers, were hilarious, but no more so than the father, played by Donald Plumley and his stage wife, Mrs. Milton” (“Gen. Banks Gave ….” The Sunday Star.  30 June 1963).      

It should be repeated, that in all the information for the 1963 season found to date, there is no mention of Owen Phillips, the name that is usually given as Wayside’s first Artistic Director.  The first time that Phillips’ name appears in any Wayside materials is in 1964, where he is listed as Artistic Director.  Consequently, if one is to make an accurate chronology of the artistic leadership of theatre, Gleason’s name should appear first for his leadership of the 1963 season, then followed by Phillips who began in 1964.

To date, only one single-page playbill from the 1963 season has surfaced.  For additional information about that season, one must depend upon other sources, such as the extended articles written by E. Lewis Knowles, former mayor of Staunton, Virginia and editor of the Staunton newspaper, who wrote under the by-line of ELK for the column, “Follow the Leader.”  On a visit to Wayside, Knowles writes that each audience member received a twelve-page booklet that contained biographical information and performance credits for cast and staff.  The booklet also contains a short statement by Larry Gleason entitled “Adventure,” which Knowles quotes in full in his column:

Summer Theater is an adventure. The Wayside Theater is proud to be a part of
this adventure.  Our season is ambitious, but every adventure is fueled with the
same fire. During our first season you shall meet many people on our stage, we
trust you will welcome their work.  As you travel from Maine to Pennsylvania,
many summer theaters spring up in front of you.  We at Wayside are proud to
bring summer theater to Northern Virginia. This area, rich in history past, seemed
a natural spot for such a theater.  During the season you will find something that
will please you, whatever your taste. You will be amused or impressed or even
amazed.  You will spend an evening with Shaw and Tennessee Williams.  You will
see the old, the new, the borrowed and the ‘blue’.  We are glad to welcome you to
this adventure.  Won’t you join us many times this summer? (ELK. The Staunton
Leader. 30 July 1963). 

A copy of this booklet, along with the single-page playbill from the 1963 season, can be found in the Archives of Handley Library in Winchester.

While there are no photos that show the interior of the Middletown movie house before it was transformed into a theatre, there are a few photos that show the building’s exterior. The plain, store-front façade indicate nothing that would distinguish it as a professional theatre.  By looking closely at the entrance to the building, the outline of the ticket booth can be seen in the doorway - - a remnant from its movie-house days.  One person tells of moving scenery and set pieces in and out of the theatre through the front door and juggling these around the ticket booth, as access to the back stage area was so limited.  How long the ticket booth remained at the entrance is unknown, but most likely it was removed in the 1965 renovation.

As to the interior of the theatre space, about the only known fact is that it could accommodate “… about 300 patrons,” and the seats in the theatre are described as “plush-upholstered and very comfortable” (ELK. 30 July 1963).  Additional information about the interior comes from a writer who states, 

They have done it beautifully.  The stage itself is shallow and can’t be made any
deeper, since its back wall is concrete and you don’t argue with that.  So they
built an apron into the audience, dropped a few inches below the level of the stage.  
Most of the playing area is on this apron, and there are several rows of seats facing
it from the side.  But this is not a theatre-in-the-round since it uses the proscenium
arch like an ordinary stage, and has a background of scenery.  The back wall and proscenium clear to the side-wall, are painted black, and against this the colorful set stood out effectively.  The whole thing is both stylish and practical and it will be fun
to see what the group does with its flexible set-up in future plays (Dillard. 20 June
1963, found in 1963 Scrapbook).

The configuration of the stage is mentioned by another writer who states that the actors perform “… on a three-quarter, in-the-round stage” (“Wayside Theatre to Open ….” TWP.  2
June 1963).  It is unfortunate that no photographs are available that show this arrangement.

Another description of the playing area is given by the writer, ELK, who attended a per-formance of Summer and Smoke at the invitation of Middletown mayor, Archie Manual.  He describes the theatre’s stage area:

Once a motion picture theatre, the Middletown house has been remodeled,
especially in the area of the stage, to accommodate professional summer stock.  
The stage has been constructed to eye-level with the front seats, and occupants
of the first row, if they desired, could reach over and touch the actors and some
of the stage equipment (ELK. The Staunton Leader. 30 July 1963).  

ELK also refers to the use of lighting and the minimal set changes, noting, 

… the placing of equipment on the stage seldom was changed, but a novel arrangements of shifting two large gates gave the audience the benefit of a
‘change’ in scenery.  For example, swing the gates to the right and you had
the rector’s study; to the left, a doctor’s office, and when one gate was opened
to the left and the other to the right, a fountain scene in a park was opened to
the spectator’s view.  Very novel; very unique (ELK. 30 July 1963).

An oblique reference to the extended stage is found in a review of Come Blow Your Horn that states, “After a jittery start on the three-quarter-round stage before a capacity (about 175) crowd, the young talent and the direction of able Larry Gleason came through with high polish” (“Gen. Banks Gave ….”  The Sunday Star.  30 June 1963).  

In all the reviews for this opening season, there are consistent references to the extended stage thrust into the auditorium with seats on each side of that space, and that the seating beyond the lip of the stage extension was in rows that faced the proscenium. 

Greater detail was learned about this extended stage on a visit to the Baltimore home of Barbara Sambol, who had appeared in several Wayside productions in the 1960s.  Her son, playwright Paul Sambol, was also present and told of attending performances of Come Blow Your Horn and Charley’s Aunt, the first and second productions for the 1963 season.  Paul quickly made a rough sketch that showed how the projection from the stage extended into the house, with one or two rows of seats on either side facing the extension. He recalls, “We were there for their opening two shows.  That was before Owen [Phillips] came in ….  I remember how the theater LOOKED like a reconverted movie house.  A bowling alley of an auditorium with a thrust stage, a row of seats on either side of the stage” (Paul Sambol.  Email. 27 Mar. 2011).  

Key to the above drawing: 1) the original stage where the movie screen was located;
2) extended stage on which actors performed; 3) seating area on either side of extension “giving theatre-in-the-round feel;” 4) original theatre seating; 5) theatre aisles; 6) women’s dressing area; 7) men’s dressing area; 8) Art Gallery, later the Curtain Call; 9) ticket booth from the movie theatre days; 10) ‘Outs’ refers to the exterior wall.

Commenting further, Sambol shared his impression of the sets for those two productions. “The set for Come Blow Your Horn was a wall of doors … and Charley’s Aunt had a back wall of arches and there were two ramps going down into the aisles.”  Evidently, no act curtain was used during the first season.  One opening night reviewer confirms Sambol’s observation, stating, “Without benefit of a curtain and with seats extended down both sides of the hall as well as at the front, the Wayside produces an almost theatre-in-the-round atmosphere (“Summer Stock ….” WES. 19 June 1963). 

The lighting of the stage must have been a problem that first season.  Dillard observes that, although the theatre has what appears to be an impressive light-grid system located above the stage, she felt that the lighting was a flaw in the production.  She writes,

The lighting system looks impressive - - an exposed grid directly over the stage,
studded with spots - - but it isn’t enough.  The lights shine right down on the actors’ heads and put lines in their faces that nature never intended.  There are no footlights
to kill these unbecoming shadows and there is really no place to put footlights.  

Dillard suggests that a way to solve this would be by “placing two floodlights on the floor near the wall one by each corner of the apron” (Dillard. 20 June 1963).

Only one actor has been located who participated in the 1963 season.  Ian Sullivan, a New York actor who worked at Wayside for two seasons, shared his fond memories of appearing on Wayside’s stage by telling an interesting story.  The Wayside company was in rehearsals for a play that none of the cast liked. They were in agreement that it would be a disaster if it ever appeared on stage.  They knew that The Fantasticks was a huge hit, particularly with Andrea Miller in the role of the Girl.  When TV personality, Mitch Miller and father of Andrea, visited Middletown to see his daughter in the show, the cast persuaded Miller to talk with Gleason urging him to extend The Fantasticks for an additional week, thus cancelling the production of the play they felt would be a bomb.  Evidently their scheme worked, as The Fantasticks ran for two weeks rather than the originally scheduled one week. Confirmation of this is seen in newspaper advertisements that all announced the extension for The Fantasticks, with no mention of the other play!

Sullivan also shared an interesting experience that took place at the conclusion of a performance of Two for the Seesaw, the final show of the extended season.  It seems that when the play concluded, the audience expressed their appreciation not only by applauding, but by coming up on stage to congratulate the actors.  Sullivan recalls that he was frightened when he saw the people coming forward, as he thought they were going to attack him! (Sullivan. Undated).

Mitch Miller had two reasons to visit Virginia.  In addition to his daughter being a member of the Wayside company, she had also been named the Marshall for the Winchester Apple Blossom Festival Fireman’s Parade that would be held on May 2, 1963.  The press gave Mitch Miller headline billing when he visited Middletown to see his daughter on stage. (“Mitch Miller ….” WES. 5 July 1963).  There was also a production photo showing Andrea Miller seated in a chair holding a flower in her hand, with the other actors seated behind her. (TWaS.  1 Aug. 1963).

In addition to the plays scheduled for the summer of 1963 summer, Gleason extended the season by one month adding four additional plays, each running one-week. The decision to extend the season “was reached after hearing from a large number of area residents who expressed the desire to see the theatre run a longer season.” This extension required the hiring of one additional man and woman to the company, as two members of the summer cast, Don Fleming and Richard Foltz, returned to the Richmond Professional Institute where they were students.  The performance schedule for this extra month was altered slightly for these additional plays, with “productions playing Monday thru Saturday at 8:30 p.m. with no matinees” (“Wayside Theatre Extends ….” TWaS. 29 Aug. 1963).  It was also noted that the Theatre was gladly accepting suggestions for plays to perform for the 1964 season.  This invitation alone could be interpreted as a sign of success for Wayside’s first season.

In 1963, it was the practice for the Valley newspapers to print some type of preview article about each upcoming show and feature an article on one of the cast members.  The article would give a summary of the actor’s background and include references to their theatre work prior to Wayside, especially if they had appeared in any New York productions.  One of these articles was a lengthy interview with local actor, Jeanne Milton, who had appeared in Winchester’s Bark Mill Theatre productions and who acted with the Wayside ensemble that first season.  Of her performance at Wayside, one reviewer stated, “Winchester’s Jeanne Milton - - familiar to Back (sic) Mill fans here, fitted perfectly into the professional cast” (“Summer Stock Performance ….” WES. 19 June 1963).

Another member of the season’s twenty-two actor company was Jane Lowry, who had performed in several DC theatres.  In an interview, Lowry mentions that Wayside began in 1963 and that she finds “the Wayside Theatre’s first season ‘terrific.’  Since it is the only little theater in Northern Virginia, it draws its audiences from a wide area.”  She sheds some light on how the actors were housed that year stating, “Most of the actors and staff live in quarters above the theater,” and adds that she and “Andrea Miller (daughter of Mitch Miller) share a room at the near-by historic Wayside Inn” (McLendon. TWP. 1 Aug. 1963).

There are newspaper articles dealing with the outreach efforts made by the actors and staff to appear at various civic organization soliciting their support of this new theatrical venture.  The visit would be more impressive if it were by one of the “name” actors.  An example of this outreach is seen in an article that announces, “Miss Andrea Miller, daughter of TV personality Mitch Miller, and Larry Gleason, currently members of the Wayside Theatre Summer Stock, will be guests of the Rotary Club at their regular meeting tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. at the George Washington Hotel” (“Andrea Miller Guest …” WES. 7 Aug. 1963).  Announcing a visit to the Optimist Club, one paper states, “Larry Gleason, producing director … will speak on the founding of the Wayside Theatre and the plans that went into forming the organization” (“Wayside Theatre Director ….” WES.  6 Aug. 1963). Gleason chose to speak on the topic, “Adventures at Wayside,” when he visited the Kiwanis Club’s meeting held at Winchester’s George Washington Hotel. (“Gleason Guest ….” WES. 16 July 1963).  Similar visits were made to other civic groups in Winchester and environs, spreading the word of the theatre’s first year, whether reported in the newspaper or not.

It appears that Wayside Theatre’s 1963 summer season concluded successfully.  Despite the bumps in starting such a venture, Bernstein seems to have successfully planted the seed for professional theatre in Middletown.  With all the activity centering around Wayside’s 1963 summer, one could get the impression that Middletown was the only place in the Shenandoah Valley that was visited by theatrical personalities.  Not so!  Just north of the state line, the town of Martinsburg, West Virginia proudly claimed some of this theatrical spotlight when it announced that the Grand Marshall for their Centennial Parade would be actress Jayne Mansfield! (NVD.  29 June 1963).  It is quite possible that some of Wayside’s patrons might have attended this event!!