The Maralarrick Mystery
Due to the lack of reliable information for the years 1961 and 1962, it is impossible to determine if any theatrical performance actually took place in Middletown during those years. It remains a total mystery, despite statements that appear in various sources, or that were published by the theatre itself, that Wayside Theatre began in 1961. What can be confirmed is that the building that housed the Middletown Movie Theatre had been closed for a period of time before Bernstein purchased it.
The year 1962 poses an even more perplexing mystery because of the persistent reference to a group known as the Maralarrick Players (also spelled Marralarrick Players) that were supposedly in residence in Middletown during that year. But who were they? Some references state it was a summer-stock company that performed in theatres in the area. It could be suggested that this group was in residence at the Wayside Inn and provided entertainment for the guests. But, inquiry revealed that the Inn has no records for those years. (Telephone call. 10 July 2018). Therefore, to date, no documentation can be located that gives any definitive information about the Marralarrick group, what they performed, the name of their director, or how they came to be in Middletown.
Part of the confusion regarding the Maralarrick Players stems from statements published by the Theatre itself. For example: in a document distributed to potential Theatre patrons by WFFTA (Wayside Foundation for the Arts) prior to a September 6 – 18, 1965 performance of Macbeth, there is a brief paragraph describing the beginnings of the theatre, and mentions the arrival of …
the performing arts to Middletown, Virginia with the opening of the Wayside
Theatre in the summer of 1962. A young company called Marralarrick Inc.
established beyond a doubt [that] there was a significant demand for live
professional theatre in this area. Unfortunately, financial difficulties … inhibited
their ability to follow up on apparent success.
Further along in the document, Leo Bernstein is said to have “enlarged his friendship with the arts with a decision to produce the plays in ensuing years” and hired Owen Phillips for the 1964 summer season. (Fact Sheet, c. 1965).
Although this Fact Sheet was written in 1965, it makes no mention of the Theatre’s very succssful and well-documented 1963 season, nor is there any mention of Larry Gleason, who served as Wayside’s Producing Director for that season.
The Maralarrick name appears regularly in other print sources that refer to the Theatre’s early days. One reads,
The theatre [building] originally served as a motion picture house but in 1962
it was opened as a summer stock theatre by Maralarrick, Inc. Theatre officials
know little about the Maralarrick operation. They do know that one year later,
Leo Bernstein purchased the theatre and became its producer. Owen Phillips
took over as the company’s manager (“Wayside Theatre Going Strong.” TWS.
20 Jan. 1976).
However, Phillips did not arrive in Middletown until 1964.
The article continues, “The first production in the ’63 three-show season was ‘The Romper Room.’ ” The unknown author, however, fails to mention that the 1963 season consisted of eight plays, plus a Winter Season of four additional titles that were performed at the conclusion of the summer season. Also, the author mistakenly states that The Romper Room was performed in 1963, when documents show that it was actually performed in September of 1964.
The Maralarrick name also appears in conflicting statements found within the pages of Wayside’s playbills. In reporting on Wayside’s early years, a 1972 source states,
This summer Wayside Theatre is rejoicing in the realization of its tenth year.
The theatre first opened in 1962 as a young company, The Marralarrick Inc.
Players, in a former movie house-grocery store-police station. The Curtain Call
shared this Cinderella transformation: it was once a drug store with apartments
above it. Both were adapted in 1963 by Leo M. Bernstein, who became the pro-
ducer of the theatre. With Owen Phillips as its director, Wayside Theatre became
a professional company (Wayside Theatre Playbill. 1972).
A similar description is found in a 1990 playbill that states,
Wayside Theatre was born in 1962 as the Maralarrick Players. A year later,
Leo Bernstein, a Washington-based financier and real estate developer, bought
the theatre building and changed the name to Wayside Theatre, hired Owen
Phillips as the first artistic director, and the theatre began employing professional
artists through Actors’ Equity Association (Wayside Theatre Playbill. 1990).
And, in a pamphlet describing the merits for real estate development in the Front Royal area, an almost identical description states,
The second-oldest professional theatre in Virginia, Wayside began in 1962 for
the pleasure of those who dined at the Wayside Inn. The Inn’s owner, Leo
Bernstein, wanted to have a dinner/theatre combo, so he purchased the old
building two blocks from the inn and installed the Maralarrick Players for the
summer (Community Profile of Front Royal, Virginia. Undated brochure).
Another document, promoting real-estate opportunities in Middletown and the northern Shenandoah Valley, gives a slightly different slant, stating, “The theatre was originally named the Maralarrick Players in 1962 and was later bought out and renamed to Wayside Theatre. It wasn’t until 1963 that the theatre employed professionals” (Loveless, P. Brochure. 2008). Could this sentence be the proof for the suggestion that Leo Bernstein hired a group to perform in his recently purchased theatre?
Still another source, when discussing the Maralarrick group and the theatre building’s rich history, suggests that at one time the structure had “… served as a beauty salon, ice cream parlor, jail and movie house before acting as a home for the Maralarrick Players, the first group to stage live performances in the building” (Unger. “Middletown, Va. sets ….” 7 June 2009). While the first half of this quote can be easily confirmed, the second half is questionable.
Another reference to Maralarrick is from a 1974 Wayside playbill where a short paragraph under the title, “Bringing You Up to Date,” states,
This summer Wayside Theatre is rejoicing in the realization of its tenth year.
The theatre first opened in 1962 as a young company, The Marralarrick, Inc.
Players, in a former movie house-grocery store-police station. The Curtain Call
shared this Cinderella transformation: it was once a drug store with apartments
above it … (Wayside playbill).
The above statement concludes with a list of plays that were performed over Wayside’s first ten years. Only a single title is given for the supposed 1962 season and only three titles are listed for the highly successful nine-play 1963 season!
An unidentified source suggested that Maralarrick was the name of a company that sold movie projectors to movie theatres! In addition to selling this movie equipment, they had a group of actors that provided live entertainment. If this is the case, where did they perform, what titles did this group perform, and in what location were the projectors installed?
Finally, even the name, Maralarrick, has its own mystery, as it has been suggested that it was a made-up name. This idea is proposed in a document that dealt with the early history of the theatre which states, “Assuredly, the ‘larrick’ comes from Middletown’s graceful Larrick Tavern found in Middletown,” located on the corner of the Wayside Inn property at the intersection of Main Street (Route 11) and First Street. (History of Wayside Theatre. c. 1985). Another source suggests that Maralarrick might be derived from the Little and Larrick grocery store that once occupied the space that later became the Curtain Call Café. If one were to accept this suggestion, what could possibly be the source of “Mara,” the first syllable that precedes “Larrick”? One could even conjecture that the name Maralarrick was used for both an acting company as well as for the location where the group worked, an idea suggested in the statement, “after Leo Bernstein purchased the Inn, he also purchased the building known as the Maralarrick Players” (Unknown).
Despite all the references regarding the Maralarrick group being in residence in 1962, one still has to ask: Who were they, where did they come from, what did they perform, and why is there no definitive information about them? If they actually existed, it is hoped that information will be uncovered at some point in the future.
It has also been suggested that the Maralarrick Playes might have had some connection with Barter Theatre. In response to this question, Barter’s Artistic Director responded, “I ran a search of the name in the documents that we have digitalized, including Robert Porterfield’s memoirs, and have found nothing, not even in the 1962 files or folders” (Rose, R. Email. 14 July 2016).
In summary, it should be re-iterated that no newspaper references, no playbills, no titles of plays performed, no names of actors, no dates of performances, and no reference of a possible connection with theatres in Washington, DC has been located. While The Maralarrick Players has been put forth with certainty over the years, it still remains a question to be solved.
By contrast, Wayside’s 1963 season is well-documented. Two valuable items from that season are in the Archives: a playbill from one of the productions and a copy of the season booklet that gives information about the acting company. In the latter, Artistic Director, Larry Gleason, makes reference to “our first season” in his welcome to the season’s patrons (“Wayside Theatre Presents ….” 1963 Booket).
In addition, the local press has an abundance of articles about the new theatre, giving the titles of the plays for the 1963 season along with dates and times of performances. There are also reviews of the productions by staff writers who attended these performances. Additional information for this season has also been confirmed by a telephone conversation with an actor who was in residence at Wayside that summer and who kindly shared some of his photographs from that season’s productions.
As an aside, it should be noted that, at the same time that theatrical activity was beginning in Middletown, there was a theatrical presentation in a neighboring state. This was a reenact-ment of the John Brown trial performed as a play in Charles Town, West Virginia. It was the second year that The Trial was staged in the historic Jefferson County Court House, the location of the original trial. Twice-nightly performances were scheduled between June 16 and 24, 1962. These were under the direction of Charles Wood, who had been the director of the premier the year before. Mr. Wood had directed many famous actors on Broadway, including Tullulah Bankhead. He was given credit for the success of the previous year’s production, “melding local talent together in a dramatic re-living of history, thus giving a professional touch to an otherwise all local production” (NVD. 26 May 1962).
With the nearby production of The Trial, one could assume that, in the early 1960s, the area might have been ripe for the development of professional theatre. If so, Middletown was about to become the Broadway of the Shenandoah Valley!