Theatre Interior

The interior of Wayside Theatre went through several changes over the years.  These included the change in the seating layout in the theatre, the number of seats in the theatre itself as well as the different types of seating, the size of the stage, the placement of aisles, and the arrangement of the balcony.  

The number of seats varies depending in which newspaper account one reads.   An article in the Washington Post announced the opening of the theatre’s first season with 299 seats in the house (“Wayside theatre ….” TWP, 2 June, 1963). A note placed below a photograph taken in 1966 mentions there were 196 seats in the theatre and they were in a 3+8+3 configuration.  A Hagerstown paper, along with a 1972 issue of the Richmond Times Dispatch, gives the number of seats as 262, while a Roanoke paper in 1978 states there are 260 seats.  In the reports from the early years, it seems the actual number of seats depended upon who was counting.

It is unclear whether there were seats in the theatre at the time that Bernstein purchased the building, or whether they were obtained from another location and installed for the 1963 opening.  The seating layout for the 1963 season, discussed earlier, was certainly different than that for the 1964 season.  One photograph reveals how low the stage was in the early years also shows slip-covers over the seat backs, supposedly to hide worn upholstery.

In the playbill for the June 5 and June 26, 1973 productions, there is a sketch of the theatre’s interior under the heading, “Wayside Theatre – Present,” that shows the 3+8+3 seating configuration.  A few seats are marked to indicate their condition as many of the the backs were in tatters. 

The stage area is shown with stairs on each side leading from the house to doors that would open onto the stage right and stage left wings. Below the drawing is the following paragraph:

During the six years since Wayside Theatre was last redecorated, at least 624
people have sat for approximately 1560 hours in the seat you are now occupying,
and the interior of Wayside theatre has had no major renovation since it was opened eleven years ago.  In addition to comments about the Theatre’s tired appearance, the major complaint from our audience members has been lack of leg-room and insufficient air-conditioning.  Our efforts and all available money have been spent
on the continuous upgrading of the quality of our productions.

On the opposite page, under the heading, “Wayside Theatre – Future,” is a sketch showing the plan for the re-configured space. 

The stage is without stairs on either side from the audience or doors opening to the wings.  The 3+8+3 seating-plan has been replaced with seats on either side of a center aisle.  Under this picture is the following paragraph:

But in seeking quality, we cannot neglect the comfort of our audiences, and this
season you are enjoying our much improved air-conditioning system.  To eradicate
the remaining major problem of lack of leg-room and to make some aesthetic changes, we need $25,000.  Listed here are the improvements deemed most important by our Board of Directors: Rearrangement of the seats, reupholstering the seats, carpeting at least the lobby and aisles, covering the cinder block walls, painting, and improving the décor (1973 Playbill, pages 28 & 29).

There is no other evidence, other than the 1973 proposal, for the renovation of the interior of the theatre.  No other playbills contain these sketches and there are no proposals for this type of renovation found in the local press.  There is no record to indicate how seriously this plan was being considered.  At some point in time, the 3+8+3 seating arrangement was altered to what is sometimes referred to as Continental Seating where the aisles are on the sides bordering the solid rows of seats.

During the Crocker years, there was a total replacement of the theatre seats that were larger and much more comfortable.  Two drawbacks to this replacement. however, was the in-line placement.  The alternate arrangement was not kept which permitted patrons to see between the people seated in front of them.  Rather, the new seats were arranged so that people were placed directly behind the person in front of them.  The second flaw in the new seats was that the legroom for the front row balcony was considerably reduced. 

Cephe Place, who served as Box Office manager during the Crocker years, supplied the following information regarding the number of seats in the Theatre.  

From 2000 – 2008, there were 187 seats plus 4 for ushers.
In 2011, there were 181 seats:  173 seats and the seats against the back wall make for 181, plus 4 usher seats. 
After the renovation, 181 seats (which includes the J row 1-8, which are folding chairs in back.

Orchestra seating:
7 rows with 14 seats
1 row with 3 chairs for wheelchair and 8 seats
1 row against wall folding chairs of 8
4 folding chairs for ushers to sit against back wall, near the entrance door

Balcony seating:
AA/BB, 101 & 102:  4 seats
5 rows of 12 seats (Place, C. Email.  27 November, 2014).

When the building was purchased in 2015 and converted into a brewery, all of the seats in the theatre were removed, along with the entire stage area and the tiered risers in the balcony.

THE WAYSIDE STAGE

The Wayside Theatre stage has always been small with one estimate giving the 1972 dimensions as 16’ x 23’.  When the building was a movie theatre, there was no need to have a stage with any depth, as the only space required was for a projection screen for showing films.  

It is well documented that in 1963, in order to provide more playing space for the actors, a thrust from the edge of the stage extended into the house (SEE: Gleason, 1963).  During the extensive remodeling for the 1964 season, more depth for the stage was created by extending it further into the house.  Most likely a few rows of seats were removed to accomplish this.  Early photographs show that the stage was not very high and the front rows could almost look down on the actors.  Over the years, the stage was raised, and extended a little more into the house.  

Did the stage have a proscenium and an act curtain?  This is an unsolved question.  There was no act curtain during the later years.  However, for the opening 1963 season, it isn’t quite clear what some reviewers mean when they use the term ‘closing curtain.’  Does this just mean the end of the play or was it a real curtain?  According to Lynn Sams, who was connected with the Theatre during the 1964 and 1965 seasons, the stage did have a proscenium and act curtain as well as steps that came up on either side of the stage from the audience area.  Sams told of being part of the Wayside crew that removed the proscenium, which was gold and looked like crushed velvet, and curtains from the Colonial Theatre located on the second floor of the old Taylor Hotel in Winchester, and took it to Wayside (Sams.  Interview. 9 Feb. 2011).  Whether this were used for one play, for one season, or longer, is not known.

Another change was the installation of a turntable into the stage floor that was used so effectively in a number of productions .

It was after the major renovation in 2008 when the back wall of the stage was slightly extended, that it was possible, for the first time in the theatre’s history, for actors to exit stage right and enter stage left without having to go outside.  Regardless of what year one investigates, the fly space above the stage was extremely limited and only on rare occasions was there an attempt to have any small object fly from above.

After the 2008 renovation, the stage measured:
Width from stage left to stage right walls: 29 feet, ¾ inches.
Distance from the lip of the stage to the back wall: 32 feet, 6 and ¾” inch.