Middlebury theater ready for action

By GORDON DRITSCHILO Herald Staff

MIDDLEBURY — The walls smelled of fresh paint and workers installed carpeting in the lobby Tuesday as the Town Hall Theater prepared for its grand reopening.

Ten years have passed since Town Hall Theater Inc. organized, and roughly half a century since the theater was converted from a venue for movies and live performances into retail space before falling into disrepair.

“It was in really bad shape” when the group bought the building, said executive director Doug Anderson. “Had we known how bad shape, we probably wouldn’t have bought it.”

Anderson said the group tested the waters with summer performances at the theater in the first half of the decade.

“For four years we performed in here when it was a big barn with bats in it and no air conditioning,” he said. “It got so hot in the summer, but we always sold out.”

In 2005, the theater closed for renovations. Five million dollars later, Anderson said they have a versatile space that will help reinvigorate downtown.

“When we’re doing a show, the restaurants are full,” he said. “We are going to bring hundreds of people downtown on a daily basis.”

Anderson said they took out every window, sending them to Burlington for restoration. They replaced 3,000 bricks. The building has a new roof and a new foundation.

“Basically, every single aspect of the building was faulty,” he said. “Anyone who owns an old house understands this. … People got together and fixed this brick by brick by brick.”

Anderson said much of the theater space was removed after the town offices pulled out in 1960. The building first became a furniture shop and then the Belmont restaurant.

“The interior is almost a new building inside the old building,” he said.

The theater itself, which Anderson said features a much larger stage than the original, has stained glass windows with push-button automatic shades, allowing natural light in until just before a performance. It also features removable seats and a set of retractable risers.

“I can have a play on Friday night and a wedding reception Saturday afternoon,” Anderson said. “That’s important because the arts will never support themselves.”

With five downtown churches within walking distance, Anderson said he expects to book a lot of wedding receptions — enough that the backstage area includes a full catering kitchen. The theater will also host the local farmers’ market in the winter

“We didn’t think of that,” he said. “If you build it, they will come.”

The main theater room is not the only spot doing double-duty. A rehearsal room in the downstairs will see use for ballet, yoga, after school classes and other community uses.

“Already the room is booking up really fast,” he said. “We make a little money off this room, which is nice. This was the old town offices. It was a bunch of really small spaces riddled with mold. We had to rip everything out.”

Anderson said the balcony was restored, much to the delight of people old enough to remember the original theater.

“The balcony was a rather notorious place back in the day,” he said. “There were some hijinks. They’d shoot peashooters at the screen, throw things — there was a lot of hanky panky.”

Downstairs, the box office doubles as an art gallery, currently showing photos by Richard Brown. While much of the rest of the building has an old-time Vermont feel, the gallery looks more modern.

“Upstairs we’re trying to be 1883,” he said. “Down here is very contemporary New York loft. I think it’s right for an art gallery.”

Anderson also made sure to point out that the ladies’ room has five stalls.

“It’s very important a theater have a lot of toilets,” he said. “Everyone has to go at the same time.”

In a corner by the ladies’ room is the well that served a nearby house in 1811. The well is glassed over and lit, so that people standing over it can look down at the stones and water, an image evoking any one of a number of horror movies.

“We sort of hastily designed around it,” Anderson said. “Everybody likes it.”

Another bit of historical restoration is the return of the bell to the top of the building. After it was taken down in 1960, Anderson said it was almost melted down before a group of townspeople saved it. It spent the next few decades on the lawn of the historical society. Anderson said it will ring before each show and on Memorial Day.

After a soft opening last week with a production of “Cyrano!,” Anderson said the theater is almost booked solid through the fall, a schedule that includes the Vermont Mozart Festival’s first visit to Middlebury.

“Middlebury never had a space like this,” he said.

The community open house takes place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, followed by a series of events including a showing of Bess O’Brien’s “Shout it Out — The Voices Project,” a teen dance party and an appearance by Nancy Cartwright — the voice of Bart Simpson — for her one-woman show “My Life as a 10-Year-Old Boy.”

For more information, call 382-9222.

Contact Gordon Dritschilo at gordon.dritschilo@rutlandherald.com.