Wellmont Theatre
5 Seymour Street,
Montclair,
NJ
07042
5 Seymour Street,
Montclair,
NJ
07042
10 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 68 comments
Is there any evidence the Wellmont was ever capable of projecting 70mm prints?
http://www.njbiz.com/article/20150722/NJBIZ01/150729918/montclairs-pinnacle-cos-buys-historic-theater-will-close-it-until-sept-for-renovations
Pinnacle cos. bought the theater and will renovate it.
As someone who works here on occasion to load in/out shows, I can tell you this place does huge business. But oh what a pain in the a** to load gear in.
i hope someone buys it since the competition is the NJPac in Newark.
This week in the Montclair Times the Wellmont theater will be placed on sale with a price tag of $6.7 million in the next few weeks…All concern seemed to express the continued need of a theater venue in the town.
Tinseltoes, no need to be sorry. You are one of the more knowledgeable people on this site. I enjoy all your postings about things that happened 40, 50, 60 years ago. I only know this from working there. Otherwise, I would have thought the same like you did.
Tinseltoes, I usually dont differ with people here on CT, but I work here on occassion as a stagehand. The actual number of fixed seats in the building is probably correct at the top, because only the balcony has fixed seats. The entire orchestra is flat concrete used mostly for standing room. If a show comes in requiring seats, they set up portable chairs.
Reserved Seating: 1916 (Main 800, Stage 92, Balcony 1024)
Standees: 2561 (Main 1445, Stage 92, Balcony 1024)
Banquet: 590 (Main 498, Stage 92, Balcony 0)
Wow. Saw my first show here. Usually I biked past it under construction. New marquee. Easy entrance from a side alley abutting the Main Street. The cop car blox that, lot behind and garage down the way. Not a lot of traffic considering.
The interior is very nice. The multiple bands that ring the proscenium stretch far out and are very beautiful. It’s sort of plain downstairs, with 1 Corinthian column on either side of the stage. Nice dim lighting. Bars in the back on both sides. The balcony is nice and those are original seats. There’s multiple rows behind main orchestra, separated by railings and they are removable plush seats which are comfy. The main orchestra on the concrete floor are the same seats and are removable, since it doubles as a banquet spot. The great eye in the ceiling is simple but pretty. Sound is great. Highly recommend seeing a show here. I did spot the different amounts of seating/standing room per fire code, so that will be in the next post. Also, there were at least 8 firemen there as there are every show since one of them said The Wellmont owners don’t have an efficient and effective fire dispersal plan in effect for 1500 attendees.
Going to see a concert here on Saturday night. I’ve only seen the outside.
the dha 30th anniversary concert was held here some weeks ago.
View link this is a good one and whole set looks good
Any interior photos?
I hate the bar areas of these venues, because everyone yaps, and you cannot hear the music.
an excellent female vocalist, was at a sensible and excellent sounding 82 db. It’s worth another try, I like the sound in the balcony the best, and underneath the balcony in the bar areas is the worst.
I’ve worked 90% of the shows since the 3rd and final counting crows show which opened it in late october. The learning process has been painful because the place was rushed open and still operates under a temp C/O. Everything has come about in fits and starts, including getting a house system in place and tweaking it to the room. These style venues are hard because they were built to be boomy so actors could be heard in the balcony. Regardless, much has to due with the touring sound mixer. My Co-worker clocked the gypsy kings at 100 db, a painful absurdity for flamenco guitar dance music! Thankfully Pink Martini, a big band fronted by
aexcelll
Interesting. I found the lighting to be painful as well, but it seemed to be in keeping with the sound quality. Most of my pictures look the same, sadly. I am an architect, and we are not trained all that well in acoustics, but I do know to hire an acoustical consultant on certain projects, and have at times regretted not having done so.
How long have you been involved with the Wellmont? Are you telling me that there have been times when the acoustics have been bearable?
I have often wondered how much control a house has over a performance, if any.
That would give me reason to give them another try.
when you say the concrete box has been a slow learning process, are you talking about venues in general, or this one in particular?
View link
In defense of the sound, while the concrete box has been a slow learning process, it has improved consistently. However, every band travels with its own front of house mix engineer, who has artistic control over the EQ and volume. Some bands like to be loud. That volume level is not typical or a representation of venue policy. Also usually controlled by the bands, and painfully in this case, is the lighting. As a spotlight operator, i found the use of strobes heavyhanded and blinding. Here are some pics i took from that night, looks like an atomic explosion…and an artistic decision the house crew would ever make…
We attended the Keane concert on May 26, 2009, with balcony seating. We appreciated the great sight lines, and the renovation of the theatre was done rather nicely. The staging and lightly worked well, and the staff kept things moving from the opening acts to the main feature.
However, the acoustics were horrible. The theatre is all hard surfaces, and the loud music was an assault on the senses, truly ruining an otherwise great experience. I would think twice about returning, unless the new owners take steps to address the acoustics.
David Byrne will be here in June.
This brings back a lot of memories….I used to work a few blocks away from the Wellmont in the late ‘70s and passed that theatre hundreds and hundreds of times but was never in it. That was back in the heyday of the Capitol Theatre in Passaic being NJ’s premier rock venue. Hard to believe it’s being resurrected as a music venue.
I also went to the Claridge a bunch of times in the late ‘60s through the early '80s — even saw 2001: A Space Odyssey there in 1968 (or 69?), when the theatre was the area’s Cinerama venue, with that huge curved screen and multi-channel sound. Great place.
We’ll be seeing Tony Bennett in a few weeks and I can’t wait! The last time I was in the building was for a film in one of the balcony theaters.
Up and running, excellent work done on architectural decorations in the “house” but tiny stage and zero backstage areas need work. allegedly offices and a green room are being constructed beyond stage right wall…..if only original lobby still existed, new one is pretty bland….floor features bars four steps up from dance floor with temporary seating for certain shows but open for the first four shows so far…counting crows, backstreet boys, hanson and matisyahu….