Wells Theater (1913- Present)

By David Dennie, SMC Reference Librarian. May 2023.

By Harry C. Mann, Abt 1913

The Wells Theater, located at 108 E. Tazewell Street in downtown Norfolk, was built in 1912(1) by theatrical entrepreneurs and brothers Jake and Otto Wells(2), at a cost at the time of $105,000.(3) The theater, designed to seat 1,650 people(4), opened on August 26, 1913, with a performance of the musical play “The Merry Countess”. On the occasion of the theater’s opening, congratulatory telegrams were sent to the Wells brothers by “such notables as Oscar Hammerstein, the Schuberts… and other theatre managers from across the country.”(5)

Over the next two decades the Wells hosted performances by numerous prominent performers, including Fred and Adele Astaire, Douglas Fairbanks, John Philip Sousa, and the touring company of the Metropolitan Opera.(6) After being purchased by a North Carolina company in 1935(7), the theater became a movie house.(8) By the early 1960s(9), the stage of the theater had been walled off from the movie house and converted into a nightclub called the Jamaica Room, with an entrance on Monticello Avenue.(10) The theater itself was showing X-rated films by the 1970s.(11)

In 1979 the Virginia Stage Company took over the lease on the theater from the owners, Craver Investment Corp. of Durham, North Carolina, renovated the theater and began once again presenting stage performances there in 1980. The stage company completed another renovation, at a cost of $3.5 million, later in the 1980s.(12)

In 2013 the theater company acquired funding from philanthropists Patricia and Douglas Perry, who donated the purchase price, and bought the theater from the Craver company for $100,000, in what was described as a “sweetheart deal”. G. Rhodes Craver of Craver Corp. remarked that “It’s [the Wells] an important historic landmark to preserve at all costs.” Soon after purchasing it, the Virginia Stage Company gave the Wells Theater to the City of Norfolk.(13)

As of May 2023, the Virginia Stage Company continues to present theatrical productions in the Wells Theater, at the corner of Tazewell Street and Monticello Avenue in downtown Norfolk, the same location it has occupied since August 1913.

Sources:

Virginian-Pilot, March 29, 1980, Page A16. “Wells Theater Historic Landmark.”
Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA), December 5, 1978, Page B1. “New Lease on Life for the Wells?”
City of Norfolk, Dept. of Public Works, Demolition and Building Permits. Box 22, Folder 2, 1911-1912. February 17, 1912.
Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA), August 3, 1913, Pages 21, 24. “Norfolk’s Newest Theatre, The Wells.”
On Stage: Virginia Stage Company Newsletter (Norfolk, VA), January 1979, Page 1. “New Plans for The Wells.”
Virginian-Pilot, March 29, 1980, Page A16. “Wells Theater Historic Landmark.”
Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA), March 10, 2014, Page 3. “Acquisition sets stage for theater’s next act.”
Virginian-Pilot, March 29, 1980, Page A16. “Wells Theater Historic Landmark.”
On Stage: Virginia Stage Company Newsletter (Norfolk, VA), January 1979, Page 1. “New Plans for The Wells.”
Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA), December 5, 1978, Page B1. “New Lease on Life for the Wells?”
Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA), March 10, 2014, Page 3. “Acquisition sets stage for theater’s next act.”
Ibid.
Ibid.

Street Address: 108 E. Tazewell Street, Norfolk, Virginia 23510 (1912-Present)

Name (Original): Wells Theater

Architect: E. C. Horn & Sons (New York, New York)

Contractor: East and Hobbs (Norfolk, Virginia)

Architectural Style: Beaux Arts Classicism

Cost (Original): $105,000

Construction Date: 1912-1913

Opening Date: August 26, 1913

Demolition Date:

GPS: 36.8513, -76.2897

Major Keywords/Search Terms:

Sources:

1) Primary Sources:

1) Books and Pamphlets:

City Directories: (selective)

1915 Norfolk & Portsmouth City Directory. Hill Directory Company. Page 647.

2) Documents/Collections:

Block 153, Guaranty Title and Trust Corporation Records, MSS 0000-052, Sargeant Memorial Collection, Norfolk Public Library, Norfolk, Virginia
Permit # 5371 [February 17, 1912], from Box 22, folder 2 of City of Norfolk Department of Public Works, Division of Building Inspection, Demolition and Building Permits, RG 22-2016-001, Sargeant Memorial Collection, Norfolk Public Library, Norfolk, Virginia
1. 1. 1. 1. City of Norfolk. Street sign. “Jake & Otto Wells Way” [concurrent with 100 E. Tazewell Street].

1. 1. 1. 1. “Theaters – Wells Theatre.” SMC Norfolk Clippings Files. MSS 0000-NPC.

3) Maps/Plats/Surveys:

Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps. Norfolk, VA, 1928 edition. Volume 1, sheet 16.
Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps. Norfolk, VA, 1928-1950 edition. Volume 1, sheet 16.
Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps. Norfolk, VA, 1970 edition. Volume 1, sheet 16.

4) Newspaper/Magazines/Journals (Selective):

Staff Writer. “Permit For Erection Of Tazewell Theatre”, Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA), February 20, 1912, Page 11.

Staff writer. “Will Complete Wells Theatre About February 15th”, Norfolk Ledger-Dispatch (Norfolk, VA), January 1, 1913, Page 7.

Staff writer. “Norfolk’s Newest Theatre, The Wells”, Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA), August 3, 1913, Pages 21, 24.

Staff writer. “Wells Theatre for Motion Pictures”, Ledger-Dispatch (Norfolk, VA), August 11, 1915, Page 3.

Staff Writer. “Heart Attack Is Fatal to Otto Wells”, Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA), April 14, 1940, Page 1,3.

Staff writer. “Wells Theater Reopens Jan. 1 With New Look”, Ledger-Dispatch (Norfolk, VA), December 17, 1960, Page 5.

Morton, Tim. “New Lease on Life for the Wells?”, Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA), December 5, 1978, Page B1.

Staff writer. “Virginia Stage Company Acquires Wells Theater”, Journal and Guide (Norfolk, VA), December 8, 1978, Page 15.

Howell, Mary. “New Plans for The Wells.” On Stage: Virginia Stage Company Newsletter (Norfolk, VA), January 1979, Page 1.

Bagwell, Timothy. “Theater Director Stabbed to Death”, Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA), February 8, 1979, Page A1.

Ruehlmann, William. “Wells theater looks good to ‘bad guy’”, Ledger-Star (Norfolk, VA), April 6, 1979, Page C5.

Phillips, Joseph V. “Revival of Theater a Financial Boon”, Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA), May 13, 1979, Page D1.

Morton, Tim. “City May Put Up Money for Wells Theatre”, Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA), September 17, 1979, Page B2.

Wood, William H. “Wells: good buy”, Ledger-Star (Norfolk, VA), September 24, 1979, Page A6.

Morton, Tim. “No One Mourns End of X-Rated Theater”, Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA), October 2, 1979, Page B4.

Wallace, Julia. “Theaters to come alive: A tale of three downtown theaters: Scrubbing, gutting and renovating”, Norfolk Compass (Norfolk, VA), January 30/31, 1980, Page 8.

Merritt, Robert. “Historic Wells Theater Revived”, Times-Dispatch (Richmond, VA), February 3, 1980, Page H1.

Morton, Tim. “Old Wells Has Finest First Night”, Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA), February 8, 1980, Page D1.

Staff writer. “Wells Theater Historic Landmark”, Virginian-Pilot, March 29, 1980, Page A16.

Staff writer. “The ornate Wells Theatre…” York Town Crier (Yorktown, VA), May 15, 1980, Page ?

Williamson, Kathy. “Wells Theater Enjoying A New Life.” Daily Press (Newport News, VA), June 15, 1980, Page ?

Maddry, Lawrence. “A jewel among theaters takes on a new luster”, Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA), September 7, 1986, Page B1.

Annas, Teresa. “New Face for a Grande Dame: The 73-year-old Wells Theater gets a monumental make-over”, Ledger-Star (Norfolk, VA), October 30, 1986, Page B1.

Hall, H. Boyd. “New Makeup: Opening nears for renovated theater”, Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA), December 19, 1986, Page D3.

Martinette, Sam. “Plush theater adds style to flourishing arts scene: Old Wells gets a facelift”, Norfolk Compass (Norfolk, VA), February 11/12, 1987, Page N30.

Annas, Teresa. “This Place Is Rigged”, Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA), December 20, 2010, Page 1.

Clayton, Cindy. “Wells Theater.” [“what’s in a name? Norfolk”] Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA), June 17, 2013, Page 5.

Annas, Teresa. “Acquisition sets stage for theater’s next act”, Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA), March 10, 2014, Page 3.

5) Photographs and Other Imagery:

- - - - “Tazewell Street”, #13. Sargeant Memorial Collection Main Photograph Collection, MSS 0000-MPC.
        “Tazewell Street”, #29. Sargeant Memorial Collection Main Photograph Collection, MSS 0000-MPC.

6) Websites:

“Norfolk Air – 108 E Tazewell Street.” https://air.norfolk.gov/#/property/09721200

2) Secondary Sources:

1) Books and Pamphlets:

Shank, Joseph E. Shank's Raw Materials on the History of Norfolk-Portsmouth Newspapers: index., 1965. Volume 5 and 6.

2) Documents/Collections:

- Virginia DHR Historic Register - 122-0067 Wells Theatre Nomination Form (Version – June 2, 2023)

https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/historic-registers/122-0067/

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