Welcome to the Wells Theatre, a performing arts venue in downtown Norfolk, where you have just arrived. The building has been home to the Virginia Stage Company since 1979 and is owned and operated by the City of Norfolk as part of The Seven Venues. Its story begins on August 26, 1913, when it opened with The Merry Countess, a Shubert musical.
In 1916 Jake Wells installed a movie screen and projector, though theatrical bookings continued to dominate the schedule. Over the years many of America’s leading performers appeared here — John Drew, Maude Adams, Otis Skinner, John Philip Sousa, Billie Burke, Fred and Adele Astaire, and Will Rogers. During the Great Depression the Wells kept its doors open with vaudeville and movies.
Around the beginning of World War II burlesque was added, bringing thousands of sailors stationed in Norfolk. Through the 1940s and ’50s it continued as a movie house. In the 1960s the Wells shared the general decline of downtown Norfolk, converting to an X‑rated movie house and occasionally staging live burlesque.
Imagine those crowds filling these seats, your attention drifting from the theatre's façade to the streets of downtown Norfolk beyond.