Middletown, DE

Every time Alan Robb steps through the doors of Middletown, Delaware’s Everett Theater and strolls into the lobby past the small concession stand, he’s transported back in time. For a moment, memories of half a century ago return—of buying popcorn and rushing down the aisle in search of a seat.

“I started coming here in the early 1950s. I was just 12 or 13-years-old,” Robb recalls. “I used to come to see the movies—and I’m still here. I’ve acted in plays and productions, directed, and I still come when they have a movie.”

The Everett Theater was built in 1922 on Middletown’s Main Street. Local historians say it’s one of the last theater/vaudeville houses in the country. Ownership of the Everett changed several times until the late 1970s, when vaudeville was all but forgotten and modern theaters drew moviegoers away. The building was scheduled to be leveled to make way for a parking lot.

Those plans, however, didn’t sit well with many citizens, including lifelong Middletown resident Ellen Combs-Davis, who remembers visiting the Everett as a youngster.

“I paid 15 cents to sit in the balcony,” says Combs-Davis. “I’ve lived in Middletown (pop. 3,834) my whole life, and I wanted to save the theater’s facade for Main Street. There’s a lot of history there.”

Combs-Davis rounded up members of the community, a local librarian, a teacher, and anyone else who cared about the Everett. They called themselves ACT, Action Community Talent. After a few fund-raisers and a loan from New Castle County, they bought the property.

That was 19 years ago. Since then, the Everett has been renovated to its original splendor. Rich, velvety seats fill the auditorium, and maroon wallpaper accented with flock designs cover the walls. Just above the stage, hand-painted cherubs stand guard over the comings and goings below, which have spanned the spectrum from first-run films and dance recitals to plays and meetings.

“It’s there to be used,” says Combs-Davis. “All they have to do is let their desire be known. Religious groups and other organizations have staged performances. The Scouts, Weight Watchers, and Narcotics Anonymous have used the building. It’s there for the community.”

When folks come out to the theater’s monthly film showings, most don’t know that the viewing is courtesy of one of the Everett’s oldest residents, a carbon arc projector. Once as common as they are now rare, the huge machines were the mainstay of movie projection through the 1930s and ’40s.

“I think it’s one of the only ones left in the state, and probably one of a few in the country,” says Scott Lawrence, lifelong Middletown resident and member of ACT. “You actually have to strike two carbon rods together to get an arc, or a flame. That’s the light that projects the picture.

“We usually have two projectionists working at once to change reels. There’s no push-a-few-buttons-and-walk-away in the Everett!”

Everyone who keeps the theater running, from the projectionists to the ticket takers and popcorn sellers, are volunteers.

“This place is a gem. It is a true community theater,” says Robb. “It doesn’t matter what your background is, it’s available. You want to do Macbeth? No problem, Miss Davis will check the calendar, and if the theater is available, it’s yours. There’s no acting credential check or board to pass through. It’s not about how good you are. It’s about how lucky we are to have the Everett.”

Laura Forbes, 16, an 11th-grader at Middletown High School, is a new generation Everett fan who looks to the theater for her future.

“I like to write plays, direct, and act. And I have had the opportunity to do all of that here at the Everett,” says Forbes. “If the Everett wasn’t here for me to discover this love, I may never have known what I wanted to do with the rest of my life.”

When Combs-Davis set out to save the Main Street facade, she never dreamed there would be so many like Laura Forbes.

“I never guessed how many lives this theater would touch,” she says.

Tracy Leinberger-Leonardi writes from her home in Elkton, Md.

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