Tickets.com Client Spotlight: Wellmont Theatre

Wellmont Theatre to return with live shows

by Jay Lustig/The Star-Ledger

An old theater will get new life, at a higher decibel level, when Montclair's Wellmont Theatre reopens Nov. 1. Instead of the movies the theater had been presenting before closing in 2006, the new Wellmont will offer concerts, including major attractions such as Steely Dan, Brian Wilson, Tony Bennett, Matisyahu and Rufus Wainwright.

The theater has been thoroughly refurbished and will reopen with a show by power-pop group Hanson, of "MMMBop" fame. Other bookings range from comedian Bill Maher to brainy alt-rock group The Decemberists and the Led Zeppelin tribute act, Get the Led Out.

"Something for everybody," said Andy Feltz, when asked to sum up the venue's booking philosophy. A Montclair resident, Feltz is a partner in Montclair Entertainment, the promotion company that is reopening the venue.

Located at 5 Seymour St., off Bloomfield Avenue, the Wellmont originally opened in 1922 as a live theater and switched to movies in 1929. Later, it became a triplex. In recent months, it has undergone a $3 million renovation. New electrical and plumbing systems, as well as new bars in the orchestra and mezzanine areas, have been installed.

The capacity will be 2,500 (approximately 1,800 for seated shows). This makes it almost as big as the last similar-sized rock theater in the area -- Passaic's 3,200-seat Capitol Theatre, which presented concerts from the 1970s to the mid-'90s.

"The Capitol was a good room, and this will be picking up that niche," said Feltz.

Montclair Entertainment is a partnership between Feltz (who operated New York's Beacon Theatre from 1986 to 2006 and is currently presenting shows at the New York's United Palace Theater) and principals of The Bowery Presents, a company that is responsible for the consistently hip bookings at New York nightclubs like The Bowery Ballroom and Terminal 5.

"All the chemistry was right," said Feltz, of the decision to resurrect the Wellmont. "The room was right. The need was right. All the chemistry added up to it being a good situation."

Here are the Wellmont's confirmed shows. All go on sale Saturday at 10 a.m. via tickets.com. Visit wellmonttheatre.com for information.