Wells Theatre

110 East Tazewell Street , Norfolk, Virginia 23510
757.664.6464

In 1901, the Southeast’s Father of Vaudeville, Jake Wells, built the Granby Theatre in downtown Norfolk. By the 1920s, Wells and his brother Otto controlled the largest theatre circuit in the South with 42 theaters in nine states. The Wells Theatre opened on August 26, 1913. That first year, Maude Adams flew across the stage as Peter Pan and Wells presented Ben-Hur complete with teams of horses on treadmills. Fred and Adele Astaire, Will Rogers, Billie Burke, John Drew, John Phillip Sousa, and Dorothy Gish appeared on the Wells Theatre stage.

In 1916, the theatre installed a movie screen, and by the beginning of World War II, burlesque had joined the repertory. In the 1960s, the Wells became an X-rated movie house, and its backstage area was converted into The Jamaican Room, a notorious gin mill and brothel.

Following a restoration period, the Virginia Stage Company moved into the Wells Theatre on February 7, 1980. Approximately $3.5 million in additional restorations were completed in 1986, resulting in the Beaux-Arts gem’s designation as a National Historic Landmark.