Thrills and Chills


The Passion of Performance at the Altarena Playhouse


Elisa Williams
Photo by Altarena Playhouse

The story of Alameda’s Altarena Playhouse is full of drama, romance, music and mystery—and only some of that onstage. It was a dark and stormy night when a group of Alameda thespians met in a classroom at Alameda High School in 1938 to discuss forming a local theater company.
    What is now the oldest continuously operating theater company in the Bay Area began its life as the Alameda Little Theatre, funded in part with a federal grant from the Depression-era Works Project Administra-tion. Before television and widespread air travel, the Little Theatre Movement popularized the creation of small community-based performance groups starring local actors, organized by neighborhood directors, costumers and set designers.
    The Alameda Little Theatre’s first production, “Riddle Me This,” was performed in 1939 at the Adelphian Club. For the next few years, productions were held at the Adelphian Center and the Alameda Hotel, but World War II put down the curtain for a few years. It rose again in 1946, and three years later, performances began at the Neptune Beach Dance Hall at Sixth and Central, known then as The Hideaway. The Hideaway ended up being a melodrama for the Alameda Little Theatre. It was the company’s first stable home unitl the 1950s when the company lost its lease to rival performers. On that troupe’s opening night, the Hideaway burned to the ground. Was it arson? Was it an accident? The answer remains a mystery.
    The Alameda Little Theatre group found a more permanent home at the former Hagstrom’s market at 1409 High St. The performance space was dubbed the Altarena, a name created by the initials of the Alameda Little Theatre and the style of the staging done in the round: ALT + ARENA, or Altarena. With the help of free labor and funds donated by the public, the group was able to make a down payment on the property. In 1970, a large group gathered at an annual meeting at the Naval Air Station for a celebratory mortgage burning.
    Keeping a theater running takes more than good acting—it takes accounting, marketing and facilities management skills as well. The Altarena has been fortunate to have strong players for these crucial leadership roles. Valentine Newmark organized the founding of the company and directed some of the earliest productions before and after WWII. William Woodall, a talented local actor, oversaw management and production direction for about 20 years. Woodall helped the theater keep going in hard times at The Hideaway and on High Street. An Altarena actor, he also brought his talented daughter Margaret Woodall Thrall, or Maggie, to the theater. She not only acted in shows when she was young, but she was was half of the popular double act “Silver Foxes” with Tom Donato from 1988 to 1992. Dick Shore joined the Altarena in the early 1970s, and as managing director and producer, directed and acted in numerous plays for the next two decades. In recent years, general manager/artistic director John Maio brought the Altarena into the 21st century and audiences back to the theater with new marketing, including four-color postcards and a Web site with online ticket booking. Behind the scenes, the Alameda Little Theatre has been guided by a board of directors, and its members have volunteered thousands of hours to the theater over the decades. Donors big and small have helped allow the Altarena to keep ticket prices among the lowest in the Bay Area. Recent donations from theater patrons have provided money for new doors and computers for the box office and sound and light system.
    What will happen to this brave theater company in the next 65 years? Futurists see a venue closer to restaurants, with space for administration, rehearsal, costumes, props and sets. For ticket-holders, improvements will include better parking, lobby space and bathrooms. But even pragmatists realize that keeping the Altarena going will require a generous infusion of cash for upgrades.
    The theater is always looking for talented—or just enthusiastic—volunteers whose assistance will keep it going for many more decades.    

CONTACT INFORMATION:
1409 High St., (510) 523-1553, www.altarena.org