The Historic Chair Campaign started as a way to help refurbish the more than 100 chairs left to the Sunset Theatre by Harvey Bryant the former owner of the Lode Theatre located down on the main highway beside the Northwoods Restaurant which eventually burnt down in the 1950’s.  There a lot of speculation as to what happened to the original theatre chairs from the Sunset Theatre.  A few of them can be seen around town but it remains a bit of a mystery as to why they were ever removed in the first place.  In the 1970’s the Wells Historic Society reopened the Sunset Theatre as a movie theatre and some-time performance space and was in much need of chairs.  It was at this point that Harvey Bryant stepped forward and relocated his Lode Theatre Chairs to the Sunset. 

Fast forward 25 years and the chairs in the Sunset were not only old but in great need of repair and some tender loving care.  Once the theatre was underway with being refurbished a chair campaign was established to help restore each chair to its former glory.  But as fate would have it the quest for better chairs was not going to come easily. 

In the spring of 2007 through a series of unfortunate events, 30 seats went missing.  In the best of intentions,  friends of the Sunset secretly decided to recover some of them as a surprise and moved the chairs to a temporary storage space in Prince George. After gathering together a group of dedicated and helpful volunteers to redo the chairs—upon entering the storage space it was discovered that they were inadvertently removed and taken to a transfer station. Never to be seen from again.

 

Over 3 months later, a chance meeting at the Billy Barker Days Parade yielded the return of 12 historic chairs.  Carrie Johnston, a theatre supporter and long time resident of Wells, started chatting to two women after the parade. When asked if she knew anyone interested in old theatre seats in need of repair, Carrie was initially suspicious but then discovered that some of the chairs, also originally from the Lode Theatre in Wells, were given to the Baker Creek Community Hall more than 30 years ago. The two women, Sheila Gibbons, treasurer, and Christine Leroux, President of the Hall, were simply looking for a new and appropriate home for what they appreciated to be unique old chairs. The transfer of this gracious gift has taken place along with an additional 24 chairs from the Rex Theatre in Quesnel. They will  become a permanent fixture in the Sunset Theatre.

 

The Orpheum Theatre: What does a little theatre in the middle of nowhere and the Orpheum Theatre (one of Canada’s most prestigious theatres located in Vancouver) have on common - historic theatre chairs.  Through another twist of fate, the children of the theatre owners Kelk and Lucy Jeffery were performing in a Production of the Mysterious Mystero by Calgary based Dandi Productions.  Noticing that the theatre chairs were very similar in styel and vintage as those in the Orpheum, board member, colleague and performer Onalea Gilbertson enquired about the chairs only to discover that they were being removed in preparation for the Olympics.  Whereupon 30 historic theatre chairs from the Orpheum Theatre now have a permanent home at the Sunset Theatre.  Sometimes—things work!  If you let them...

 

Each chair has 14 components (excluding another 20 nuts, bolts and screws) and has been disassembled,  sandblasted and re spray-painted.  All of the Art-Deco ends have been powder-coated. The laborious task of recovering the seats and backs is underway after which each will await re-assembly and re-installation. The total material cost to refurbish the 100 chairs is approximately $12 000.

 

Each chair is $100 and the Director Circle chairs in the Balcony area are $250.  Anyone interested in sponsoring can download a Chair Campaign form here or email chairs@sunset-theatre.com for more information.

Joyce Douglas

Douglas Bruce Reid

Lilly Reid

Michael Bruce Reid

Debbie Bridge

John and Gay Northey

John and Gay Northey

Riley Gilchrist “Seat Taken”

Chester Mundl

Logan Mundl

Arman Tarhan

Jack McKeag (Directors Chair)

Nuska the Cat

Homespun Gallery

Homespun Gallery

Grayson Dunn

Dawson Dunn

Jeffery Dunn

Pete Wright

John Yates

Charlotte Kurta

Cara Canzler

Diane Hiscock

Harmonna Crosby

Neva Hohn

John Yates

Pamela Vant

Cheryl and Dave from the Bear’s Paw

Julia and Dirk Van Stralen

Art Rush Gallery

Art Rush Gallery

Lindsay Burns

The Danby Girls

Holly Jones with Love

Oliver Schroer

Mariel Buckley

Joan Beck

Claire Kujundzic & Bill Horne

Yael Wand & Jason Griffin

Pearcy Studios

Elisa Aragon & Natasha McEwen

Kathy Landry

Shelly Eckstein

Chris Cooley International Action Star—AKA “Mr. Thompson”

Collette Beaulieu

Lucy Reid

Neva Hohn

Bill Horne- Amazing Space

Betsy Van Halderen

Katelyn Escott

Ricky Kwok

Betty Kwok

Tony Kwok

Beatty Planden

Lew Frontain

Amelia Northey-Taylor

Bronwyn Northey-Taylor

Morag Northey

History in the Making

Tess & Wendy

Zeb Rummel

Marie Nagel Gallery

Neil Vant

Kriss Boggild

Bertold ‘Show Dog’ McEwen

Murry Krause

Brian Lewis

Judy Campbell

For Ron & Gail Dunn Love from the Matters Family

Jenny Abel

Terence Rigby

Von Tiesenhausen Family Demmmit AB

Mark, Donna and Lucy

Gillian Hopkins

The Rembetika Hipsters “to the mauges of Wells”

Claire Kujundzic- Amazing Space