Blockbuster news: ‘Passionate local investors’ unite to save historic Anthony Wayne Theater

Twenty years after the nonprofit Bryn Mawr Film Institute rallied the community to revive an aging movie palace, a similar group has emerged to restore Wayne’s once-shining centerpiece, the historic Anthony Wayne Theater.

An impressive lineup of local business and arts leaders – among them Ishana Night Shyamalan, daughter of the famous filmmaker – has formed the 501(C)3 nonprofit, “Anthony Wayne Theater” (AWT).

On its website, the group calls itself “passionate local investors … committed to preserving the iconic Anthony Wayne Theater for future generations.”

AWT has already leased the landmark building and plans extensive renovations before reopening as a multi-faceted arts hub for movies, live events and cultural programs for the community.

The group envisions an all-ages venue: a place where adults can enjoy a date-night movie or feel comfortable dropping the kids off for the latest animated feature, a board source tells SAVVY.

Instead of the current five screening rooms, three auditoriums are planned: two larger, state-of-the art screening rooms will show first-run films, blockbusters and arthouse fare, and a smaller “highly adaptable” auditorium will host live shows, including standup comedy, concerts, TEDx-style talks and local arts performances.

As for concessions, count on popcorn and candy but also “elevated” fare “distinct to the area,” our source tells us. Goat’s Beard Taco or Christopher’s Blackened Shrimp Salad, anyone?

A podcast recording studio and e-gaming venue on the second floor are also on the group’s vision board.

Quietly and methodically, the investors have been laying the groundwork for nearly a year.

They assembled an all-local board of directors with relevant expertise in the arts, real estate, hospitality, finance and nonprofit fundraising.

To determine best practices, they interviewed successful community theater leaders around the country – traveling as far as Chicago, Rhode Island and New York and as near as Ambler, Phoenixville and Bryn Mawr.

They agreed to leasing terms with landlord Stephen Bajus (who also owns the Wayne and Radnor Hotels), engaged Brian Tierney’s PR firm, and vetted architects and programming and development pros.

All will be needed to pull off what promises to be a multi-year, multi-million-dollar, all-hands-on-deck civic enterprise.

The building’s grand Art Deco bones are in good shape but the antiquated interior will have to be gutted, our source tells us.

A town landmark, the Anthony Wayne has been dark and forlorn – but never forgotten – since its previous operator, Reel Cinemas, closed during the pandemic shutdown of March 2020.

In truth, the outmoded and shabby movie palace had long been struggling to keep pace with the area’s spiffier Regals, AMCs and Movie Taverns. In 2018, Reel Cinemas launched a half-baked scheme to raise money from its own customers to fund a desperately needed overhaul. Not surprisingly, that campaign flopped.

When the pandemic eased in 2022, Bajus cleaned the place and started showing it to smaller movie chains. About a handful came through but presumably were scared off by the exorbitant cost of renovations.

The group expects to fund the enterprise with a mix of private contributions, grants and a strategic fundraising campaign.

Anthony Wayne Theater’s nonprofit board is led by:

• President Todd Scott, owner of Platoon Fitness
• Treasurer Wade McDevitt, Founder/CEO of the locally headquartered real estate firm, The McDevitt Company
• Secretary Rory McNeil, arts patron and venture capitalist

Board members include:

• Wayne Art Center Executive Director Nancy Campbell
• Sydney Grims, a principal at Fearless Restaurants (White Dog, Autograph, Rosalie, Triple Crown et. al.)
• Main Line School Night Executive Director Rebecca Cain
• Filmmaker Ishana Night Shyamalan, daughter of Willistown’s M. Night Shyamalan
• Entrepreneur/investment firm executive Jay Weber
• Wayne Fine Art & Custom Framing/LAA Art Collective owner Lauren Addis
• Gryphon Café owner Rich Mattis

As it was forming, the group sought advice from Bryn Mawr Film Institute Executive Director Sam Scott.

“It will be a “struggle” and “very expensive” to “start from scratch in Wayne,” Scott tells SAVVY. “Hats off to them for trying.”

Scott says “it took many years and many capital campaigns” to fully restore the circa-1926 Seville Theater, later known as Bryn Mawr Theater, to its former Art Deco glory. BMFI opened a full three years after founder Juliette Goodfriend launched a grassroots nonprofit to keep the theater from going the way of the circa-1922 Ardmore Theater, which became a fitness center and is now a furniture store.

Scott believes the AWT needs to make the Wayne theater “really nice” from Day One. “The last thing Wayne needs is to open a decrepit theater.” With so many shows streaming, “getting people out of their living rooms is already a challenge,” he says.

BMFI’s success clearly inspired the Wayne group.

Indeed, after what Scott called a banner year, BMFI is poised to celebrate two milestones: its 20th anniversary this March and the theater’s 100^th birthday next year.

As for the Anthony Wayne, “We’re thrilled when any theater stays open – new competition notwithstanding,” Scott tells SAVVY. “They seem like nice people and I wish them well.”

Radnor Historical Society’s Greg Pritchard also applauds the intiative, calling the Anthony Wayne “one of the best examples of an Art Deco movie house in the country.” Its “striking front façade” also bears the signature of famed Philly architect, Louis Kahn, then a young draftsmen. Kahn worked for chief architect William Harold Lee who also designed the Suburban Theater in Suburban Square and the Seville Theater in Bryn Mawr.

As you might expect, Wayne merchants are bullish on the campaign.

“We’re excited there’s a plan to reopen the theater and revitalize the classic Art Deco building that’s been an anchor for our downtown,” enthuses Wayne Business Association President Ken Kearns, who owns a string of storefronts on North Wayne Ave. including the town’s other entertainment venue, 118 North.

The original Anthony Wayne Theater was unveiled amid much fanfare on June 20, 1928. Spirits were high and lines stretched around the block.

If all goes as planned and the community rallies around this new initiative, Wayne just might be cutting a second ribbon – on a theater reborn – 100 years later.

Stay tuned to SAVVY Main Line for updates on this unfolding campaign. We’ll share new programming decisions and design details and ways you can help the cause. For more information, email [email protected] or call 610-389-3525.