Why Middletown?

How did a professional theatre find a home in Middletown, Virginia, a town of 1,353 residents, according to a 2017 publication?  Is there anything about this location that would give the slightest clue that it would be the home for an Equity Theatre for fifty years?  Could Peter Senseny, the founder of Middletown, imagine in 1794 when he

… applied to the state General Assembly for a charter for the town he had drawn up (probably
with the assistance of local clockmaker-jeweler, and surveyor Jacob Danner) on land Senseney
owned a few miles south of what is now Stephens City, that someday there would be actors
from Broadway strolling its streets (Dillard.  TWaS.  4 Aug. 1966). 

Is there anything in the town’s long history that could possibly point in this direction?

Middletown was first called Senseny Town, as, “It was founded on a tract of land owned by Dr. Peter Senseny” (Dillard. TWaS. 4 Aug. 1966).  But, there are other versions of the town’s origin. A clipping found in one of the Theatre’s scrapbooks suggests, “The town, from the beginning, has been called Midtown or Middletown” (McCarty. TWS. Undated).  This name aptly describes its location, as it is “five miles south of Newtown (now Stephens City) and five miles north of Stover Town (now Strasburg)” (Brehm. “Middletown Looks to …” TWS. 20 June 2001).

According to Cartnell’s History of Frederick County,

Middletown by 1878 was regularly incorporated and was governed by a mayor and common
council …. It was during this period that the town enjoyed its most prosperous years.  It was
considered a manufacturing center for clocks, watches and compasses or surveyor’s instruments
… as well as the first successful effort to produce a machine to thresh wheat. 

Despite the creation of this labor-saving device, records indicate that “The machine was so successful that the farmers were suspicious of it” (Dillard.  4 Aug. 1966). 

During the flourishing “Middletown Boom” in the late 1800s, a suburb was laid out west of the town to accommodate the growing population.  “But something happened - - somebody pricked the bubble and the boom was over” (Dillard.  4 Aug. 1966).  Additional growth did not take place, and it is felt by some that the town has never completely recovered.   

In the 1920 and 1930s, there were residences that lined the main street, along with businesses that included an ice cream store with a soda fountain, a blacksmith shop, and a grocery and dry goods store.  Other small businesses were located on the town’s side streets.

Today, Middletown contains residences of varying architectural styles and ages, some shops, and two new businesses: a Dollar General on Main Street and a MacDonald’s located outside the town at exit 302 of Interstate 81.  There is some expansion with a housing subdivision to the north.  There are a couple of historical landmarks.

In addition to the Wayside Inn, one of the town’s oldest building is the St. Thomas Chapel, now
a non-denominational chapel, dating from 1836.  South of the town is an historic plantation where
a stately house, known as Belle Grove, dating back to the mid-1790s, sits boldly on the rollling
Virginia landscape (McCarty, TWS. Undated).  

While not an “industry” as such, the Lord Fairfax Community College, located just beyond the town’s northern boundary, could be considered the town’s biggest industry due to the size of its student enrollment. 

Despite this small-town environment, Wayside Theatre gave Middletown its largest influx of visitors by attracting people from an approximate 100 mile radius, who would otherwise have no other reason to stop.  What was the draw of this theatre nestled in a fairly rural setting?  Was it the assurance of seeing first-class performances? Former Artistic Director, Gerry Slavet, expressed his amazement at the quality of the theatre’s productions, by referring to Wayside as the “Theatre in the Wild” (Secrest. TWP. 16 Aug. 1970).  Slavet stated in another interview, “We shouldn’t be here! It’s unheard of to have this kind of professionalism and talent from the major centers like New York, Washington, the West Coast in Middletown” (Jolly, B. “Women Back Wayside.”  Daily News Record. 17 Apr. 1973).  Others refered to Middletown as “a magical place, a theatrical oasis in the middle of nowhere” (Lawless.  Email. 6 Aug. 2011).  A guest director for Wayside’s 1985 season commented, “I think it’s a small miracle.  You’re in the middle of the countryside with the cows and yet the theatre is quite good” (Strohmeyer.  “Wayside Summer Season …. ” NVD. 6 June 1985).  Another writer refers to Wayside as “the vest-pocket theatre” with a seating capacity of about 260 people, and a “balcony that extends over most of the main floor” (Matheny. “Middletown: A Showplace ….” Richmond Times and World News. 10 June 1978).  When the Theatre’s  twenty-fifth anniversary was observed, one writer referred to it as “ ‘the little dinosaur’ … a success in an area with few other attractions” (Robbins.  “Little Dinosaur ….” WES. 15 Feb. 1986).

Despite its rural location, Wayside was very active for fifty years, providing professional theatrical entertainment while overcoming many hardships, the majority of which were financial.  It worked hard to remain a vital and valid theatrical organization with one single goal: that of producing quality, professional theatre in the Shenandoah Valley.  And, this it did with great success. 

But, in the middle of the 2013 season, all of this was cut short due to lack of funds.  Coupled with the prospect of being unable to correct this financial abyss into which it had fallen, the Theatre’s doors were closed.  Middletown lost one of its star attractions, and the vision of the town’s founder was snuffed out.  Therefore, in the light of Wayside Theatre’s wonderful history, it is imperative that some type of chronicle be compiled to celebrate its amazing years.

The answer to the question, “Why Middletown?” is best explained by a chance encounter of a Washington businessman who passed through Middletown and caught sight of an old building.  The rest is history.