In March of 1921, as the decade started to roar, theater manager H.H. Wellenbrick purchased a 115 x 150 plot of land next to the Montclair Theatre to build a new showplace and business office at the corner of Bloomfield Avenue and Seymour Street. Combining his own name Wellenbrink and the town’s name Montclair, he named his new theater The Wellmont. Designed by architects Reilly & Hall and built at a cost of $400,000, the modern “fireproof” Wellmont Theatre opened its doors in 1922 as a venue for vaudeville and stage plays and attracted top acts of the era like Charlie Chaplin. Chiefly, though, the theater was used as a movie house. Patrons included Thomas Edison, who watched the picture shows here. Screenings were accompanied by a pianist who played the theater’s Wurlitzer pipe organ.
With a redesigned logo Wellmont Theatre became the The Wellmont Theater) booking went to premier concert promoters Live Nation, positioning the historic venue as the resource for New Jersey music lovers in the arts district of Montclair.
The Wellmont reopened in September 2015 and continues to host such renowned performing artists as Tom Jones, Miss Lauryn Hill, Joan Baez, Bush, DNCE, Third Eye Blind, Jim Gaffigan, and Meat Loaf.
