A new theater in town
Melinda Moulton opens up a business with a view

Courteney McDonnell| staff writer

Melinda Moulton and Elizabeth Steele, co-founders of the Main Street Landing properties, say they strive to exude dedication to the arts through an environmentally friendly and socially responsible approach.

Front steps to the Waterfront Theater. Alex McIntire, photo

“The Main Street Landing is dedicated to the redevelopment of the Burlington waterfront, bringing it back to life because it was in great disrepair for many, many years,” Moulton says.

Thinking green

The pair began their commitment to the visual arts with phase one of the waterfront project 25 years ago through Union Station, located on Main Street in downtown Burlington, Moulton says.

“In order to complete the whole arts concept, I knew we needed a performing arts aspect,” Moulton says.

In the late ‘90s Moulton and Steele continued with an expansion of the Waterfront Theater. The Main Street Landing’s Performance Arts Center eventually opened, in the Lake and College building, in 2005.

“It’s a green, socially responsible, LEED certified project through the United
States Green Building Council,” Moulton says.

The theater is an entirely green operation. Alex McIntire, photo.

However, there was no obvious market for the performing arts center, Moulton explains. There were signs from the local Burlington community.

“I had a lot of theater people calling saying, ‘Do you have any space for us to rehearse or do any shows?’ and there really weren’t many spaces,” Moulton says. 

The Waterfront Theater is not reserved specifically for art productions. Although the main focus remains with rehearsals, productions and screenings, the rooms lend themselves to business conferences and presentations as well.

“These ceiling lights can dim entirely for projections or presentations or to different levels if note-taking is necessary,” Moulton says about the Film House room in the theater.

Each of the spaces and rooms were carefully designed with the help of theater people, Moulton says. The theater’s lobby depicts the Main Street Landing’s dedication to the Burlington community through a mural that surrounds an inverted ceiling.

“It is designed to be as if you stood in the middle of [Lake Champlain], and as you did a 360, you could see the seasons change,” Moulton says.

One of the main production rooms, the Black Box, is specifically designed so that no technical or audio aspects can detract the audience from its main focus.

“People are nuts for this project,” Moulton says.

St. Michael's students benefit

Victoria Townsend, a senior theater major at St. Michael’s, recently starred in the production, Closer, held in the Main Street Landing’s Performing Arts Center. The production was from held from Oct. 18-27. Closer was held in the Black Box room of the theater, Townsend says.

A sign on the theater door reminds audience members to be quiet. Alex McIntire, photo

“It is both positive and negative to have the audience so close to you. You can be intimate and more realistic in your performance; however, they can see everything so it's very difficult to conceal anything that might go wrong,” Townsend says.

Although the cast of Closer was small, Townsend found that the Green Room, the preparation room for the actors, was helpful.

“There are showers and bathrooms as well as a couple of warm-up
rooms," Townsend says. "The Green Room is a large space with many kitchen-like accommodations so we could store and make food, which was very nice on two-show days.”

In addition, Moulton and Steele’s theater is a space without a resident company, Townsend explains. This allows for several different theater companies to rent the space.

There were midnight showings of Closer free of charge for local students, Moulton says. This is an aspect that could particularly benefit the St. Michael’s community, often subject to higher-priced productions at other local theaters, Townsend says.

“A variety of acts come through so there are many opportunities to see different works. Also, many locals are featured in productions there, so it's a great place to see some neighborhood talent,” Townsend says.

The future of the Waterfront Theater

Thus far, business and art are coinciding with the Burlington community well, Moulton says. If there is any competition, Main Street Landing is completely supportive.

“When it comes to the arts, I think if there are places for people to have art, they should do it. We didn’t build this to put a corner on the market. We built this for people to have options,” Moulton says.

As far as the future is concerned, Moulton and Steele’s main focus is to make a success of what has been created while remaining true to their initial motives and values.

“We believe it’s important to educate the public on sustainable healthy and socially responsible development,” Moulton says.

In the environment Main Street Landing provides, their hopes are for art to thrive among the Burlington community and contribute to society.

“When you find a civilization, when you dig for a civilization, what are the things that define that civilization,” Moulton says. “It’s the artifacts.”