Sellersville Theater 1894 hailed by concertgoers, stars

THE TINY BOROUGH of Sellersville in northwestern Bucks County is hardly the heart of show business. It's probably not even the spleen. But that hasn't stopped it from being the home of what is arguably the Delaware Valley's busiest and most diverse concert venue, the Sellersville Theater 1894.

Named for the stable that was built in 1894 on the site at 24 W. Temple Ave. (just off Main Street), ST94, as it's known, is something of a music-industry anomaly. Though small (340 seats) and located in an exurban area some 35 miles north of Center City, the former movie theater not only presents name acts, but does so on as many as 25 nights a month.

Among the artists booked this fall and winter: Bob Mould of the seminal 1980s band Husker Du; progressive-rock chanteuse Annie Haslam, who's headlining a program of holiday music; classic-rock stalwart Dave Mason; singer-songwriter Nanci Griffith; '90s rockers Crash Test Dummies; and the Bacon Brothers, featuring A-list character actor Kevin Bacon and his musician brother, Michael.

William Quigley and his wife, Elayne Brick, opened ST94 in 2002. Both came from restaurant backgrounds. Quigley's resume included stints at the Commissary, the trendsetting eatery that helped ignite Philadelphia's dining scene. The couple had owned the adjacent Washington House restaurant since 1985 but had no background in concert promotion.

"I was just a brave soul," Quigley said of his foray into show biz. "But we had the town behind us, and that made a difference."

Quigley said that the hall has benefited from the hard times - driven by technology and the still-sour economy - buffeting the music industry. There was a time when it would have been difficult for such a small, out-of-the-way venue to attract performers, he said. But with the cataclysmic downturn in sales of recorded music, "artists need live performances as a source of revenue," he said. "There's a lot of pressure in the industry. We're very happy with the response we've gotten from the industry."

Many of the theater's headliners are hardly unfamiliar to music fans of a certain vintage. Artists like Leon Redbone, Don McLean, David Bromberg and Leo Kottke were regulars at the Main Point, the legendary Bryn Mawr coffeehouse of the 1960s and '70s. That's no coincidence.

"That's our customer base," said Quigley. "We definitely target the demographic that used to go to the Main Point."

Which makes sense.

Generally, older live-music patrons are not partial to standing-room-only venues like Philly's cavernous Electric Factory. The Sellersville Theater offers a low-key, intimate space where even a seat on the last row provides great sight and sound. And those fortunate enough to be at one of 10 tables between the stage and the permanent seats are rewarded with a cabaret feel, sitting just steps away from the performer.

"It's really a listening room geared toward older audiences," said Quigley.

Baby boomers who have discovered the venue have found it very much to their liking.

Howard Weiss, 60, a professor of marketing and supply-chain management at Temple University, has made several visits to ST94. "It's a great venue; it's cozy," he said while attending a recent concert by British Invasion heroes Peter Noone & Herman's Hermits. "All the seats are great; you're not far from the stage."

The distance and lack of a direct route from South Jersey didn't dampen the enthusiasm of a couple of women who made the hike for the Hermits show.

"It's a great theater," said Kathleen Irwin, 60, of Maple Shade, N.J. She'd attended the previous evening's Don McLean concert and returned for the Hermits' matinee set. "It's not crowded. You're not on top of each other. And the acoustics are great."

Mary Robinson, 54, of Marlton, N.J., was attending her first ST94 concert. She, too, sung its praises.

"It gets more and more difficult to find a venue where you don't have to spend a lot of money and be able to find something for everybody," she said. Like her fellow Garden Staters, Robinson played down ST94's location, calling it "very commutable."

The Sellersville Theater looks as good from the other side of the footlights, judging by the testimonials from headliners.

"They're doing great things. This is a great room. [It's] so comfortable. I love it," said veteran folkie Tom Paxton, while singer-songwriter Livingston Taylor has proclaimed ST94 "a great room to play in."

Nanci Griffith agreed: "They told me this was a great place to play - and they were right!"