Cyberamics Balcony Stage

The Balcony Stage (known internally as The Stage) was a cyberamics stage type used at Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre locations in replacement for Portrait Stages. It was installed from 1980 to 1986.

The Stage debuted at the San Jose, California, (1371 Kooser Rd)^[1] location in May of 1980, and went extinct in 1993 at the Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (9271 34th Ave) location. from 1988 to 1989, most Stages would become Chuck E.'s House Facades.

History

Pre-Production

In Early 1980, after the opening of Sparks, NV (530 Greenbrae Dr) & Citrus Heights, CA (7614 Greenback Lane), Pizza Time Theatre wanted to make a more standardized Portrait Stage. The final outcome would be replacing Kooser's Portrait Stage with a new stage called "Showboat".

Pizza Time Theatre

Early Balcony Stages

The Showboat stage was placed at Kooser's Showroom in May of 1980. The stage would turn out to be a success & would later be installed at the opening of Arlington, TX (2216 S Fielder Rd) in October 1980 which had Madame Oink instead of Foxy Colleen & the Showtape being either Madame Oink II or Around The World with Madame Oink. Arlington's Blacony was also more like the later Balcony Stages with the characters being lower down & their being a Cheese-Crawl.

Most locations still opened with a Balcony Stage until December 1980. The Balcony stage was installed at all PTT locations afterwards.

Later Balcony Stages

The "Irish Stew" & "Around The World" Showtapes would have special theme for Balcony Stages. The Balcony Stage would have variants for most other Showtapes following. A Balcony Stage would be installed at the Amusement Park, "Kids World" in the early to mid 80's, The stage wasn't segmented, meaning their were no barriers between the bots, & there was a strange backdrop behind the characters.

ShowBiz Pizza Time / Chuck E. Cheese's

After ShowBiz Pizza would buy out PTT from 1984 to 1985, they would continue to open Chuck E. Cheese locations until January 1986, with the last location being in Fairbanks, AK (600 Old Steese Hwy). In 1987, Arlington, TX (2216 S Fielder Rd) would replace their Balcony Stage with a Chuck E.'s House (Rocker Stage). All locations forward would open with a Rocker Stage & several existing locations also switched to Rocker Stages. In 1988, Showbiz corporate would set up Chuck E.'s House Facades to replace the fronts & backdrops of Balcony Stage, to make them look like a house.

The last Balcony Stage would be located at Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (9271 34th Ave) which was replaced in 1993 for a 2-Stage.

Present / Chuck E. Cheese

References

The Balcony Stage would appear as a cameo in a few modern era CEC Shows, mostly as a flashback.

Similar Stage Types

The stage at Lake Forest, CA (24416 Muirlands Blvd) would be merger between a Portrait Stage & a Balcony/House Facade Stage, with the stage being removed with the locations closure in 2001. The aforementioned Kids World Stage was a version of The Balcony Stage with different features, the stage was destroyed in a fire.

Design

General Design

Exterior

The Balcony stage had Red Valences, a Wood Ceiling, & a Plain Red backdrop on the Left & Right stages.

Bird Stage

The "Bird Stage" was the area used for Warblettes (Cyberamic). They would be placed over Mr. Munch's Magic Madhouse though would later just be above a extra platform. The area was left to the Munch Stage.

Munch Stage/Left Stage

The "Munch Stage" (Nicknamed The "Left Stage") was the area used for Mr. Munch (Cyberamic). The area was placed over the left entrance of the Cheese-Crawl. The area would have signage saying "Mr. Munch". The area had an outward Balcony. The area had 2 Barriers on the Left & Right sides.

Main Stage/Center Stage

The "Main Stage" (Nicknamed The "Center Stage") was the area used for Jasper T. Jowls (Cyberamic), Chuck E. Cheese (Cyberamic), & Guest Star / Helen Henny (Cyberamic). The area was placed over there middle of the Cheese-Crawl. The area would have Signage with the names of the characters placed. The area would have a Showtape specific Backdrop. The area would have Chuck's spot have an outward Balcony, with the rest of the character spots having no outward Balcony. The characters where placed like this, Jasper (Left), Chuck E. (Right), & The Guest Star (Right), though Jasper & The Guest Star would be in switched spots in the Showboat stage.

Pasqually Stage/Right Stage

The "Pasqually Stage" (Nicknamed The "Right Stage") was the area used for Pasqually (Cyberamic). The area was placed over the right entrance of The Cheese-Crawl. The area had Signage saying "Pasqually". The area would have an outward Balcony. The area had 2 Barriers on both sides.

Band Board Stage

The 'Band Board Stage" was the area used for Drum Board (Cyberamic). The area was right of the Pasqually Stage. The area would only be a shelf with the bot on it.

Mr. Munch's Magic Madhouse

Mr. Munch's Magic Madhouse was an area placed under The Bird Stage. The area had Signage saying "Mr. Munch's Magic Madhouse" with a Chuck E. Cheese icon placed on it. The area had lights in the inside area. The area had a rectangular Entrance. The area was removed in later variations.

Cheese-Crawl

The Cheese-Crawl was an area placed under the stage. The area had 2 entrances. The area originally had several holes to look through & was larger, though later variants had no holes, sometimes windows, & was generally smaller & more like a tube. The Cheese-Crawl was removed in House Facade Stages. The Area was the first area exclusive to Balcony Stages.

Outer Walls

The Balcony Stage had Flag Wavers (Cyberamic) placed around the walls of the main Theater room. A Clapper Board (Cyberamic) was placed on the Left wall.

Changes/Variants

The "Irish Stew" stage was very different to the other Balcony Stages, with it have different Balconys, The original Cheese-Crawl & a different Mr. Munch's Magic Madhouse. The Kidworld variant had no barriers, no Cheese-Crawl, & A different Backdrop.