Cyberamics Portrait / Shelf Stage

The Cyberamics Portrait Stage in Maple Heights, Ohio. May 1981

The Cyberamics Portrait Stage (known internally as The Shelf) was a stage format found at Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre from May of 1979 to December of 1980.

The stage would debut at the Concord, CA (1975 Diamond Blvd) location at it's grand opening in 1979, and would go extinct in 1991 at the Ogden, Utah location. A retrofit of the stage, known as "The Shelf", would be installed at select locations which already had the Cyberamics Portrait Stage through the early 80's.

History

The first Cybramic Portrait Stage would be installed at the Concord, CA (1975 Diamond Blvd) location at it's grand opening in 1979. It would be the first store to feature Cyberamics.

The last Portrait Stage to be produced was the Simi Valley, CA location.

The last Portrait Stage to be removed was Ogden, Utah. Before their closure in 1991, they would have special made showtapes to move Mr. Munch and Pasqually's doors, The show would originally work, until the late 80s when the show would stop operating. The location would leave the show inside this condition until they closed.

Design

The Cyberamic Portrait Stage, unlike the stages that came before it, would be placed alongside one wall to draw attentions to all characters. This is different from the previous Portrait Stage setups, in which they were attached to 2 or 4 walls. All characters in the center wall would be placed inside thin, beige portrait frames with a black outline inside it. Black and yellow nametags would be located on a wood platform below the characters. A 40 degree platform would be under that said wood, providing seating below the balcony stage. Mr. Munch and Pasqually would be popping out from their own titled walls on the left and right side of the setup, having a door attached to their frames. This door would open and close as per the show's programming. The Warblettes had their own larger frame to make up for the character's size. Depending on the location, The Warblettes frame would ether be placed on a separate wall in the Theatre or apart of the main setup to the left of Jasper T. Jowls and Chuck E. Cheese. Flag wavers would both be placed between the Jasper T Jowls, Chuck E. Cheese and Guest Star and around the entirety of the Theatre.

In or around 1981, select portrait locations would remove their black and yellow nameplates in favor of balcony nameplates.

The shows would undergo one more change. In the early to mid 80s, select locations would remove the frames around the characters. This edit would be known as "The Shelf." There is very little footage of this change though.

At Charlie Cheese's Pizza Playhouse (Surfer's Paradise), there was a Balcony/Portrait hybrid. Pasqually and Mr. Munch both were inside their doors.

Gallery

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  Raleigh, North Carolina's Mr. Munch.

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  Raleigh, North Carolina's Jasper T. Jowls.

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  Raleigh, North Carolina's Chuck E. Cheese.

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  Raleigh, North Carolina's Madam Oink.

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  Raleigh, North Carolina's Pasqually.

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  Huntington Beach, California's Chuck E. Cheese.

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  Ogden, Utah's Portrait Show. This would be taken during its inoperable state.

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  An unknown location with Balcony nameplates.

Videos

Links	Description	Footage Date
Link	Raleigh, NC's Portrait Show.	1980
Link	Maple Heights, OH's Portrait Show.	May 1981
Link	Sacremento (Florin Mall) CA's Portrait Show.	1982
Link	Unknown (Sparks, NV?) "Shelf Show"	1986
Link	Huntington Beach, CA's Portrait Show.	1987