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Cyberamics Portrait / Shelf Stage

The Cyberamic Portrait Stage (known internally as The Shelf) was a stage format installed at Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre stores from May 1979 at the Diamond Boulevard Concord Store to June 1981 at the Muirlands Boulevard Lake Forest Store. The stage would debut at the Concord, CA (1975 Diamond Blvd) location at its grand opening in 1979 as a Cyberamics version of the Winchester PTT Show & Kooser PTT Show and would go extinct in 2001 at the Lake Forest, CA location.

History

The Cyberamics Portrait Stage was first created in May 1979 for the opening of the Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre on Concord, CA (1975 Diamond Blvd). The stage was produced for all PTT's during the 1970's, & Winter to Spring of 1980. In May or April 1980, San Jose, CA (1371 Kooser Rd) would introduce the Cyberamics Balcony Stage as a 1-wall variant of the Portrait Stage. The Portrait Stages would continue to be produced for location, though would either be on 1 wall, or be a Balcony & Portrait Hybrid. The PTT on Arlington, TX (2216 S Fielder Rd) would be the first one to open with a Balcony Stage, & in 1981, almost all future locations would be set to get a Balcony Stage instead of a Portrait Stage. The Last Portrait Stage to be produced was for the PTT on Lake Forest, CA (24416 Muirlands Blvd) In June 1981, which had the normal 2-Wall Variant. By 1987, almost all portrait stages had been removed, except for Concord, CA (1975 Diamond Blvd), Huntington Beach, CA (15511 Edwards St), Tucson, AZ (5534 E 22nd St), Ogden, UT (3155 Harrison Blvd), Hayward, CA (24253 Hesperian Blvd), & Lake Forest, CA (24416 Muirlands Blvd). By 1990, almost all the remaining Portrait Stages had been removed except for Ogden, UT (3155 Harrison Blvd) & Lake Forest, CA (24416 Muirlands Blvd), with Ogden's being shut off making Lake Forest, CA's the last functioning one. Lake Forest's had also been modified into a Chuck E.'s House Facade & Portrait Stage Hybrid with the stage looking more like a Late 1980 Portrait Stage setup but with C-Stage decor, Making Ogden's the last full Portrait Show Remaining. In 1991, Ogden, UT (3155 Harrison Blvd) would close, Making Lake Forest the last location with a Portrait Stage. The Stage remained until 2001, when the location permanently closed.

Design

The Cyberamic Portrait Stage, unlike the stages that came before it, would be placed alongside one wall to draw attention to all characters. This is different from the previous Portrait Stage setups, in which they were attached to the walls of the theatre. All characters in the center wall would be placed inside thin, beige portrait frames with a black outline inside it. The nameplates would be located on a wood trim below the characters with a 40-degree wall going upwards directly under the trim. Mr. Munch and Pasqually had their own unique frames, carrying over from the Kooser setup. The set up included doors that would open and close as per the show's programming. Similarly enough, the Warblettes also had a unique frame to make up for the size of the three birds within. The Flag Wavers, Pizza Time Orchestra, and Applause Board would be placed in various areas of the theatre, mainly near the characters. The stage would undergo one specific change in which several locations received a similar variant to the Portrait Stage in the 1980s however there were no portrait frames or walls surrounding the characters other than the back wall. It is unknown weather the Shelf Stage variant is a retrofit of the Portrait Show, however it being closely similar to each other it can be possible.

Animatronics Used

Known Installations

Location Opening / Installation Date Removal Date
Concord, CA (1975 Diamond Blvd) May 1979 1990/91
Sacramento , CA (7020 Stockton Blvd) August 1979 1985
Huntington Beach, CA (15511 Edwards St) October 1979 1989/1990
Stockton, CA (4555 N Pershing Ave) October 1979 1981/1982
Sparks, NV (530 Greenbrae Dr) December 1979 1981/1982
Citrus Heights, CA (7614 Greenback Lane) December 1979 January 1985
Fullerton, CA (1841 W Orangethorpe Ave) March 1980 1985
La Habra, CA (901 Harbor Blvd) May 1980 1984
Ogden, UT (3155 Harrison Blvd) May 1980 1991
Sun Valley, CA (8357 Laurel Canyon Blvd) July 1980 1981/1982
Fresno, CA (5384 N Blackstone Ave) July/August 1980 May 1985
Tucson, AZ (5534 E 22nd St) July 1980 1987
Covina, CA (601 Azusa Ave) August 1980 1981/1982
San Ramon, CA (1901 San Ramon Valley Blvd) October 1980 1984
Simi Valley, CA (71 Tierra Rejada Rd) October 1980 1990
Raleigh, NC (4339 Falls of the Neuse Rd) November 1980 1984
Maple Heights, OH (5376 Northfield Rd) November 1980 1985/1986
Surfer's Paradise, Queensland (2 Cavill Avenue) March 1981 1982
Hayward, CA (24253 Hesperian Blvd) April 1981 1990
Lake Forest, CA (24416 Muirlands Blvd) June 1981 Fall 2001

Videos

Links Description Footage Date
Link Maple Heights, OH's Portrait Show 1980
Link Possibly Citrus Heights, CA's Portrait Show? May 1981
Link Sacremento CA's Portrait Show. 1982
Link Simi Valley, CA's Portrait Show. 1986
Link Huntington Beach, CA's Portrait Show. 1987
Link Lake Forest, CA's Portrait Show Late 1980s

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