Where Art Plays Its Part: Volume IX: Chaplin’s Music Café

Resonating on the main street each weekend in Spring City is , where stage acts take to life through the encouragement of those who dedicate their time to tidying schedules of gigs months in advance.

In 1908, the café opened under its first name, the Gem Theater, showcasing the talents of traveling troop actors. It next served as a theater for silent films.

“When talking pictures came around, this place was too small and not properly set up for a movie theater,” said Chaplin’s managing partner Dennis Coleman who took on his position three years ago. “There was a balcony for viewing but no projection room.”

After that, the downtown location served as a union hall, a Harley Davidson shop and lastly, a photography studio.

Chaplin’s opened about five years ago at the hands of Lee Zagorski. Coleman explained that Bob Cooney and Roy Cannon transitioned into the space as owners a year later, and since then, its positive outreach to local musicians has continually flourished.

Because the likes of Abbott and Costello and Charlie Chaplin performed in the building so many decades ago, it seemed fitting to keep ‘Chaplin’ in the performance-driven name.

Four nights a week, the café is alive with the better kind of sound away from the blur of busy days.

“We actively support every genre of music with the exception of kinds where people like to mosh,” Coleman said in elaborating that the café is intended to be a listening room meant for some senses-perking appreciation both across the paths of the audience and the performers.

Shows booked around three months ahead of time play on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights from 8 p.m. to around 11 p.m.

Sunday nights are saved for open mic at 6 p.m. and sometimes include performance poetry and comedy, in addition to music.

Coleman’s fellow booking managers Chris Cachuela and Lauren Herring work alongside him in busily organizing shows year-round.

“We support blues, bluegrass, all kinds of rock and roll, string quartet types and hip hop,” Coleman said. “It’s all genres. We make no distinction. If you have some passion about your music and can get some fans out, we’re going to support you.”

Thursday nights are saved for a program fine-tuned by Coleman in the last year-and-a-half: he lines up four acts of fledgling local musicians to help them start to develop a fan base.

“At one time, we had 80 different bands and performers who said, ‘We’d love to play at Chaplin’s, but we don’t have a very big following, so we’d like to be an opener for someone else,’” Coleman reflected. “An opener here doesn’t make a lot of money, but we expect them to sell some tickets. I had this very long list of people I knew I didn’t have a spot for, and a lot of them were younger musicians.”

Coleman asked the musicians how many people they could square away to buy tickets, and with that small question, the showcase for fresh acts began.

“If they all showed up and there were no ticket sales, it would be impossible for us to stay open,” Coleman said. “What I ask them is to find a way to sell five measly tickets, sort of covering costs.”

“It gives young people a stage, which is important to me,” Coleman said, noting that turnouts vary by the band, but some will bring up to 20 or 30 people out to the shows in this cozily charming café setting. “It’s become a pretty popular program.”

Limerick guitarist Trevor Gordon Hall often plays at Chaplin’s, while Liz Longley, an award-winning singer-songwriter and graduate of Boston’s Berklee College of Music, who is from Downingtown but recently moved to Nashville, along with Pottstown’s pop and R&B artist Dustin Tavella, are among a few of the more well-known visiting musicians.

The café’s impeccable acoustics make it a much sought-after alternative to studio time, as sound engineer James Stapleford handles high-quality audio and video recordings for bands.

“We exist for the benefit of the performers and their fans, to share a hospitable place for them and their music,” Coleman added.

“We function so much during the week with our work, most of us, through our head. Music and story is about the heart. That’s how we recreate,” Coleman said. “When people can go out after a busy work week or an arduous week with the kids, sit down for a couple of hours, and just listen to music, it does the heart good.”