For nearly 90 years, the Count Basie Theatre has held court on Monmouth Street, bringing audiences and top-tier talent to downtown Red Bank. In the coming days, there will be plenty of news regarding the venue’s future as a better Basie for the community, so we’re taking this opportunity to fill you in on some facts you might not know about this historic venue.
1. It’s more than a concert venue
The Basie, which will celebrate its 90th anniversary next year, is about more than hosting terrific headlining events. The venue has also been home to the Count Basie Theatre Performing Arts Academy for the last two decades, offering classics and workshops ranging from theater basics to Latin ballroom dancing to public speaking to children and adults alike.
The academy also has a public outreach program placing instructors in local schools to teach performing arts, hosts the Basie awards (a Tony-style awards ceremony for area high schools) and bus-in shows for students from around the state.
Buy Photo Adam Phiipson, CEO of the Count Basie Theatre, and Yvonne Lamb Scudiery, director of Education at the Red Bank theater. The Basie unveiled a new Performing Arts Academy building. This space will be available to community organizations free of charge. 092115 (Photo: Tom Spader/Staff photographer)
“Partnership programs have been growing — teaching kids jazz, how to be rock stars,” said theater CEO Adam Philipson. “We have been approached by many other arts nonprofits that would like nothing more than to be a resident company here.”
CEO Adam Philipson on the continuing mission of the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank. Jason Towlen
2. It’s a major economic force
Red Bank’s economy feels a major impact from the Basie’s activity, as the theater pumps an estimated $17 million into the region annually, much to the benefit of fellow local businesses.
“A number of restaurants that are on the perimeter of the Basie just have a Saturday night every time they have a show,” said Danny Murphy of Red Bank, owner of Danny’s Steakhouse on Bridge Avenue. “If you know the rest business, that’s usually our busiest night. If you have four shows in a week, that’s four Saturdays a week.”
3. It inspired “The Voice” of the Shore
Colts Neck native and former “The Voice” finalist Jacquie Lee got her start at the Basie as a student of the Performing Arts Academy’s Rockit Live Foundation back in 2007.
Buy Photo Jacquie Lee of Colts Neck, runner-up on Season 5 of “The Voice,” took classes at the Count Basie Theatre years ago. (Photo: FILE PHOTO)
Musicians including Steven Van Zandt of the E Street Band and former Bon Jovi guitarist Bobby Bandiera, drummer Bernard Purdie and the Marshall Tucker Band have performed with the Rockit students since the program launched in 2004.
Rockit students have toured with Steve Vai and performed with Keith Urban. And Lee, perhaps their highest-profile alumni to date, never forgot her roots: in 2013, she made her first post-”The Voice” concert appearance at the Basie.
4. Its footprint is expanding
The Basie recently acquired the former Wawa property west of the theater on Monmouth Street, re-dedicating it as the brick and mortar home of the Count Basie Theatre Performing Arts Academy last month.
5. It’s home to incredibly memorable benefits
Time and again, the theater has been home for landmark concerts benefiting the greater good. In 1998, Bruce Springsteen joined forces with Southside Johnny Lyon and Jon Bon Jovi to support the family of slain Long Branch police Sgt. Patrick King. Springsteen and Bon Jovi returned in 2001 to perform with Joan Jett in support of the the Alliance of Neighbors of Monmouth County in the wake of 9/11.
Buy Photo Southside Johnny, Jon Bon Jovi and Bruce Springsteen during opening number of the Patrick King Benefit at the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank Jan. 31, 1998. (Photo: Peter Ackerman)
Red Bank resident and former “Daily Show” host Jon Stewart appeared with Middletown native news anchor Brian Williams for an evening to support superstorm Sandy relief in December 2012. And, for the last several years Bandiera and friends — incluidng Springsteen, Bon Jovi, Nicole Atkins and Gaslight Anthem singer Brian Fallon — have staged the charitable Hope Concerts at the theater.
Hope Concert 8 is set to benefit 180 Turning Lives Around, a private, nonprofit charitable organization dedicated to ending domestic and sexual violence in the local community, and the Visiting Nurse Association Health Group, New Jersey’s largest nonprofit visiting nurse association and visiting physician service, on Dec. 23.
Buy Photo Jon Bon Jovi performs with Bobby Bandiera during the 2014 Hope Concert at the Count Basie Theatre, Red Bank. (Photo: File photo)
6. It’s getting back to its roots
In 2008, the interior of the theater was restored to his historic origins; colors were matched, fixtures and moldings were re-created and the cloud-tinged rotunda dome was restored to its original grandeur. Even the original carpeting was re-created.
The theater is also getting back in the movie business. When it opened on Nov. 11, 1926, as the Carlton Theater, it was with a feature-length silent film from that year: "The Quarterback," starring Richard Dix. The Basie installed a high-definition digital projector in 2013, and upcoming film screenings through the Count Basie Theatre Cinema Society include a 40th anniversary showing “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” on Monday, Oct. 26. The Project FX student film festival will also return next year.
7. It’s a favorite among artists
Tony Bennett called it his “favorite place.” Art Garfunkel said it “is to a singer what a Steinway is to a pianist.” Lyle Lovett called it “one of the nicest-sounding rooms in the whole United States of America.” Earlier this year, Diana Krall called the Basie her favorite venue in the world.
Acts including Blind Melon, Pat Metheny and Nine Inch Nails have held rehearsals at the theater, and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer David Byrne shot his 1992 “Between the Teeth” concert film at the venue.
8. It has plenty of Bruce and Bon Jovi history
Springsteen played the venue for the first time more than 40 years ago, back in August 1974, and his subsequent August 1975 appearance factored into iconic Newsweek cover story. In 2008, Springsteen and his E Street Band returned to the theater to play their “Born to Run” and “Darkness on the Edge of Town” albums in their entirety.
Buy Photo Jon Bon Jovi performes during The Hope Concert III at Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank in August 2014 to raise money for the Valerie Fund Center at Children's Hospital at Monmouth Medical Center. (Photo: File Photo)
Bon Jovi played a series of benefit shows at the theater starting in the early ‘90s, including a double header in December 1990 to benefit the Monmouth County Arts Council, Holmdel’s Sisters of the Good Shepherd and a local family suffering from Lyme disease.
Springsteen and Bon Jovi most recently shared the Basie stage (with Lyon, Bandieria, Gary U.S. Bonds and more in attendance for good measure) at a 2008 Hope Concert.
9. It’s Little Steven’s place
The Basie holds a special significance for Steven Van Zandt, the E Street Band guitarist and actor also known as Miami Steve and Little Steven. Van Zandt, a Middletown native, saw the Beatles’ “A Hard Day’s Night” at the theater back in 1964, and continues to be involved with the venue to this day.
Steven Van Zandt (right) and Bruce Springsteen on stage at the Count Basie Theater in Red Bank in 1998. (Photo: Mark R. Sullivan)
Van Zandt and his wife Maureen received the theater’s inaugural Vanguard Awards last year, and earlier this month they were named to the Basie’s boards of trustees and directors