Too Many Venues Are Gone

This past Monday, the Inter-Media Art Center in my hometown of Huntington, Long Island closed its doors for good, after 26 years of presenting concerts, and I am heartbroken.

IMAC was housed in the balcony level of a 2,000 or so seat early 1900’s theatre. Imagine if the Count Basie Theatre were cut in half horizontally. Imagine if where the balcony rail now exists, a new floor was built all the way to the back of the building, creating a new second floor. Somewhere back ages ago, that’s what was done to the IMAC building. The idea was to create a mini shopping mall on the first floor, and have a small 500-seat movie theatre upstairs.

Although there were stores left and right of the theatre entrance, just like the Basie and so many other historic theatres have, the shopping mall never got built. The theatre however found its way. Its first incarnation was as The Balcony Theatre. I think that’s what its name was. There was already an excellent indie cinema in town (The New Community Cinema) and the Balcony Theatre carved out a niche for itself showing rock and roll films and “midnight movies.” I spent countless weekends there in 10^th grade watching movies that in the age before VCRs and on-demand cable you couldn’t see anywhere else.

Then in 1983, while I was away at college, a nonprofit arts group, the Inter-Media Art Center rented the space. I was introduced by a phone call from a friend. I arrived home from college to receive a call from a friend, who was helping to install their stage lighting system. He needed some hands, was I interested in working crew for a dance show that weekend? I once figured out that I worked 36 of the next 50 hours of my life.

The show was the Bill T. Jones and Arnie Zane Dance Company. If you know anything about dance, you know that they went on to become a major force in the dance world, that Arnie died from AIDS, and Bill T. is now a major figure in the dance world. But then it was a slightly different story, especially in the suburbs.

And that was IMAC’s mission. If it was a different story, especially in the suburbs, they were interested. Over time as the funding climate changed and the demands of earning their keep from the box office became ever greater, their programming became slightly more conservative. But as a stagehand or an audience member I still saw so many great performers there. Bela Fleck. McCoy Tyner. Yellowjackets. The Brecker Brothers.

Because the floor that was created by dividing the old building in half now placed the “new” stage directly under the old dome, the sound was magnificent. And because the entire theatre was now comprised of what was once the balcony, all the seats had terrific sight lines and weren’t that far from the stage.

The driving force behind all of this creativity and madness were also a couple in real life: Michael Rothbard and Kathie Bodily. How they managed to work and live together is now beyond me. Back in the day, I thought they were so romantic, working all hours for often no pay, just because they believed in what they were doing.

In a completely different context, I read these words today in John Lefsetz’s column on the trade web site Celebrity Access: “We're drawn to those who are not sheep, who do their own thing, who BELIEVE in what they're doing.”

That was (and still is) Michael and Kathie.

IMAC is the place where I started figuring out my own career path to arts and theatre management. I eventually came to realize that Michael and Kathie were at least half insane to be doing what they were doing, but I’ve come to realize that anything worth doing, and anything that inspires you, be it music, dance, theatre, sports, politics, your family, or your children, is at least half insane in the first place.

The IMAC organization did not own its theatre-- it only rented it, and my understanding about IMAC’s demise is that after years of fruitlessly trying to get their landlord to address the issues of a very old building, they just couldn’t afford to go on all by themselves.

And this is where this personal memoir starts to relate to the Basie:

Since 1973 the Count Basie Theatre has been owned and operated by first the Monmouth County Arts Council, and since 1999 the Count Basie Theatre, Inc. Both, like IMAC, are nonprofit organizations, but because the organizations here owned the building, its destiny could be shaped and controlled and secured.

Trust me on this, it hasn’t always been much easier here in Red Bank, NJ than it was in Huntington, NY. It was just last year that the Basie received its first major interior overhaul in more than 80 years, and those of you who have been attending for years know what precarious shape the building has been in for much of its life.

But Monmouth, Ocean and Middlesex County are fortunate to still have a strong theatre whose future, while it may never be easy in a “kaching!” way, is at least secured. Too many venues are gone. There were four theatres in Red Bank in 1926 when the Basie first opened, and they’re all gone. The Mayfair in Asbury is gone. And now IMAC in Huntington, NY is gone too. But at least the people who populated it during its extraordinary 26 year run have great, life changing memories, and those venues who are able to carry on, like the Basie, will continue to do so, as long as all of you keep buying tickets.

Spring Benefit Concert & Gala --

This past Saturday night, May 4, 2009, the Count Basie Theatre celebrated its seventh annual Spring Benefit Concert and Gala with a performance by Martin Short. Each year the theatre must fundraise about 25% of its annual operating budget, and the Gala brings in 5% in just one night. In other words, it’s an important night.

Since the Gala’s inception in May 2003 when Tony Bennett first graced our stage, we’ve enjoyed Gala performances by k.d. lang (2004), the late James Brown (2005), Smokey Robinson (2006), Brian Wilson (2007), and Tony Bennett again (2008). This year Martin Short provided the entertainment, and it was a wonderful evening.


_{Martin Short as Ed Grimley on May 2nd, 2009 at Count Basie Theatre's spring gala}

An evening like the Gala is a massive undertaking, and we want to thank the people who are principally responsible for putting it together on the theatre’s behalf: our Honoree this year, Russ Lucas; the Honorary Chairpersons, Nick and Tracy Brown and Larry and Joyce Sykoff; the Chairpersons, Jennifer Anderson and Nancy Byrne Reinhart; the Gala Committee, Lee Babitt, Kate Barnard, Buddy Carter, Sarah Chiles, Kathy Donnelly, Taryn Flynn, Mary Beth Glaccum, Celine Gordon, Marie Greenberg, Grace Hanlon, Michele Karagianakis, Mindy Kestenman, Estelle Ketterer, Dale Leach, Joe Lucas, Maria Manley, Michael Oster, Jennifer Portman, Maggie Riker, Ann Rossbach, Meg Sellig, Terry Severance, Leah Siltas, Gail Van Winkle, and Lynne Ward; and last but not least the staff of the Count Basie Theatre Foundation, who live and breathe this event for 3-4 months: CEO Rusty Young, Director of Events and Sponsorships Rachel Warnick, Director of Major Gifts & Membership Ann Ciabattoni, Major Gifts Administrator Cate Knight, and Membership Associate Alice Nelson.

Each year at the top of the show, the Chairperson of the Count Basie Theatre’s Board of Trustees has the obligation (oops, I meant to say, honor) of making the major speech for the evening. Since 2006 that honor has fallen to Brian Leddin, Chairman of the Theatre’s Board of Trustees. This is Brian’s last year as our Chairman, so this year’s speech was sort of like his last “State of the Union” speech. An awful lot of impressive work has been accomplished since Brian took office in October 2005, and I thought it was worthy posting his Gala remarks here, for everyone who wasn’t able to be here this past Saturday night to read.

The Curtain Speech of Brian Leddin, Chairman of the Count Basie Theatre Board of Trustees, at the Seventh Annual Spring Benefit Concert & Gala, starring Martin Short, on May 2, 2009:

Good evening and welcome to the Count Basie Theatre’s seventh annual gala starring Martin Short. This Gala is one of several events that the Count Basie Theatre Foundation runs to support the operation of the Count Basie Theatre. A few years ago we conducted a survey of our audience members and the community at large and the answers shed light on two important facts. The first was that you wanted to see the theatre restored to its former glory and the second was that many people were unaware that we a not-for-profit operation. Clearly we listened to you on the first issue and after replacing the seats and the building’s roof a few years ago, we closed last summer for a complete renovation and restoration of the auditorium and lobbies and creation of the Members’ Carlton Lounge next door to the box office.

I wish that I could tell you that the work that was required to restore this 80+ year old building has been completed, but the truth is that it’s too soon to put the hammers and paint brushes away. The Theatre’s Restoration and Renovation Committee will soon be meeting to map out the next phases of work to be done. High on the list is a $2M restoration of the building’s façade and brick work. It won’t have done us much good to have restored the interior, if the rain leaks in.

Though we have been busy bringing the building and your experience with us up to date, we have not neglected our mission to bring diverse programming and education in the arts to our community. Through the Count’s Cool School Program we provide music, dance and theatre training to adult and children. Our Count Basie Theatre Award program, which is scheduled for May 20th, recognizes excellence in high school drama and musical theater. That program which culminates in a Tony-award style show includes performances by nominated students and productions. We also work hard to bring a wide variety of music, comedy, dance and other programs to you.

As a non-profit operation, we rely on ticket sales, public and private grants, events like the Gala, and membership to keep us in business. That’s why we want to thank you for coming to the Gala this evening, for the contributions you have made over the years, and, hopefully for your continuing support. Afterall, this is your theatre.

I would like to also take this opportunity to acknowledge the folks who lead our two organizations. As co-chairmen of the Count Basie Theatre Foundation, Marshall Knopf and Hugh Ward work tirelessly to promote the theatre in the community and to make our fundraising events successful. CEO of the Foundation is Rusty Young. He and his staff and their volunteers are responsible for raising the funds to operate the theatre, restore and, hopefully one day, expand the buildings and create an endowment for the Theatre’s long-term health.

CEO of the Count Basie Theatre is Numa Saisselin. Numa and his staff of over 100 full and part-time employees operate the theatre, book the shows and keep the lights on and the seats full.Besides getting the chance to introduce our leadership to you, the Gala also gives us an opportunity to recognize and honor the contributions of a member of our community. Before I do that, however, I’d like you to meet the co-chairwomen of tonight’s event.

Nancy Byrne Reinhart has had a career spanning 30 years planning special events for corporations and non profits; she served as the Public Relations director for the women's professional tennis tour and most recently served 7 years as the Director of Tourism for the state of NJ. After moving to Monmouth County she fell in love with the Count Basie and has been using her talent and experience to help with all things Basie.

Since 2001, Jennifer Anderson has worked as an independent development consultant with various non-profit organizations to raise funds and facilitate community outreach projects. She has worked with many agencies in New Jersey and New York City, including the American Cancer Society, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Boys Towns of Italy, the Community Foundation of New Jersey, Meridian Health Foundation, and Operation Smile. Besides volunteering her time for the Basie, Jennifer currently serves as a member of the Monmouth County Arts Council Board of Directors and is a member of the Blair Academy Parents Fund Committee.

Russ Lucas was a co-founder of Lucas Capital Management in 1996, and he has been a principal and seniorportfolio manager for client accounts. Mr. Lucas co-Chairs the LEV Investment Committee.

He serves on the Board of Trustees of Tuckerton Seaport, the Advisory Board of Blackstone Minerals and was a founding member of The Community Foundation of New Jersey where he is former Chairman of the Investment Committee and a member of the Board of Directors of the Count Basie Theater Foundation, where he is Co chairman of the capital campaign, vice chairman of the Foundation Board and a very generous donor to the capital campaign.

He has also hosted events for the benefit of the Theatre...including friend raising events at his home as well as receptions in the Carlton Lounge for current Patrons and prospects. Finally he is an experienced (and successful) racer of sailboats and travels extensively to compete. We are happy and lucky to have here with us tonight and we are proud to have him as this evening’s honoree.

And now… on with the show!

Ticket Scalping

TICKET SCALPING

The secondary ticket market is big news here in NJ this week. Two arena shows by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band went on sale, and not surprisingly, sold out in a heartbeat. In a round number, something like 40,000 tickets would be venue capacity for two shows.

But were they really gone? Even as the shows were selling out, tickets were appearing for re-sale on a secondary ticketing site. The rub in this saga is that the secondary ticketing site, TicketsNow, is owned by the primary ticketing company, Ticketmaster. Many, many questions have been raised, not the least of which is this: is it a conflict of interest for a primary ticketing company, whose job, at least in theory, is to serve the customers on a level playing field, to also own a secondary ticketing outlet, whose sole purpose is to buy tickets and resell them for as much money as possible?

Call it what you will. Secondary ticketing, ticket brokering, but to me, it’s still plain old ticket scalping. We’ve come a long way from the days of a guy in a hoodie on the street corner muttering, “Tickets, tickets, who needs tickets?” The Internet made it possible to re-sell tickets on a grand scale, and it has become a big, big business; by some estimates, a $10 billion or more industry that even has its own trade association. A billion here, a billion there, and sooner or later you’re talking about real money, and it’s no surprise that major companies eventually took notice, and decided it was easier to join ‘em rather than fight ‘em, and get their piece of the pie too.

As a business school graduate with an MBA, I think that it’s just the marketplace at work. It’s classic economics. A finite supply of a very desirable product translates to customers willing to pay higher prices. The secondary ticket market is just serving a need, and brokers are just middlemen in a process. We live and work in a market economy, and it’s just capitalism at work; nothing wrong with that, and what could be more American than capitalism at work?

But as a venue manager, talent buyer and show presenter, it really irks me, because ticket brokers are not really brokering anything. They’re not like real estate agents, connecting buyers with sellers. They’re speculators, buying tickets to resell at a vastly inflated markup.

Here’s what really bugs me: not one cent of the markup goes to anyone actually connected to a show: not the artist who spent years honing his, her or their craft; not the promoter, who committed to spending tens and sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars to stage the show; not the venue, which has spent a lot of money keeping the building alive.

Here in NJ, the NJ Consumer Fraud Act attempts to regulate the secondary market. Brokers must register with the state. Registered brokers or season ticket holders may resell a ticket for up to 50% more than face value. Individual ticket holders may resell their tickets at a 20% premium or a $3.00 markup whichever is greater. Offering anything of value to a venue employee in exchange for special access to tickets is a violation, and a fourth degree crime punishable by up to 18 months in jail. (If you’re curious, the full text of Sections 56:8-26 to 56:8-38 of the NJ Consumer Fraud Act are available at www.njconsumeraffairs.gov/ocp/ocplaw.pdf.)

But in the Internet age, try actually enforcing that. It’s nearly impossible. The scalper you score your tickets from could be working next-door or operating from a South Seas Island.

The Count Basie Theatre operates its own box office. Phone, window, and Internet ticket sales are all handled by the theatre, but still from time to time in the course of assisting customers with a problem, we discover that they did not purchase their ticket from us, but rather purchased the ticket from a re-seller, usually at greatly inflated prices. These customers are generally usually upset when they find out we can’t help them, because they did not transact their business with us.

The unfortunate aspect of the situation this week is that despite the fact that he could easily command much, much higher ticket prices (especially here in NJ), Mr. Springsteen is one of the few artists who has actually gone to great lengths over the years to keep his shows reasonably priced. Yes, for the record, the Count Basie Theatre has been the recipient of a benefit concert by Mr. Springsteen and the band, with very high priced tickets, and many other Monmouth County charities have benefited over the years from similar benefit concerts at the theatre. However, these were charity benefits whose sole purpose was to raise funds for a deserving cause. When it comes to regular shows, Mr. Springsteen has visibly put some effort into keeping ticket prices affordable.

So who’s to blame here? The big massive entertainment companies, who talk a good game about fan-centered service, but really, it’s just about prying more money out of your pocket? The government for not adequately regulating the industry, enforcing the current regulations, or allowing a series of mergers and acquisitions to result in near monopolies in some sectors of the entertainment industry? Or the customers who continue to patronize scalpers, and just make it that much more of an attractive business to be in.

These seem like trivial concerns these days, when so many larger issues confront our nation and society. But then again, there’s a basic issue of fairness at hand. Do we allow our entertainment and cultural options to be dictated by whoever has the most money and therefore the ability shove everyone else out of the market?

Here at the Count Basie Theatre tickets are handled exclusively by our own Box Office, in conjunction with an online vendor who operates our own ticketing web site. If you purchase tickets from a broker, you are paying a much higher price than you need to. Ticket brokers may make it appear that they have "special access" to the best seats, but all they do is purchase tickets from our box office and resell them to you at a markup. Even when a ticket broker is operating within the law, you still pay much more than you need to. Even when you think a show is sold out, it’s always worth a call to the box office at 732-842-9000 to check.

I’m not naïve. It is after all called show BUSINESS for a reason, and it takes money to make all this go, but if you have something to say about this, don’t hesitate to (1) vote with your wallet and (2) make your voice heard with your elected representatives.

Thoughts on Boz Scaggs & more...

I thought the Boz Scaggs show last week was terrific, one of the best performances recently. The band were fabulous musicians, the quality of the sound mix had absolute clarity, the volume was appropriate (not too quiet, not too loud, but just right) and the set list was killer; he performed every song that a fan would want to hear.

He kicked things off with “Lowdown,” and you really have to admire an artist who plays his biggest hit first. That shows real confidence. It also lets you know that you’re in for a special night, because if you put the song the fans most want to hear in the first slot, where do you go from there? You better make sure you’re going up. Mr. Scaggs and company did not disappoint.

The next morning I had the pleasure of standing in line at 7-11 buying the Sunday papers behind two people who were at the show, and anonymously listening in while they raved about it.

This show gives me an opportunity to address one of the issues we hear about from customers most frequently: sound quality. The sound at this show was excellent. The sound engineer was Rich Davis, who last mixed at the Basie when he was here with Brian Wilson a year and a half ago for our Gala. One fun thing about show biz is that you keep crossing paths with people on different shows every few years.

The theatre does not own its own sound system. We bring in a sound company when we need one. Sometimes the artist is traveling with sound, but maybe 90% of the time, we supply the sound system. We use the same company: ACIR out of Atlantic City. (Everyone who works for them is named Steve; next time you stroll past the sound board, say “Hi Steve” and you can’t go wrong.) So most of the time when you see a sound system in use for a concert at the Basie, it is the same exact gear you’ve seen and heard before. Sometimes the artist may request a mixing console they prefer, but most of the time it’s the same exact gear.

The big difference from night to night is the performers using the system, and the engineer mixing the system. The artist almost always brings their own engineer, so "the Steves" don’t often get to mix. If you get an artist engineer who is really good at his or her job, the results can be magnificent. You can hear every instrument and voice with clarity, and the volume is not excessive. But if you get an engineer who is not so good at his or her job, well… you know what that result is like.

Of course people ask me all the time: why? Why isn’t the sound good tonight? Why can’t that person make it sound better, or less loud? And the answer is more or less the same answer that applies to any job or career: some of us are really good at what we do, and some aren’t. Why would an artist hire someone who isn’t so good? It’s hard for me to answer that question when I’m not doing their hiring, but I imagine it’s the same as any hiring scenario you encounter in your work.

The other factor is often the performers themselves. If you get a group of musicians who really know how to use a sound system to their advantage, together with a great engineer, it can be a magical night. But even if you have a great engineer, if you get a guitar player who just insists on turning his amplifier all the way up, and drowning out everyone else on stage, then the sound engineer is forced to turn the volume on everyone else up to try to get a balanced mix, and the result is just one big, loud, muddy mess.

Of course, it doesn’t need to be that way, but human nature is human nature, and it’s no different in show business. Some people know how to work with others, and some people just insist on going their own way and making everyone else deal with the consequences.

Of course, even in a perfect world, things still happen. There’s an awful lot of gear on stage at any given concert, and sometimes things break down. It happens, and when it does, we do our best to fix it and get back on track. The surprise is not that things break down from time to time. The surprise is that there’s so much complicated gear on stage that the miracle is that any of it ever works at all.

But at any rate, once in a while the right group of musicians and engineers and technicians catch magic in a bottle, and if you were at the Boz Scaggs show, you know that everything and everyone were on top of their game and working together. It was a great night.

Happy New Year!

Now that it’s over, it’s hard to believe that 2008 really is, in fact, over. Here are the Basie, it seems like the 4-month renovation between June and October of 2008 was already years ago, and since the re-opening on October 30, November and December flew by.

We knew heading into it that the “Setting the Stage” renovation project was going to take a lot out of us, but it would be nothing compared to the November-December time period, when after being closed for four months we would do 7 re-opening receptions in 7 days and then 45 shows and 9 rehearsals in 63 days. It was exhausting to live through, and I think just about everyone here at the Basie was mentally and physically wiped out by the time New Years Eve came to a conclusion, but ultimately it was very rewarding. It’s a real pleasure to finally have a room as great as the performances on the stage, and not to have to make excuses for anything anymore.

Here, in no apparent order, are some random thoughts from our perspective over the last two months:

--We re-opened on October 30 with the Jersey Shore Rock-N-Soul Revue’s “California Dreaming” show. I thought Bobby Bandiera was on top of his game, and led an exceptional band through an exceptionally tight show. We had a sound equipment malfunction during the first act which took out the speakers for the first few rows of the orchestra, but got it corrected during intermission. The tight segues from song to song stand out in my mind as a highlight. It was like watching a great NBA team handing off to each other without looking.

--Capitol Steps were funnier than ever this year. But hey, the 2008 election cycle gave them an awful lot of material to work with.

--It was a great, great pleasure to be able to show David Byrne, Tony Bennett, Spyro Gyra and The Rippingtons the “new and improved” theatre. They’ve all been here many times before and they all had great things to say about the theatre. David Byrne in particular filmed a live concert here in the 90’s, so he actually has a visual reminder of what the place used to look like. Boy, I love saying that… what the place USED to look like.

--Thanksgiving weekend was like St. Patricks Day 4 months early. The Three Irish Tenors in “Christmas from Dublin” on Saturday and then Ronan Tynan on Sunday. If you like Irish music, you couldn’t ask for anything more in one 48-hour period, and both shows were almost sold out, too. Amazing. You, the audience, continue to inspire us.

--The Sinatra Birthday Bash turned out to be one of the emotional highs of November and December. Joe Muccioli of the Jazz Arts Project had this idea to cast a set of NJ-area singers and have them perform on Frank Sinatra’s birthday with the Red Bank Jazz Orchestra, and we were pleased to work with him on this project, but I don’t think we had any idea it was going to turn out the way it did! I hope it carried across the proscenium and into the audience, but there was a great camaraderie among the singers backstage. Everyone watched everyone else’s performance from the wings, and a group of people who had never met each other just two days earlier came together in a unique way. It’s fun to buy a show off the road and bring it to Red Bank, but it’s much more fun to be in on the creation of something special from the ground up, and this was one of those truly special nights.

--Then of course there was The Hope Concert. After whole year of raising money and selling tickets for the theatre, it sure is fun to help give money away, and the final tally was $302,000 in support for the Parker Family Health Center here in Red Bank, which makes me feel very good. Anyone providing free medical care to folks without health insurance need and deserve all the support they can get! The real heroes of this event are the audience, who pony up a good ticket price, and the performers (let’s face it, nobody comes to hear me speakify), and Bob Bandiera, who has the almost thankless task of wrangling the performers, making a set list, rehearsing the band, and then doing it all over again every time someone new joins the party. As a community we owe a great deal of thanks to these people. I am very lucky to work in a community with such a rich musical history, from the early 1900’s when Count Basie himself haunted our nightspots as a young man through now, and we are all so lucky that there is such a long-standing tradition of the members of our musical community turning out for occasions like this. All the folks on the stage that night work hundreds of nights a year, yet instead of taking a paying job or even more important, spending a rare night at home with the family, they all show up for no pay, just because it’s the right thing to do. For everyone who thinks we’re just bald-faced liars here at the Basie every time you ask if a specific performer is going to show up and we say we don’t know, or give you a definitive no, I just want to say that we really don’t know, or we really have been told it’s not going to happen, and when someone ultimately shows up, it’s as much of a surprise to us as it is to you!

--And then it was New Years Eve again, and here we were with Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes for, believe it or not, the 10th time on New Years Eve. Sirius Satellite Radio was in the house again and we were live around the world. I am sure lots of folks wished they could be here, but we were lucky enough to actually be part of the party all over again. Local band Outside the Box provided a great opening set this year I thought. I was out of the room for a while and when I came back in to listen to this funky, jazz inflected jam going on, and Mark Pender of the Jukes was onstage with them. It wasn’t until they broke out of the jam and headed back to the head of the tune that I realized with a gasp that they were covering Bruce Springsteen’s “Kitty’s Back.” I told singer Jeff Caffone later that it took real chutzpah to cover that tune, in this venue. He told me Southside gave him permission, and I told him, “Of course Johnny did. What does he care? It’s not his song!” But how much fun must that have been for a young band, to play the Basie on New Years Eve and have the headliners sit in?

So here we are in the New Year, and the last three days of this week have been hell. An awful lot of work piled up in the office while all this was going on. My day to day life is just like life in any other office. The paper just keeps coming, and especially during the holidays it seems like it just piles up, and then all has to be dealt with in the first week of January, before it spontaneously combusts and business comes to a grinding halt. But we’re all taking a deep breath and plowing ahead.

Lots of great shows on the horizon, and I hope you’ll all stay tuned this year. We’re keeping a real eye on attendance and the economy and trying as much as possible to keep the tickets reasonably priced at this time (or what counts for reasonable in show business, the choice being to have an artist or not).

Our best wishes to you and your family and we’ll see you soon!

Believe it or not, it’s almost over.

Believe it or not, it’s almost over. In three days we’ll start showing off the building in a series of Open Houses and Receptions, and Opening Night is just eight days away. The inspections are done, the permits are issued, and we’re putting the finishing touches on this grand old building. I am pleased to report that in every way, the result of this summer’s work is, truly, a Better Basie. We can’t wait for you all to see it.

We’re on time and slightly under budget and the results, if I can brag a little, are spectacular. Just to recap what’s been achieved this summer: all the decorative plaster on the interior of the auditorium and the lobbies has been restored, and painted using the palette originally used in 1926. All the bars have been replaced. There are new house lighting fixtures. There is new carpeting throughout. There is a new heating system. For the first time there is a fire suppression system (sprinklers) throughout the building. There is a brand new Patrons Lounge. And all the behind the walls and above the ceiling piping, conduit and ductwork for future upgrades of the lighting, sound, audio/visual, mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems has been installed; so in future phases, we won’t have to knock down walls or punch holes in ceilings to keep expanding upon the work now accomplished.

We spent $8 million this summer, and after this there is about another $8 million to spend, and then the building will be where it needs to be, updated and modernized and ready to face the next 90 to 100 years.

There are a number of improvements that we very much wanted to make this summer, but did not, because we had to draw the financial line somewhere. Over the last 6-7 years, as we have made improvement upon improvement to the Basie building, organization and programming, we have tried to be responsible, and not bite off more than we can chew. In other words, we have been mindful not to let our dreams run off with our bank account. We’ve all seen recent examples of companies and organizations, both in the nonprofit and the commercial sectors, who have overextended themselves, and engaged in projects and initiatives that they really could not afford to financially support. Much remains to be done on the Basie, but we would rather be in the position of looking forward to building upon this success, than looking back and wondering how we wound up with a building and a debt we could not afford.

We wish we had been able to restore the façade this summer, expand the bathrooms, update the stage and the backstage spaces, and improve the rehearsal spaces and office spaces. But still, this remains a very satisfying moment to pause, reflect and enjoy, because as you’ll see when you’re back in the building, an awful lot was accomplished over the last four months since we closed on June 30!

I’m making it all sound easy, and to be truthful, there were a few unexpected issues to resolve this summer. There is about 20 feet between the ceiling of the auditorium that you see and the actual roof of the building-- and the space in between is packed with steel, I-beams and catwalks, and running ductwork through this space turned out to be more difficult (and costly) than expected. There is a new main curtain for the stage, and we had intended it as a supplement to the original 1926 painted drop that has served as our main curtain for 80+ years. For the moment, the logistics do not permit both to be in service at the same time, so we had to take the 1926 drop out of service. (It’s being carefully stored, because we are in love with this piece of our history. We’ve always planned to have it conserved and restored, and as soon as we can afford that, and the next round of improvements have taken place, including the stage rigging, it’ll be back in place.)

But a few things went better than expected and over all we are under budget, and of course, just as importantly, we’re on time! The web camera on our home page is still live, and you can still see what’s going on. Specifically, yesterday and today, you can see the chandelier going into the auditorium. I almost wish you couldn’t see it, so we could surprise you, but I hope you’re going to come down to a show and see it in person soon, because I have to tell you, the web photos just do not begin to capture what it all looks like in person!

Starting next Thursday, with the Jersey Shore Rock-N-Soul Revue, we’re back in service, with 43 shows in 63 days leading up to our 10th New Years Eve with Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes. There are over 100 shows now on sale, and we look forward to seeing you all again soon!

We’ve missed you.

A Note from a Former Employee

As we make the Basie even better this summer, we’ve been receiving wonderful notes from customers with their memories of the Basie in years past, and here’s one from Christine Dimon, a former employee:

“I’m writing to let you know how wonderful it is to see the Basie transformed. My ex-husband Jonathan Burnham (aka Fosburg) and I worked for the Count Basie Theatre (back in the days when it was owned by the Monmouth County Arts Council) for years. My job was Arts Program/Grants Coordinator and my ex was the facility manager. He put band-aids on everything there! We were on hand at every show, because the seats would break as the patrons sat in them, and he would have to fix them while they stood there, with extra parts that he kept in his workspace down by the old boiler!

He fashioned lights made out of plastic for the theatre walls because there were just bare bulbs before then. Together we helped the Basie run on a daily basis. I believe that he also built the box office outside on the street that you use today. Before that it was just a door in the lobby.

The place was literally falling apart. We didn’t have much money in the budget then, but we did what we could for The Geraldo Show, New Years Eve parties with Southside Johnny, Food Bank fundraisers with Bon Jovi, and of course the Springsteen shows!

The Basie is a treasure, and now living in Upstate New York, I find myself missing her often! Glad to see she’s finally getting the care she deserved.

Christine Dimon, Hartwick, NY”