Across the decades, the Broadway Theatre of Pitman has featured entertainers ranging from comedy legends (Abbott and Costello) to country-music superstars (Tammy Wynette, Johnny Cash) to Oscar winners (Bing Crosby, Shirley Jones).
The classic-style theater, which seats just over 1,000 and features a balcony and elevated boxes, plays a leading role in the Gloucester County community. To mark its centennial, Richard L. Eldredge recounts the venue’s history in a new book called Pitman’s Broadway Theatre at 100: The Story of a Beloved Landmark and the New Jersey Town That Saved It (Ardmore Avenue Publishing).
“I thought I was going to tell the story of a building, but I’m really telling the story of a town through the lens of a building,” says Eldredge, a Pitman native now living in Atlanta.
The Broadway opened in May 1926, showing silent films with accompaniment by a Kimball organ, which is still played before shows. The theater pivoted to screening talkies and serving as a stop on the vaudeville circuit. In the 1970s and ’80s, then owner Clayton Platt staged country and rock concerts.
“The theater has been able to reinvent itself,” a key to its longevity, Eldredge says.
Under the ownership of Peter Slack since 2006, the Broadway focuses on live theater with its Mainstage season of musicals, along with children’s plays, tribute concerts and comedy shows. “We get about 125,000 visitors a year,” says Nick Blood, the Broadway’s marketing manager.
The Broadway celebrates its 100th anniversary June 5-7 with A Century on Stage: A Legacy of Theatre, 100 Years in the Making. The show pays tribute to Broadway musicals from the 1920s to today, with an orchestra.
One role of the theater remains unchanged, Eldredge says. “It’s an economic engine for Pitman.”
Learn more about the theater and event at thebroadwaytheatre.org.
