Ten years ago, the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank was at a crossroads, trying mightily to forge an identity beyond that of a struggling regional theater. There were management problems, financial woes, and a persistent battle against signs of decay at the venue, which opened in 1926 as a movie house, the Carlton Theatre.
“At one point it was someone’s idea to whitewash the whole place so they put white paint over all the water damage,” says Jersey Shore restaurateur and musician Tim McLoone. “But there was this patch where they painted what the place would look like if they could ever raise the money to do it right. That patch stayed up there for years. It was like that patch of color was smirking at the rest of the place.”
Today, that smirk is gone. Visitors to the Basie—it was renamed in 1984—see a warmly glowing and fully painted interior. An ongoing $20 million fundraising campaign resuscitated the venue and has helped with other updates, like a new roof and new seats. This summer, the Basie’s front facade is being repaired.
More remarkable, say longtime observers, is what’s been happening on stage. The 1,568-seat theater, which has operated as a nonprofit since 1973, has become a hub for comic tours as well as rock, pop, jazz, and oldies acts—a reflection of the vibrant music scene on the Jersey Shore. Indeed, area icons Bruce Springsteen and Jon Bon Jovi and their assorted cohorts have performed at Basie fundraisers. This summer’s diverse attractions include Chris Isaak (July 20), Joan Baez (July 26), Willie Nelson (August 4), Chris Botti (August 5), a Prairie Home Companion show (August 17), the Irish Tenors (August 19), and comedian Dennis Miller (August 21).
“If you can’t find one thing you like on our schedule, you’re just not meant to be going out and having a good time,” says Numa C. Saisselin, the Basie’s CEO since 2002. Indeed, Saisselin, 47, says more than 200,000 people attended shows at the Basie last year. Ten years ago, that number was around 50,000.
Part of that success, Saisselin says, has been taking charge of the Basie’s programming. Instead of having outsiders promote shows, the Basie now brings in most of the acts on its schedule.
“We’ve worked hard to establish a consistent image here,” he says. “We’ve tried to fill a niche with programming you don’t get consistently in other places in the area.”
It’s not all about rock and jazz. The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra has a regular season at the Basie, as do area groups like the Monmouth Civic Chorus, the Monmouth Symphony Orchestra, and the theater group Phoenix Productions, which will present six performances of the Broadway musical Rent in July.
The Basie also runs educational programs in the theater and throughout the Jersey Shore area. The Count Basie Performing Arts Academy, until recently known as the Count’s Cool School, includes Rockit for Kids, a School of Rock-type program for young musicians. There’s a fantasy camp program for adult would-be rockers, too. And area high school thespians get their due at the annual Basie Awards.
“The Basie has really turned around,” says McLoone, whose rock ’n’ roll fundraising concert tour, Holiday Express, brings two private shows featuring the area’s top rockers to the Basie every Christmas season.
McLoone credits Saisselin’s business savvy and theater’s proactive board as the key to the Basie’s renaissance. “People talk about how Red Bank is such a hip city.” McLoone says.