FOUND: HOME SWEET HOME
Reprinted from the Asbury Park Press, March 2, 2000
By Brian Donahue
Staff Writer

Freehold's Center Players will finally have a place to call its own.

Realtor John Rupner, (left to right) owner Alan Steinhaus, and David Sorin inspect the new Freehold Theater.  (Photo: Menezes/staff)

A four year search to find a place to call its own wrapped up last week when the Freehold Center Players signed a lease to use a vacant building at South and mechanic streets in Freehold. And are the members of the local theater troupe enthusiastic about their new opportunities? "You couldn't measure it," said Ann D'Arrigo, a Monument Street resident, as she stood last week among the scraps and broken floor tiles in the 100-year-old building at 35 South Street.

The location of an array of businesses, including a candy store, pet store and most recently a balloon printings shop, the building will be converted into a 49-seat theater with a stage, dressing rooms and an office that will double as a box office and control room.

It's been a long time coming for the nine members of the troupe's Board of Trustees, which has been bouncing from place to place to hold performances since it formed in 1996. For more than three years, the troupe held out hope that a 300-seat theater would be built at 31 E. Main St. in partnership with two developers. However, the original plan fell through when construction delays and environmental complications obstructed the developers' funding, and later, three changes in the building's ownership ended any hope for a theater, according to information provided by the troupe. The building, once occupied by Murry's Office Supplies, is now divided into a number of businesses. During that time, the troupe has produced about four performances a year at locations including the American Hotel, the Cornerstone Caffe, the American Legion Hall and Freehold High School.

Standing outside their new South Street home are members of Freehold's Center Players: (left to right) Ann D'Arrigo, Bob Szita, Bernice Garfield-Szita, Bonnie Riddell and David Sorin.

With their hopes for the Main Street location dashed, the thespians embarked on "an exhaustive search" for another site in downtown Freehold with the help of the Rupner Real Estate Agency, South Street. "Staying in the downtown area was of extreme importance to us," troupe President David Sorin said. "We felt we had a commitment to the people and businesses who had supported our efforts from day one." In order to remain in Freehold Borough, he said, the troupe was forced to scale back its theater plan and look for a smaller site.

The South Street building, which they will lease from Alan Steinhaus, its owner since April 1999, will provide them with what they described as "an intimate setting" for their show and acting classes. Steinhaus will renovate the building while the troupe pays for its seating, lighting and sound equipment and other performance-related features. The group hopes to begin using the facility in June or July, depending upon the receipt of permits from the borough and the length of the renovation process. To pay for construction and leasing, the troupe will use money raised during its fund-raising campaign, "Countdown to Main Street," and proceeds from ticket sales and acting classes, as well as private donations, members said. At first, the Center Players will continue their normal schedule of four productions per year, but once settled, the troupe is likely to hold monthly performances, according to Bernice Garfield-Szita, a Manalapan resident who acts as director of community development for the troupe. However, the site could be in use every week, with outside groups and students using it for concerts, plays, poetry readings, comedy nights, etc. "It is our goal to have live theater available every weekend of the year," she said. "We believe the performing arts center will open by the early summer, just in time for the warm weather. Freehold will have an exciting new cultural activity for the whole family to add to its entertainment options."

For further information, to receive information on acting classes or to get on the troupe’s mailing list, call (732)462-9093 or visit the Web site at centerplayers.org.

BACK TO THE CENTER PLAYHOUSE PAGE