`What a ride it's been!'
Ritz Theatre Company celebrates its 20th anniversary season while planning for the future
By
ROBERT BAXTER
Courier-Post Staff
The diamond atop the marquee in Oaklyn is gleaming brightly as the Ritz Theatre Company opens its 20th season at the historic house on the White Horse Pike.Topping the season-long celebration is a Rodgers & Hammerstein revue called Some Enchanted Evening. Subscribers have spent a lot of enchanted evenings at the Ritz since the company opened its first season with The Boyfriend.
Producing artistic director Bruce A. Curless of Haddon Heights remembers that opening night well.
After the performance, he picked up the box office proceeds � in those days, a ticket cost $7 � and retreated to his office. Holding a pile of $1 and $5 bills in his hands, he tossed the money into the air in joyous celebration. Then, Curless and his assistant picked up all the cash and took it to the bank.
"That was the most thrilling night," recalls Curless, who adds Some Enchanted Evening to the long list of shows he has directed at the Ritz.
Since that giddy moment, Curless has had a lot to celebrate and a few things to lament. He prefers to talk about the good times. The bare statistics reveal the company's success.
The Ritz's budget now tops $1 million and the subscriber base is inching toward 4,000. Musical productions � the recent Evita showed the company in peak form � have drawn critical raves and enthusiastic audiences.
Trip through history
During its first season, Put tin' on the Ritz (as the company called itself then) staged four musicals and three plays, drawing an audience of almost 25,000 to 70 performances. Last year, the company attracted almost 70,000 patrons to 102 mainstage performances, the annual holiday show and children's theater.
"What a ride it's been!" exclaims Curless as he looks back on two decades of achievement. "I didn't begin this journey thinking we would fail, but I didn't think I would be sitting in my office and talking about 20 years of theater."
In the anniversary season, the company will be presenting nearly 150 performances in its mainstage and children's series. The Ritz also is presenting the Luna Theater Company's production of Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf in a special performance Jan. 27. Curless hopes to build a relationship with the Woodbury-based company that performs a challenging repertory.
"We welcome any opportunity to bring new audiences into our theater," explains Cur less. The Ritz also will offer a stage for performances by Toby Lightman (Feb. 17) and Richie Havens (April 15) in the 2005 Cross County Concert Series presented by Camden County.
A season high point came at Friday's opening of Some Enchanted Evening when Curless accepted an $18,000 check from Commerce Bank. "We are delighted to welcome Commerce Bank as our first corporate season sponsor," said Curless.
The Ritz Theatre has had a varied history since it opened in 1927 as a venue for vaudeville and films. Like many theaters built then, the Ritz lost its audience in the 1950s and turned into a pornographic movie house in the 1970s.
Curless and Puttin' on the Ritz restored the theater's reputation when they moved in and mounted their first production in January of 1986. After building a subscription base, the company took a big step forward in 1994 when it incorporated and became a non- profit.
The company rented the 466-seat theater for more than a decade before it acquired the historic landmark in 2002.
Curless grimaces and mutters "politics" when he recounts the difficulties the Ritz encountered in winning government funding.
Despite the quality of its productions and the size of its audience, the Ritz virtually was ignored by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts until the agency gave the company a special project grant in 2001. To make up for the lack of council funding, the Legislature awarded the Ritz a $175,000 cultural enrichment grant.
This year, the Ritz won a $100,000 grant from the arts council and a $10,000 grant from Camden County. It also attracted a $12,800 grant from the New Jersey Cultural Trust to restore the theater's roof.
Jon Geisler says the theater's designation on the National Historic Register presents the Ritz with "a two-edged sword."
"Because this is a historic house, we qualify for historic grants," says Geisler, a Voorhees resident who serves as president of the Ritz's board of directors. "But inevitably everything costs more to fix."
Geisler says the theater's aging marquee must be renovated. But the price tag is $250,000. The Ritz needs a new lobby, acoustical ceiling, restroom facilities and other improvements. Geisler estimates the company must raise $2.5 million for improvements that meet historical guidelines.
"The Ritz is one of South Jersey's cultural jewels," explains Geisler. "But it's a diamond in the rough that needs to be polished. As we celebrate our 20th season, we've got to look to the next 20 years and in sure the future."
Geisler says the Ritz is honing a new five-year plan. He expects to launch a major capital campaign to secure funding for renovations.
Looking ahead
Geisler made his stage debut in Pal Joey during the Ritz's third season. He credits Curless with nurturing his talent. Geisler now enjoys a side career making television commercials and films in addition to his work as a financial adviser for Wachovia.
Since its first opening night, the Ritz has provided a showcase for countless talented amateur actors and singers from South Jersey and the Philadelphia area. Curless wants to continue to present local performers, but he also hopes to secure an agreement with Actors Equity that will allow him to cast both professionals and amateurs.
That will cost money. Currently, the Ritz pays a lead actor $300 for a 17-performance run. Under an equity contract, leads will command $300 a performance.
The company currently budgets about $100,000 for a musical. That cost would rise considerably under an equity contract. How the company can generate more income without alienating subscribers with a substantial increase in ticket prices is one of the dilemmas confronting Curless and Geisler.
"People in our community should be able to see a show at the Ritz," notes Curless. "Whatever we do, we have to keep that in mind."
The cast for Some Enchanted Evening features talented newcomers along with veteran performers. Maureen Corson of Blackwood has been performing at the Ritz for almost two decades. Another familiar face is Janet Wilkie of Moorestown.
Rounding out the cast are Ellen Kirk of Lumberton, Fernando Gonzalez of Haddon Township and Michael Hogan of Philadelphia. Costumes and set are designed by Gracie Hoffner of Williamstown and Bart Healy of Collingswood.
Adding to the visual effect are three large paintings by Antonio Puri. Curless discovered Puri's studio a block away from the Ritz. Captivated by his abstract paintings, he asked Puri to loan three large works for a backdrop for the production.
In addition to the paintings, Puri has painted a baby grand piano that will revolve on stage during performances. His art work will also be displayed in the Ritz's gallery during the run.
Curless says Puri's paintings, like the innovative songs of Rodgers & Hammerstein, "create something totally unexpected. The cast will be performing in and on a piece of art."
Puri admits he was fascinated by Curless' request.
"We want the visual art to become a performer and the performers to become part of the visual art," explains the artist who was a corporate attorney before he devoted himself full time to painting. "It will be interesting to see how the audience interacts with the music and the art."
Puri sees the collaboration as "a stepping stone to go further."
Curless says the production of Some Enchanted Evening opens a year-long celebration at the Ritz. Rounding out the anniversary season are August Wilson's Fences (March 3 to April 2), Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt's I Do! I Do! (April 21 to May 21), Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey's Grease (July 7 to Aug. 6), John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men (Sept. 8 to Oct. 8) and Leslie Bricusse and Frank Wildhorn's Jekyll & Hyde (Oct. 20 to Nov. 19).
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