The Basie acquired this onetime residence in the professional office zone. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Less than two years after completing a $25 million expansion, the Count Basie Center for the Arts has added to its Red Bank real estate holdings.
But the nonprofit theater has no plans to seek an exemption from property taxes on the newly acquired site, a spokesman told redbankgreen.
Press release from The Count Basie Theatre
Amidst its $20 million dollar expansion and improvement plan, the Count Basie Theatre has announced the merging of its Board of Trustees and Directors and the hiring of a new Vice President of Development to join the newly appointed executive leadership team.
As a recognized 501(c)(3) organization, the Count Basie Theatre once operated under the guidance of two governing boards — one overseeing theater operations, and the other the non-profit’s fundraising efforts. With a single Executive Committee under the leadership of Chairman Tom Widener and Count Basie Theatre president and CEO Adam Philipson, the work to merge the boards into one, diverse and powerful force behind the theatre’s ambitious plans for the future have come to fruition.
“This is an auspicious, exciting moment for us at the Count Basie Theatre, said Board Chairman Tom Widener. “Merging the boards creates cohesion, clarity and focus at an important time in our history.”
The rockumentary LAMBERT & STAMP — in which the birth of The Who is examined — is the centerpiece of April’s PROJECT FX Festival at the Count Basie Theatre, in which student filmmakers from area colleges and high schools compete before a panel of esteemed judges.
Press release from Count Basie Theatre
The Count Basie Theatre has revealed the films that will compete in its inaugural PROJECT FX statewide student film festival and competition, taking place at the Red Bank theatre on Sunday, April 19.
The competing films — ten entries from Garden State high schoolers, and an additional ten entries from students attending New Jersey colleges — are viewable now at projectFXbasie.com and facebook.com/projectFXbasie.The public can have their say by “liking” or “sharing” the films on Facebook, which will figure into each film’s final score. Films will also be viewed and voted on by a panel of esteemed adjudicators, including Sony Pictures Classics co-founder and Middletown resident Tom Bernard, Batman film franchise producer Michael Uslan, Taking Back Sunday lead singer John Nolan, and others.
The festival will feature panels from industry experts and professors from several New Jersey colleges, a big-screen showing of each contending film, and an exclusive evening screening of Lambert & Stamp, the upcoming Sony Pictures Classics release about underground filmmakers who stumble upon an unknown band to portray in a documentary (that band would go on to be known as The Who). The winning high school and college films will also serve as “opening acts” prior to Lambert & Stamp. Entry into the festival is free, though advance tickets must be obtained by visiting www.countbasietheatre.org.
A scene from last year’s first Appetite Festival — a three-day culinary and epicurean arts festival — returns to the Count Basie Theater in August. (Photo by Peter Lindner. Click to enlarge)
By JIM WILLIS
The first weekend of August, Red Bank’s Count Basie Theater will become a veritable paradise for eaters and drinkers when the Appeitte Festival returns for a second year.
Basie marketing director Jon Vena tells PieHole the the multiday food festival is “a celebration and recognition of what makes our area’s culinary energy thrive.”
PieHole knows that August weekends are some of the most valuable real estate on our summer calendar. With that in mind, tickets for the event are now on sale so we can lock in plans well ahead of time.
This year’s event, with its food tastings, wine and beer pairings and cooking demonstrations, will take place over a weekend as opposed to last year’s four-day event that spanned several weekdays. The festival combines eating and drinking at the theater (and its outdoor patio space) with entertainment events in the evening on the theater’s stage. Vena says this year will be more condensed and focused with the daytime events ($10 gets you in the door) pairing more closely with the headliners who will take the stage in the evening ($29-$165 for theater tickets).