Long Closed Regional Theatre Returns Down The Shore
SOMERS POINT, NJ (CBS) -- It's taken nine years and more than a million dollars, but local theatre enthusiasts down the shore have a new place to take in a show in Somers Point.
The Gateway Playhouse had to be brought back from the dead. Literally. Board member Kelly Briggs says the place was in a dilapidated state, having been abandoned a dozen years ago.
Somers Point then bought it, and volunteers raised money to fix it up.
"We did have to rebuild from the pilings on up. Basically we had to gut the whole thing," Briggs told KYW Newsradio. "So we had to pour new pilings and footings, a whole new foundation, new siding, new roofs and everything inside."
They cut the ribbon this week and opened this weekend with Broadway veteran and Philly native Andrea McArdle. Briggs says plans are to operate the 220 seat theatre year round with a variety of shows and concerts, with an emphasis on new material.
"Theatres and buildings like this are living, breathing things and they need something in them all the time," he added. "So we will be doing classes here for young people, for teenagers. It won't just be musicals and drama. There'll be concerts. There'll be dance recitals. There'll be everything there."
More information is available on line at www.gatewaybythebay.org.
