Count Basie Center for the Arts Turns 100 next year
Over 300,000 people attend shows every year at the Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank. Erected in 1926 as Reade’s Carlton for Vaudeville and Cinema, it now also houses the Vogel nightclub and the Grinn Arts Education Building, with an adjacent movie theater. Over 20,000 students annually learn there and at other locations. The powers-that-be at the Basie recently announced a 16-month project celebrating its centennial. Plans call for a Walk Of Fame, “100 Years of Soul, Sounds and Stories” complete with personal testimonials, a comedic Roast, collaborations with neighboring businesses like Brix City Brewing (for a Basie brand of beer) and Bridging The Gap (for a Basie brand of coffee), the Grand Opening of ParkStage at the East Freehold Park Fairgrounds, 10 Basie postcards (one for each decade), a film festival and a screening complete with live musical accompaniment of the 1926 silent film, The Quarterback, which was the first movie shown there. Jon Stewart has narrated a promotional video for the occasion. For further information, visit thebasie.org/centennial.