Ritz Theatre in Elizabeth Sets Eclectic Lineup

In 1865, the building on East Jersey Avenue in Elizabeth was known as the Drake Opera House. Sixty years later in 1925, a man named Jacob Fabian bought the building and renamed it Fabian’s Ritz which opened in 1926 as a 2,791-seater. Fifteen years after that in 1941, it finally had the name that is on today’s marquee—The Ritz Theatre—when Warner Brothers Circuit Management Corporation took over. Forty years after that, in 1981, it seemed destined for the bulldozer to make way for a parking lot until a consortium of philanthropists saved it until they ran out of money in 1989. It stayed a rotting hulk of a building until 1994 when a man named George A. Castro II restored it to its original grand elegance.  

The Marx Brothers, George Burns, Jack Benny, Ray Charles, Harry Chapin, Maya Angelou, Chaka Khan, Rodney Dangerfield, Miles Davis, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr. and Dean Martin have all graced its stage. Now, the accent is on esoterica with a slate of action-packed shows that will percolate with percussion including Salsa, Soul, Reggae, Mexicali, Worldbeat and Samba. For more information and ticketing, visit https://www.ritztheatre.com/


(Advertisement) See lineup below…


August 25: Thomas Anders
August 30: Dread Mari I
Sept. 8: La India Yurida
Sept. 13: “The Magic of Motown”
Sept. 14: Cultura Profetica
Sept. 21: Suso A La Carta
Sept. 28: Myriam Hernandez
Sept. 29: “Wild Disco ‘90s”
Oct. 4: Ana Barbara
Oct. 5: Yeison Jimenez
Oct. 11: Paloma San Basilio
Oct. 12: Alex Zurdo
Oct. 25: Ramon Ayala
Oct. 26: Matute
Nov. 23: Un Corazon

Mike Greenblatt

MIKE GREENBLATT has been writing for Goldmine magazine and New Jersey's Aquarian Weekly for more than 35 years. His writing subjects fill the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

He's interviewed Joe Cocker, Graham Nash, David Crosby, Carlos Santana, Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, Johnny Cash, and members of The Rolling Stones and The Beatles. He was 18 when he attended Woodstock in 1969.

In addition to writing about music, Greenblatt has worked on publicity campaigns for The Animals, Pat Benatar, Johnny Winter, Tommy James and Richard Branson, among others. He is currently the editor of The Jersey Sound.

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