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(RED BANK, NJ) (Red Bank, NJ) – Six months after the start of construction, Two River Theatre Company has “topped out” their new building on Bridge Avenue in Red Bank. An enthusiastic crowd of more than fifty supporters joined with steelworkers, engineers, architects and Two River staff for a brief ceremony followed by the setting in place of the uppermost steel beam in the theatre’s fly-tower. An honored tradition with-in the construction industry, the topping out ceremony evolved from medieval European customs designed to bring good luck to a new house’s inhabitants.
Before being lifted into place by a seventy-foot crane, the ten-foot I-Beam was painted white and signed by some of Monmouth County’s most prominent civic, religious, and business leaders. Two River Theatre founder and executive producer, Robert Rechnitz, spoke briefly about the theatre’s place in the community and the important role culture plays in education, religion, and commerce.
“Theatre’s concern is political and social and psychological, but ultimately spiritual,” said Rechnitz. “Good theater can, in some small way, redeem a fallen world.”
Rumson resident Ann Unterberg, co-chair, with her husband Tom, of Two River Theatre Company’s ongoing capital campaign gave the toast as steelworkers fastened the massive beam into place with eight 3/4-inch bolts.
Among those signing the beam were Mayor Edward McKenna, Senator Joseph Kyrillos, Dr. Donald Warner, architect Stuart Jones, and W. David Tarver of the Red Bank Board of Education. Monmouth University President, Paul Gaffney, spoke briefly about the value of a professional theatre company to the learning environment of a community. The Reverend Dr. Dwight C. Northington of Calvary Baptist Church welcomed Two River to Red Bank’s Westside with a hopeful words about the future partnership between the theatre and its neighbors.
The state-of-the-art, 300-seat theatre is scheduled to open in the spring of 2005 with a weekend of festivities and a black-tie gala event on May 7th. “There will be events for everyone,” commented Managing Director, Guy Gsell. “What we want to explore is not just our place with-in the community, but also the community’s place with-in our theatre. The signatures on this beam symbolize the beginning of that discussion.”
Now in its tenth anniversary season, Two River Theatre Company launched its capital campaign Two River’s Rising: Building an Intimate Home for the Arts, with a target of $15 million. To date, the organization has raised $12.5 million and has just entered the broader “public phase” of the campaign. “We are hopeful that everyone in the community will want to be a part of this building,” says Ann Unterberg. “It will have a tremendous impact on the economic, artistic and educational life of everyone in the region.”
The site of the new theater is the former Blaisdell Lumber Yard located on the west side of Red Bank, across from the Galleria. “This is the ideal site for our new home,” said Jonathan Fox TRTC’s Artistic Director. “It is centrally located, easy to reach by train or car and large enough for us to build a spacious, unique, and fully accessible production space.”
Founded in 1995, TRTC performed its first seasons on the campus of Monmouth University. After outgrowing that space, TRTC moved to the Algonquin Arts Theater in Manasquan, where they have been in residence for six seasons. Now, TRTC is poised to enter its next decade in its own home. The Two River Theatre will house a state-of-the-art main theater seating 300 people, and a 99-seat performance space, The Marion Huber Theatre, which will host experimental works, music, classes, readings and community groups.
For more information about the Two River Theatre Company Capital Campaign, call Carol LaRose, Capital Campaign Director, at 732-345-1400.
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