The show will go on, but maybe not in Brick
Former Brick Community Players have new name, seek permanent home
BY PATRICIA A. MILLER Staff Writer
The Brick Community Players literally applauded the Brick Township Council back in November 2006 when council members adopted a bond ordinance that included funds for the theater group's new home.

No one in the group is clapping now.

The bond ordinance included more than $100,000 to transform two vacant stores in the township-owned Civic Plaza on Chambers Bridge Road into a black-box theater with a movable stage, a green room for the cast, a sound booth and between 80 and 90 seats.

Those plans are in limbo now.

So group members are branching out, just in case. The Brick Community Players are now known as the Guild Theaterworks Inc. They are currently holding auditions for an upcoming production of "1776."

The auditions are not being held in Brick Township. They are taking place at the Jersey Shore Arts Center in Ocean Grove, where the group was offered space for a production.

"We don't want to shut the door," said Ada Cole, a longtime group member who spent more than a decade lobbying Brick officials for a permanent theater. "We don't want to leave Brick. We have a following in Brick."

But the name change will be permanent, she said.

"We are always confused with the children's theater (the Brick Children's Community Theatre)," Cole said. "We wanted to change our name for a long, long time and never did it. When people hear the Brick Community Players they don't feel like we are professionals."

Group members were stunned this summer when Brick officials announced that they were planning to sell the Civic Plaza and put the money toward the $5.25 million purchase of the 13-acre Ocean Ice Palace property on Chambers Bridge Road.

"They did not give us any warning ahead of time," theater group spokeswoman Mary Anne Ridoux said. "We were promised the theater and the engineering, and then suddenly nothing.We've given so much time for free. We've worked for all these years and we got kicked in the tail."

The theater group had to scramble this summer to find a new place to put on their production of "TheMusicMan" after they lost their spot at Brick Township High School to a hastily organized carnival that was held to celebrate the high school's 50th anniversary.

It was the second year in a row the high school was not available for a summer production, Ridoux said.

And group members have learned they will have less use of Brick Township High School next summer. So next year there probably will not be a summer show, she said.

"We just can't keep doing this," Ridoux said. "Our summer show is the big one. It's the one we do for the visitors and the children."

Mayor Stephen C. Acropolis said nothing has changed as far as plans for the theater group.

"If they are deciding to rehearse somewhere else, that's a decision they have made," Acropolis said. "When we get the community center up and going they will have a new home if they want. Obviously, we are going to talk to them about it. If they want to stay in Brick, we will continue to work with them."

These days, group members hold most of their rehearsals in the township-owned cultural center at the Havens Home off Herbertsville Road, or in the basement of the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church.

Their next production, "Suessical Jr.," a condensed Broadway classic, is scheduled for February. It will be held at the Civic Plaza "as long as it isn't sold," Cole said.

"We're only in Brick when the Civic Center is available," Cole said. "If and when they sell the Civic Plaza, there is no place for us to go. We have to look somewhere else."

Brick officials are still in negotiations with Ocean Ice Palace owner Joan Dwulet for the purchase of the ice rink and the property. Theater group members say there will be competition for space and limited facilities for theatrical productions.

Ridoux said she has also heard the township plans to rent out theater space to other groups to bring in more revenue.

"So what happens when someone wants to rent it and there's a play coming?" she said. "Who do you think is going to win?"

The Brick Community Players was founded in 1990 by group President Janet Lynn Spahr's father. The theater group has put on four free shows a year for the township. There is a mailing list that includes 500 patrons, Ridoux said.

"We've really grown," she said. "We have a lot of good talent and we are being ignored. We feel hurt. We love Brick. Eventually Brick may lose us."

Acropolis said municipal officials are committed to providing cultural events.

"If any group comes to Brick and they want to put on a show or cultural event, we are more than happy to help them as best we can," Acropolis said. "There will be a group in Brick when we get the community center done that will be putting on shows in Brick. If it's the Guild players, fine. If it's the Brick Children's Community Theatre, fine. If it's going to be a new group, that's OK, too."