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RED BANK: MARQUEE TOUTS OPTIMISM

RED BANK: MARQUEE TOUTS OPTIMISM

red-bank-basie-marqueeIts lineup of shows canceled under the near-lockdown we’re living with to slow the spread of COVID-19, the Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank has repurposed its marquee.

The marquee now displays messages of “optimism from our local heroes,” the Basie said in a press release. They include quotes from part-time borough resident Jon Stewart and other New Jersey stars.

More below. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

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BASIE PUTS MARQUEE MAN’S NAME IN LIGHTS

basie-marquee1The Basie is giving an electronic shout-out to Roy McCurdy now that it’s completed the marquee. (Photo by Dustin Racioppi; click to enlarge)

By DUSTIN RACIOPPI

Roy McCurdy spent 19 years taking an extended pole outside the Count Basie Theatre to change the names on the theater marquee. And he’s proud to say he did it with few misspellings.

“‘Engelbert Humperdinck‘— try spelling that without it written down letter by letter for you,” McCurdy said. “That’s a difficult one.”

When theater fired up a new digital marquee this week, so ended McCurdy’s days in front of it. But for the moment, he’s on it.

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LIBRARY BOOKS MARQUEE RUNNERS, WALKERS

library-runnersWarming up to raise money for the Friends of the Red Bank Library are, from left, Brian Hanlon, library director Debbie Griffin-Sadel, Beth Hanratty, children’s librarian Sam Quintas, Audrey Oldoerp and — not quite ready to hit the asphalt — Christian Oldoerp. (Click to enlarge)

This year’s George Sheehan Classic will feature at least 15 marquee runners and walkers.

No, not ‘marquee’ in the sense of elite. These are folks who will be risking blisters and sunburned shoulders in an effort to raise money for a marquee signboard they hope to see installed in front of the Red Bank Public Library on West Front Street.

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BASIE MARQUEE GETTING A FRESH LOOK

springsteen-basie-marqueeBy September, a new electronic marquee should be hanging over Monmouth Street, theater officials say. (Click to enlarge)

By DUSTIN RACIOPPI

The familiar sight of a man using a long pole to change the names of the acts on the Count Basie Theatre marquee will soon be a memory.

The Red Bank venue, which recently earned historic landmark status, is heading into what CEO Numa Saisselin calls the “Let’s Face It” phase of a multimillion dollar, multiyear renovation project.

It starts with an updated marquee and will finish with a new facade, one that will nod to the building’s past, he says.

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