Guests mingled in the new Count Basie Theatre Performing Arts Academy Monday. Below, Yvonne Lamb Scudiery and Mayor Pasquale Menna spoke at the unveiling. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Old-timers will recall its days as a WaWa, but its future is as a laboratory for the arts.
So say officials at Red Bank’s Count Basie Theatre Performing Arts Academy about the onetime convenience store that is now the academy’s home.
The annual Presidents’ Day ticket sale at Red Bank’s Count Basie Theatre, with ducats for a host of shows available for $10 each, drew its usual waiting line in spite of temperatures in the teens Monday morning. The earliest, including borough resident Carl Colmorgen, arrived around 6:30 am., though the box office doesn’t open until 10 a.m. (Photo by Trish Russoniello. Click to enlarge)
Red Bank Mayor Pasquale Menna, seen above at a 2007 primary school function featuring his cooking, faces restaurateur Victor Rallo, below, in a stovetop showdown at the Basie next Saturday. (Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
One’s a municipal chief executive with a “total amateur’s” love of cooking – though he does have a chef’s smock with his name embroidered on the breast.
The other’s a serial restaurateur and wine expert who hosts a TV food show set in lush Italian locales.
The premise: a pasta smackdown cooking event pitting Red Bank Mayor Pasquale Menna against Victor Rallo, owner of Basil T’s in Red Bank, Undici Taverna Rustica in Rumson – and newsboy-cap wearing star of ‘Eat! Drink! Italy‘ on public TV.
The Saturday-night faceoff, on the stage of the venerable Count Basie Theatre, is one of the highlights of a four-day food smorgasbord – dubbed Appetite – that also features wine tastings, Scotch and bourbon swilling, a bevy of food trucks, screenings of food-themed movies and more.
Derek Holland gives a goofy interview in this undated YouTube video. (Click to enlarge)
Nearby concertgoers applauded when Texas Ranger Derek Holland was thrown out of Red Bank’s Count Basie Theatre Monday night, one witness tells the Asbury Park Press.
Countering Holland’s version of events, narrated in a series of tweets, 40-year-old Amy Sloan of Howell described the lefty pitcher as “being really obnoxious” and ruining the enjoyment of the Counting Crows fans seated nearby.
From the Press story, published Friday:
[See update at bottom of story, 3:27 p.m.]
A major league pitcher was “kicked out” of the Counting Crows concert at the Count Basie Theatre Monday night, according to a published report based on his own tweets.
Texas Rangers left-hander Derek Holland tweeted, “Did u know that u can get kicked out of a concert for 1 standing up and enjoying the concert an 2 taking to many pictures.Thanks New Jersey,” according to the NBC Sports website.
Though details are hazy, a disruption by a group of concertgoers with Holland may have annoyed others sitting nearby, leading to a dispute that “escalated,” a Basie official tells redbankgreen.
Less than a year after its debut, the Count’s Courtyard, the terrace bar at Red Bank’s Count Basie Theatre, is slated for a tweaking Friday with the installation of an over-all canopy.
The canopy, which will have no sides, will only be in use, like the courtyard itself, from May 1 to October 31, Basie CEO Adam Philipson told the borough planning board, which approved the change earlier this month. Use of the courtyard is limited to theater patrons two hours before and after performances and during intermissions. (Click to enlarge)
Count Basie CEO Adam Philipson and director of education Yvonne Lamb Scudiery meet the press on Tuesday. (Photo by Wil Fulton. Click to enlarge)
By WIL FULTON
Red Bank’s youngest students can expect an extra-dose of performance-art based teaching in their upcoming curriculum, thanks in part to the hometown Count Basie Theatre and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C.
Borough schools Superintendent Laura Morana was joined by new Basie CEO Adam Philipson and director of education Yvonne Lamb Scudiery during her monthly press meeting at middle school Tuesday to help detail the Kennedy Centers upcoming workshops for teachers, designed to help them understand the importance of performing arts as a part of overall education.
Set-up was underway Thursday morning for the Count’s Courtyard, an outdoor bar and terrace on the east side of the Count Basie Theatre that makes its debut Friday night with the Crosby, Stills & Nash show.
The courtyard is for use by theater patrons May through October two hours before and after performances and during intermission. (Click to enlarge)
