Hackensack Meridian Health Theatre
99 Monmouth Street,
Red Bank,
NJ
07701
99 Monmouth Street,
Red Bank,
NJ
07701
14 people
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TC; I can’t help much on this one as I don’t have records for the 1920’s NJ theatres. I do have from 1940 through to 1950 listings which only show two theatres in Red Bank: the Carlton (now Count Basie) and the Strand Theatre, Broad Street that had 1,000 seats in 1940 and 821 in 1943 & 1950.
Archives/JTH:
I found an article on the web which claims Basie would watch movies at the Palace theater. “For fun, Basie loved seeing slient movies at the Palace Theater in Red Bank, particularly because he could listen to the live piano accompanying the movies.” Is the Palace another theater in Red Bank or a previous name for the Strand?
Architect for recent alterations:
http://www.kgdarch.com/his-cbt.html
Excellent history at this link:
http://anthonykearns.tripod.com/basiehistory.html
Note that the original architect was reportedly Thomas Lamb.
I actually met Cary Grant at this theatre when he was touring with his one-man show “An Evening With Cary Grant” in 1985 six months before he died.
Interesting note from “Archives”. As a resident who grew up in Red Bank and viewed motion pictures at both the Strand Theatre and the Carlton Theatre, I was unaware of any racial bias in the town, much less the alligation that Count Basie was “forced to attend the Strand Theatre.” Red Bank was always racially mixed, and I cannot recall discrimination, per say, growing up and attending every one of the public schools from 1949 through 1962.
Basie called himself “the Kid from Red Bank”, and never forgot his roots. He was a citizen of “Goosetown”, a connotation known only to a small number of long time Red Bank residents, both black and white.
I reject the notion that the theatre’s name is out of place. This venue will be opening for the fall season after an extensive rennovation and replacement of all its seats. On August 20th the theatre will celebrate a grand re-opening, featuring The Count Basie Orchestra, and honoring the 100th anniversary of Count Basie’s birth.
Let’s correct some wrong data that has been floating around for years. The Carlton Theatre was a motion picture theatre that featured vaudeville and not a vaudeville house. It was originally to be called the State Theatre and it’s original interior was pure Americana. The change of name in the 1970s to Monmouth Arts Centre was a move in the right direction. The current name of the theatre is quite out of place as its namesake, Count Basie, was forced to attend motion pictures at the Strand Theatre formerly located on the corner of Broad and Linden. Of course this was a racial situation of the times. To maintain the historic and artistic integrity of the theatre, it should be named The Carlton Arts Centre.
The Basie once again has the capability to show 35MM film. A complete renovation of the projection booth has been completed. A new screen has been installed, along with a state of the art sound system featuring Dolby Digital sound with Dolby SR analog backup.
Currently, this changeover booth features Simplex XL projectors and the original Peerless Magnarc arc lamps. The theatre hosted the Red Bank International Film Festival last fall and will do so again in 2004. Recently, the Basie ran New Line’s Laws of Attraction as an advance screening for subscribers, and is scheduled to present The Notebook on June 21st.
I remember the Carlton (now the Count Basie). We lived in Middletown at the time and my brother was an usher at the Carlton in the early-to-mid 1960’s. Saw “Bambi” there for the first time (I was about 5 yrs old) from the balcony seats; my brother yelled at me for tossing bits of popcorn over the rail on the audience on the main floor.
After “Herbie the Love Bug”, never had reason to go there again; usually saw movies at the Walter Reade in Middletown or the Route 35 Drive-In in nearby Hazlet (New Jersey’s last surviving drive-in until it was torn down and replaced by a multi-plex in 1992).
When this theatre opened it was called the Carlton Theatre and it seated 1783 people.
Can you please e-mail me a calendar of events for 2002? Thank you!
Jerome, you can find the Count Basie Theatre’s seating chart at http://209.191.6.101/images/seats.gif. Enjoy!
do you have any on-line seating charts/diagrams. it would be extremely helpful for those not familiar with the venue and for those wanting a clear idea of their seating choices.