99 Monmouth St., Red Bank Borough, New Jersey. County/parish: Monmouth.
Added to the National Register of Historic Places December 18, 2009. NRIS 09001100.
1 contributing building.Also known as:
The Count Basie Center for the Arts, originally Count Basie Theatre, is a landmarked performing arts center in Red Bank, New Jersey.
The building first opened in 1926 as the Carlton Theater and later, in 1973, became known as the Monmouth Arts Center. In 1984 it was renamed the Count Basie Theatre after famed jazz musician and Red Bank native, William "Count" Basie.
In 2018, the venue changed its name to the Count Basie Center for the Arts -- ascending William Basie's name to represent the entirety of what was becoming a larger footprint for the nonprofit organization at 99 Monmouth Street. The name also paved the way for a crucial capital infusion by lending the name of the historic theater space to Hackensack Meridian Health.
Today, the Basie Center houses its iconic, historic theater, a grand lobby, the William and Catherine Basie Arts Plaza, the Grunin Arts and Education Building, the Basie Center's Turner Academy of the Arts, The Vogel concert venue, and the organization's office headquarters. The Count Basie Center organization also holds property for its community theater company, Phoenix Productions, at 59 Chestnut Street, as well as Basie Center Cinema House on nearby White Street.
The original building was designed by architect William E. Lehman and has a seating capacity of 1,568.
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