Surflight Theatre to Include ANNIE, ALL I ASK OF YOU, et al. in 2012 Season

Surflight Theatre, the long-time popular summer theater on Long Beach Island has emerged from Chapter 11 and plans to mount their 63rd season of shows beginning in April 2012, the theater announced today. Ten months after it filed for bankruptcy protection, Federal Bankruptcy Judge Michael B. Kaplan confirmed Surflight's plan of reorganization on December 8 and the Theater will successfully emerge from Chapter 11.

In February, 2011, Surflight filed for Chapter 11 protection, and the theater's new leadership, Broadway producers Roy Miller (Artistic Director and Surflight alum) and Timothy Laczynski (Executive Producer), forged ahead and mounted a successful 2011 season of musicals and plays with popular Broadway and Television stars. The theater is concluding its 2011 season with the holiday themed revue Plaid Tidings, now through December 18.

The theater's 2012 season will include THE RAT PACK REVUE celebrating the Swingin' 60s with Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., and Frank Sinatra, ALL I ASK OF YOU – A TRIBUTE TO Andrew Lloyd Webber, two family favorites ANNIE and Rodgers and Hammerstein's THE SOUND OF MUSIC, an all-new and entirely original musical comedy ONCE UPON A TIME IN NEW JERSEY (it's "The Sopranos" meets "Happy Days"), I LOVE YOU, YOU'RE PERFECT, NOW CHANGE (touted as "Seinfeld set to music"), and two award-winning plays STEEL MAGNOLIAS and Neil Simon's BAREFOOT IN THE PARK.

"Roy and I, along with the theater's board, staff and advisers, have spent months creating a plan of reorganization, which is now court-approved, to resurrect Surflight Theatre from years of accumulated, unsustainable debts," Executive Producer, Timothy Laczynski, said. "I am pleased to announce that Surflight is on the path toward long-term financial sustainability. The exciting work has really just begun now that we can finally focus on 'running' Surflight rather than 'saving' Surflight. While in Chapter 11, it was not possible to secure funding from some of the corporate and foundation supporters that contributed to Surflight in previous years. There was also understandable resistance from individual supporters, some of whom were presumably hesitant to contribute to what they considered a 'sinking ship' while Surflight operated in bankruptcy."

Artistic Director Roy Miller added "our beloved Surflight has been granted a new lease on life. In order to fulfill the theater's mission, we are about to sail forward and launch our 2012 Annual Giving Campaign. It goes without saying that as a not-for-profit theatre, Surflight cannot survive on box office sales alone. It goes without saying that production costs along with the added resources needed to maintain and improve upon our education, intern and accessibility programs are very costly. We are focusing our efforts to raise the much needed funds to take the organization to the next level both financially and artistically."

Surflight's Plan of Reorganization was approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Trenton on December 8. The theatre will begin making payments to its pre-bankruptcy creditors based on the plan that was crafted over the last ten months of intense negotiations.
"We are grateful to everyone who supported Surflight through this very difficult time. This past season never would have happened if it were not for the outpouring of support and generosity from the communtiy and our loyal patrons. We look forward to providing everyone with the kind of entertainment that they expect and deserve," added Laczynski and Miller