Summer theater was a prolific form of entertainment on Long Island in the 1950's and 60's.Converted barns in Northport, Greenport and
Bellport became theaters, while star packages performed under a circus-like
canvas tent at the Westbury Music Fair.Meanwhile, opulent mountings of Broadway musicals were presented at the
Jones Beach MarineTheater on ZachsBay .
Nowadays the barns in
Northport and Greenport are gone and both
JonesBeach
and Westbury have become concert venues.Only the Gateway Playhouse in Bellport remains and is so popular that
local residents know better than to drive along
South Country Road at certain hours lest
they become entangled in traffic either entering or exiting the theater.
The Gateway Playhouse
is located on the site of the former Mott Estate on the eastern-most tip of
Bellport , New
York .Rumors
are rife about the ghost of Lucretia Mott still haunting one of the buildings
on the premises but she seems to be benign and hasn't caused any significant
problems in the past few decades.
Established in 1941,
the Gateway began in the tradition of those old Judy Garland and
Mickey Rooney
films where someone suggests, "Let's put on a show!" and a terrific
production is presented by a group of talented teens.In the case of the Gateway, the kids were
Sally, Ruth and David Pomeran who began by presenting skits and puppet shows to
entertain guestsin the estate's dining
room.Eventually they put on
Shakespearean productions in a barn that still stands on the Gateway's
well-tended grounds.Sally, Ruth and
David were the children of Libby and Harry Pomeran and Harry became the
producer of the Gateway's earliest seasons; remaining in that position until
1973.
The first
performances were given under the most primitive conditions in a barn that
still smelled like a barn but the Gateway became a popular attraction with drew
audiences from Bellport Village and the surrounding communities.Eventually Shakespeare was abandoned and
contemporary fare of the day like A View From the Bridge,A Streetcar Named Desire and Summer and Smoke
were given marvelous productions on the tiny stage.Eventually scaled-down versions of Flower
Drum Song and Redhead found their ways into Gateway's schedule.
In 1962 the Gateway
opened a new 500 seat theater.It stands
adjacent to the barn and shares the same lobby.The new theater is air conditioned and retains the barn-like facade of
the original ediface.This is the Main
Stage that is still in use today.
Along with the new
theater came a shifting in the format took place.Musicals such as
Gypsy and Bye Bye Birdie
were given two week runs while serious plays like Who's Afraid of Virginia
Woolf? and Tchin-Tchin played single week engagements throughout the seasons.
"The last
non-musical we presented here was
Neil Simon's Laughter on the 34th
Floor"commented the Gateway's
current producerm Paul Allan.Allan is
the latest member of the Pomeran clan to hold the reins of the family
business.The son of Ruth (Pomeran) and
Stanley Allen, Paul is a 1978graduate
of
BellportHigh School, where he designed the
lighting and special effects for such drama club productions as Peter Pan, My
Sister Eileen and The Wizard of Oz.He
comes from a theatrical family and is no stranger to the hard work and
discipline required for the presentation of live plays and musicals.
Chatting outdoors in a tent that theater-goers enjoy during
intermissions at Gateway productions, Allen spoke candidly about the family
business and the rigors of producing quality productions for today's
audiences.He's been in this position
since 1980 when he and his sister Robin produced a season of musicals
consisting of Godspell, Dracula, Cabaretand
Grease."It was
interesting.It went well.We were young.I was just 20 and Robin and I hada lot of challenges running the business at
such a young age. However, the season was successful and we were both proud of
that."
The following year, Robin left
New York
to pursue a career casting movies in
Hollywood
(she would eventually return in 1995) and Allan's cousin Laurel joined him to
co-produce a season.In 1980 and'81, John Hodge was brought to the Gateway as
a stage manager.He became permanent
part of the theater's history in 1982 when he became Paul Allen's
co-producer.In 1993,the Gateway acquired the Candlewood Playhouse
in
Connecticut
, which would share productions with the Bellport facility. "John was
based uop there and I was down here," recalls Allen."We thought we were going to produce for
each theater together but that wasn't logistically possible.We weren't on each other's turf very often
but talked a lot on the phone and traded shows back and forth.Unfortunately the Gateway's Candlewood
Playhouse just didn't have the client base that we thought it had and even
though we were saving a lot of money on production costs, we didn't make a
profit up there.However, we were having
very successful seasons here on Long Island and the severe losses in
Connecticut were offset
by the profits in Bellport."The
decision of to close Candlewood came in 1998.
Renovations to turn the old Patchogue Movie Theater (which
once served as the local vaudeville palace) into the Patchogue Theatre for the
PerformingArtsCenter
began the following year."We had
one good season behind us," Allen remarks, "and we took on the new
project.It was rough because ultimately
we ran both the Performing Arts Center and the Gateway at a loss.We He had just opened up 1,200 seats at the
Performing Arts Center and introduced our patrons to it.We pretty much split them right down the
middle.We did only 60% of our regular
business here in Bellport that summer and almost broke even in Patchogue but
did well enough in Patchogue to pretty much split break even.Still, business in Bellport was so low it netted
a tremendous loss."
The following season found the rug being pulled out from the
Gateway due to a complicated lawsuit.As
Allen and his theater had invested heavily in the equipment resources to get
the Patchogue venue going, an agreement was reached in 2001 where eight weeks
of each Gateway season is allocated to the Patchogue Performing Arts
Center.This allows for productions
which require more space to be presented on a stage that can accommodate them.Such is the case of the theater's next
production:Disney's Beauty And the
Beast
Walking with Allen through the Gateway's Bellport facility
found it to be a veritable beehive of creative activity as Beauty and the Beast
was being prepared for its July 9th opening.In one studio, choreographer Michelle Weber was putting together the
show's stein dance with a group of very adept dancers. On the lawn, director
Dom Ruggiero was consulting with his associates and clipboards were being
feverishly scrawled upon. In another building Susan Bigelow was fitting herself
into the costume of a teapot that she'll wear as Mrs. Potts.In an opposite corner of that room, the
production's Lumier,
David Edwards,was
trying on his elaborate outfit and experimenting with how his hands will
blazewhen the internal wiring is
manipulated.In the nearby scene shop,
carpenters, welders and painters were putting the finishing touches on Kelly
Tighe's stunning sets.A single look at
his renderings makes one realize how breathtaking this productiion will be.From the storybook streets to the Beast's
lair, Tighe's designs and use of color are gorgeous.
The castle is truly impressive as it is designed to revolve
and track up and down the stage."It's got a drive mechanism in it," says Allen "and
that's pretty spectacular.It contains 2
powerful motors, gearboxes and tons of computerized electronics.We've nick named it R2 because when it was
all assembled it actually looks like R2D2, although it lives concealed inside
the castle. Star Wars fans would have to go backstage to actually see R2 in action!
a cool invention to make that thing move smoothly."
While talking to the cast and crew of Beast, it is obvious
that a strong cameraderie has developed between them."That's something which very special
about the Gateway," Allen comments/"Many times our patrons will tell us that they've seen the original
production on Broadway andthey feel our version was better.I thank them politely but there are times I
honestly agree with them.There are
certain reasons:we have a greater
opportunity to have 'heart' in our shows.We're a close-knit community with everyone living right here in the old
hotel which is now our Staff house.People often grow very close under those circumstances and we tend to
become a family.On Broadway, it's a job
and there are good actors and good shows.After six months it tends to get stale.Out here we never have a chance to get stale.The show is cast, rehearsed and running for
three weeks.It becomes a special
experience for everyone involved and then it closes."
If the Gateway is indeed a family, then it has some pretty
illustrious members.Down through the
years some outstanding Broadway names have appeared at the Gateway on their way
to the top.
Robert Duvall, Geraldine
Page,Betty Field, James Darren,
Paul Ford,
Mimi Hines,
Ken Howard, Arnold
Stang, Hans Conreid and Bill Hayes made vivid impressions on Gateway audiences
when they played there.Two of the
brightest talents currently on
New
York stages have played major roles at the Gateway in
recent summers.
Elizabeth Stanley, who
was featured in
John Doyle's acclaimed version of Company and was recently in
the short-lived
Cry-Baby, was seen in the Bellport versions of Sugar and
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.
Nick Spangler
is currently starring as Matt in the Off-Broadway revival of
The Fantasticks
and previously played that same role at The Gateway.He credits his current stint directly to his
summer on
Long Island . "The late Bobby
Oliver was already cast in
The Fantasticks revival when they were looking for someone
to cover the role of Matt." recalls Spangler. "He suggested me.I eventually took over the role full time and
I can't seem to let go of it!"
It seems as though
the Gateway Playhouse boasts a company that has truly bonded.The Jerome Kern-Oscar Hammerstein musical
Showboat will be chugging onto the Bellport stage beginning July 10th.In that immortal show, the character of
Captain andy boasts that his troupe is "one big, happy family".The same words can be uttered by Paul
Allen.At the same time, a famous lyric
from Showboat also applies to this 67 year old theatrical institution:"It just keeps rollin'.It keeps on rollin' along."
Upcoming Gateway productions:
July
9-26- Disney's Beauty and the
Beast (Patchogue)
July 30-Aug
23Showboat (Bellport)
Aug 27-Sept
13The Producers (Patchogue)
Sept 17-
Oct 4The Wedding Singer (Bellport)
To purchase tickets
call either (631) 286-1133 or 1 (888) 4TIXNOW
You may also login at www.gatewayplayhouse.com
Photos Courtesy of Gateway Playhouse
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