Beach Haven's Surflight Theatre to Close After 65 Years

Surflight Theatre has officially drawn its curtain for the last time.

The Beach Haven theatre, after 65 years, has filed for bankruptcy and ceased operations, it was announced today on the company's website.

"On behalf of the Board of Trustees, I regret to advise you that due to continuing difficult financial circumstances, Surflight Theatre is forced to cease operations after 65 seasons and file for bankruptcy.

This was an extremely difficult decision, and it was not made without trying every possible action to save the theater we all love. Over the past few months, we and Surflight staff have worked tirelessly to improve the theater's financial condition through a variety of means, including appeals for emergency funding, seeking refinancing of our burdensome debt and making cost reductions. Unfortunately, these efforts were unsuccessful.

We sincerely thank you and all in our community who have supported Surflight through the years. This generous support has enabled Surflight to impact the careers of aspiring actors and others involved in live theater - a large part of our theater's mission. We thank you for supporting Surflight's youth programs, which have helped children become confident in front of an audience and attain other life skills. Your patronage has filled the theater's beloved Show Place Ice Cream Parlour with laughter over the antics of our singing waiters. And, of course, your support has allowed Surflight to provide quality live stage performances to our residents and visitors for 65 years.

Finally, we wish to recognize all the members of the Surflight staff, who have worked extremely hard and with great dedication to bring everyone the best Surflight experience possible. We applaud them and wish them well as they continue their extraordinary careers."

As previously reported, Surflight recently announced they were severely short on money and were asking patrons to contribute and help them reach their goal of $600,000. Trustees of the theatre were attempting to reach $300,000 by Jan. 25. The 450-seat theatre, which offers a variety of shows from musicals to dramas, is not new to financial troubles.

In 2011, they declared bankruptcy, followed by a fire in 2012, as well as a flood from Superstorm Sandy. Despite these hardships, the theatre actually reopened in April 2013, with the tremendous help of community volunteers. They are hopeful that they can get back up on their feet just like they have in the past, but wary that the community will not come out in full force like they did three years ago.

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