Lakewood's landmark theater hosted Taylor Swift, George Carlin. What's next?

LAKEWOOD – Where were you on Sept. 2, 2007?

If you were at The Strand Theater on Clifton Avenue you would have seen a young, unknown 17-year-old singer named Taylor Swift, who graced the stage at the local venue to promote her first album.

Fast forward 16 years, and Swift is a global superstar, the newest Time Magazine person of the year and half of TMZ’s favorite celebrity couple.

The Strand, meanwhile, is still in business following its 100^th anniversary last year, but with some changes and challenges ahead.

The venue, also dubbed The Ocean County Center for the Arts, has a new manager with theater credits from Broadway to London, and a new lease that will require its operators to pay rent for the first time.

“We are building on what the theater has done so far,” said Manager Ilan Brace, who took over just last week. “This is really going to be a theater at all levels.”

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Operated by the non-profit Strand Ventures LLC, the theater has been owned by the township since 1999 and is currently overseen by the Lakewood Industrial Commission, which also operates Lakewood Municipal Airport and the Jersey Shore Blue Claws stadium.

“It’s a treasure and entity that we value very much,” said Steve Reinman, Industrial Commission executive director and Lakewood’s director of economic development.

After more than two decades of leasing the theater to Strand Ventures for a token $1 per year, the township forged a new five-year lease last summer that will bring in at least $6,700 the first year.

The new deal, which runs through 2028, requires a monthly $750 rent to be paid beginning in March 2024, with an increase to $1,250 in 2025, $1,750 in 2026, and $2,250 in 2027.

“It should generate some revenue,” Reinman said about the new lease. “In the end, because we maintain a physical plant, we have to do things.”

The first priority is a new roof, Reinman said, noting that the township is responsible for maintenance and repairs, while Strand Ventures handles the productions and schedules performances.

“We are looking for a strategy to replace the roof and that is hundreds of thousands of dollars,” Reinman said. “We are probably going to go out to bid for something smaller scale just to address the most pressing problems. We would like to do a wholesale roof replacement, but that requires a bidding process.”

A recent Facebook post by an anonymous Strand Ventures board member asking for donations to replace the roof drew concern and complaints when it made it appear as though the theater had closed and the roof was in danger of collapse.

“Unfortunately, we are closed until further notice,” the post stated incorrectly. “The roof of our building has given up and collapsed causing extensive damage to the theater.”

The post, which was removed within hours, then went on to warn patrons that if they do not donate for a new roof such a closing could occur.

Reinman and Mayor Ray Coles said the post was a mistake.

“It was a poorly worded fundraising attempt,” said Coles, a former Strand board member. “There are issues with the roof and we are working on it.”

A review of Strand Ventures’ financial disclosure records reveals the organization, a 501© charity, is having a positive revenue stream.

The non-profit entity had $256,545 in revenue for fiscal year 2020-2021, with expenses of $172,540. Most of that includes the first months of the pandemic.

Revenue grew to $617,363 in 2021-2022 and $590,776 in 2022-2023, while expenses remained below revenue both years at $423,853 and $528,904, respectively.

“I don’t see it being a problem,” Strand Ventures board member Karen Stafford-Smith said about the new lease payments. “We have more and more people coming to the theater. There is nothing we are missing here.”

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Stafford-Smith said the number of rentals and events have increased since the pandemic restrictions were lifted and live shows returned in June 2021.

She noted that 40 events, including a “Voices for Ukraine” fundraiser, were held in 2022, and 79 will have taken place by the end of in 2023.

“We have 13 concerts and events on sale now for 2024,” Stafford-Smith said via email. “We have several other events, workshops, concerts, musicals that are booked and the shows are for the later part of 2024.”

She hopes the venue can reach 100 events by the end of 2024, with many still in the planning stages: “I believe, we will exceed the 2023 events in 2024 … one year at a time."

The 1,050-seat Strand, which opened its doors in 1922, was designed by Thomas Lamb, a legendary theater architect of the 20th century. (His most notable works include the Capitol Theatre in New York City, which has since been torn down.)

The venue's initial purpose was to serve as a "tryout" theater for Broadway shows before they went on to the big stage. It was renovated in the mid-1980s to early 2000s but maintains its original design and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

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But the elaborate décor is not without its charms, among them replicas of The Muppets’ famed theater rascals, Statler and Waldorf, posted permanently in a mock side viewing box.

Along with Swift, the Strand has hosted acts ranging from Milton Berle to Alice Cooper.

Comedian George Calin performed several times during his career, often staying in one of the small apartments that still exist above the theater but are no longer owned by The Strand.

One year, during a soundcheck, some local teens snuck in and began yelling to Carlin on stage, sparking a friendly back-and-forth that ended with Carlin inviting them out to dinner, Coles said.

More recently, the theater has been home to a broader range of acts, from ballet to a long list of tribute bands that perform the hits of Led Zeppelin, Queen and Olivia Newton-John.

“We are also the biggest theater that handles dance recitals,” said Stafford-Smith. “They are getting bookings from April to July.”

She said a growing group of local dance studios reserve space for weeks at a time to rehearse, then offer up student performances.

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Then there is The Gallery of Clifton, a café and bar area connected to the theater that sells food and drink prior to shows and can be rented out for private parties, officials said.

Once the site of Ruben’s Drug Store, a mom-and-pop pharmacy with the requisite soda fountain, the space now boasts a handmade bar modeled on the one that Jack Nicholson held court at in 1980’s The Shining.

Along with private parties and other gatherings, The Galley recently held an art show for The ARC of Ocean County, which provide services for mentally disabled residents.

“It took a while for the place to get back up and active after Covid,” Reinman said. “But we have come out of it stronger than ever.”

Joe Strupp is an award-winning journalist with 30 years’ experience who covers education and several local communities for APP.com and the Asbury Park Press. He is also the author of three books, including Killing Journalism on the state of the news media, and an adjunct media professor at Rutgers University and Fairleigh Dickinson University. Reach him at jstrupp@gannettnj.com and at 732-413-3840. Follow him on Twitter at @joestrupp

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: At 100, Lakewood's Strand Theater needs a new roof but the show will go on