BY BRYAN SABELLA
Staff Writer
MIGUEL JUAREZ staff The Forum Theatre’s red and gold marquee has long been one of Metuchen’s landmarks.
METUCHEN — For 20 years, the Forum Theatre has offered area residents the experience of live theater, Broadway musicals, special concert events and children’s theater right in their own back yard.
On Saturday, a gala anniversary celebration and dinner including a live tribute to the Broadway musical was held at the Metuchen-Edison Country Club to honor the Forum and the people who make it all happen.
State Sen. Barbara Buono (D-18), a borough resident, and Metuchen Mayor Ed O’Brien were expected to attend and Broadway actress Chita Rivera and borough native David Copperfield were among the honorary chairpersons.
The Forum was built as a live theater venue and vaudeville tryout house in 1928, and a few years later became a movie house.
It was in the early ’80s that the ForumTheatre Group (now the Forum Theatre Co.) came into being. When the owners at the time were looking to sell the theater "they wanted to keep it as a theater; they didn’t want it torn down," said Peter Loewy, the Forum Theatre Group’s founding member and its artistic director to this day.
And so the Forum Theatre Group was incorporated as a nonprofit organization in May 1983 and took over operations.
The theater receives its funding from a variety of sources including the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, various grants and numerous donations from corporations and foundations. The Forum is also a partner with the National Endowment for the Arts.
"At first, we continued to show movies," Loewy said, but live theater would begin in the fall of 1983.
In October 1983, the theater’s first live production, the Broadway musical "Merrily We Roll Along," was mounted.
"It was a Broadway musical that wasn’t very successful that we re-worked a bit," Loewy said.
That first season also saw productions of another Broadway musical, "I Love My Wife," and an off-Broadway show, "Trixie True, Teen Detective."
Over the years, the Forum has mounted dozens of musicals and shows, including "Dreamgirls," "Cabaret," "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas," "I’m Not Rappaport," "The Jazz Singer," "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum," "The Rocky Horror Picture Show," and most recently, "Come Fly With Me," which featured Broadway vet Bruce Adler, a multiple Tony Award nominee who has starred in several Forum productions.
Legendary comedian Robert Klein has appeared on the Forum stage a number of times, and seven years ago his HBO special was filmed there.
In 1995, the very popular "A Kid’s Forum" program began, featuring productions targeted at children. Recent entries in the series include "Snow White" and "School House Rock." A production of "Alice in Wonderland," directed by Paul Whelihan, is running through June 5.
Whelihan has been with the Forum since 1987, working in capacities from fund raising to producing. He said the Forum’s audiences have been enthusiastic his entire time there.
"They’re a lot of fun. For many years we’ve had a loyal following," he said.
Loewy said the Forum is looking to beef up its concert offerings in the near future. In particular, classic oldies from the ’50s and ’60s have become quite popular.
"We’re really starting to build an audience for that," Loewy said. In March, ’60s doo-wop icons The Duprees appeared.
The Forum "has been a tremendous asset" to the borough, said O’Brien.
"Not only has it provided an interesting cultural venue to the town, but it spans the generations with programs for children as well as adults," the mayor said. "We hope they continue for another 20 years."