BY LINDA DeNICOLA
Staff Writer
PHOTOSBYCHRIS KELLY staff A new 520-seat theater and an art gallery comprise the new Herbert and Evelyn Axelrod Performing Arts Center at the Ruth Hyman Jewish Community Center. There will be fireworks of another kind on July 4, when the sparkling new performing arts center at the Jewish Community Center in Deal kicks off the summer season.
The Herbert and Evelyn Axelrod Performing Arts Center is the culmination of a 10-year dream for members of the Ruth Hyman Jewish Community Center of Greater Monmouth County.
The new theater is part of an addition on the JCC building that also includes a new art gallery where an exhibition of artwork by seven local women artists is also opening that night.
With 520 seats and a state-of-the-art sound and lighting system, the arts center adds a strong cultural dynamic to the JCC that will be enjoyed by the entire Shore population, said Donald Epstein, co-chairman of the JCC Board of Governors and chairman of the Building Committee.
According to JCC literature, the arts center enables the JCC to bring the highest quality performers to the community. It will program jazz, rock and popular music, a drama workshop and teen performing arts productions.
The main stage performing arts branch of the JCC has been presenting community theater for more than 70 years. It has a long history of presenting important dramas and comedies such as: “All My Sons,” “Death of a Salesman,” “The Crucible,” “Bus Stop,” “Brighton Beach Memoirs” and “The Diary of Anne Frank,” to name a few. Among the classic musicals that have been presented are “The Threepenny Opera,” “A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum,” “Fiddler on the Roof” and “Cabaret.”
The curtain will rise for the first time in the arts center with a special jazz performance by the New York Metro Jazz Ensemble, led by Ocean Township resident Arthur Topilow. The ensemble will perform a program of Americana and Dixieland tunes, rounded out with a rousing finale of July 4 songs.
“I’ve performed many concerts throughout my career, but this one is most important to me because it marks the completion of the JCC arts center and commemorates the July 4th holiday with an exceptional musical ensemble,” said Topilow, who is also the director of hematology/medical oncology at Jersey Shore University Medical Center.
Topilow has performed with the Garden State Orchestra and the Cleveland Pops Orchestra, and at the 92nd Street Y in New York City, the Count Basie Theater and the Jazz in the Park series in Red Bank. He is currently recording his third CD.
He will perform on an ebony Steinway B grand piano donated to the JCC by Herbert Axelrod, a longtime member of the JCC.
The July 4 concert features vocalist Annette Sanders, the jazz voice panelist for the National Foundation for the Advancement of the Arts, bass performer Gary Mazzaroppi, trumpeter Randy Sandke, guitarist Vinnie Correo and saxophonist Scott Robinson.
The summer concert series continues with a three-day benefit titled “Encore: A Celebration of the Arts” to be held Aug. 15-17. It will be the first event to be co-sponsored by the JCC of Greater Monmouth County and the Sephardic Community Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.
The arts festival will feature an art exhibit, a gift auction, a wine and cheese reception, and performances by entertainers from the Deal and Brooklyn communities. Proceeds for this special event will benefit the JCC and SCC scholarship funds.
On Sept. 4, Topilow will again take center stage at the JCC in a “Two Pianists” piano duo with legendary jazz pianist Dick Hyman, musical director of the scores for Woody Allen’s movies.
“When I found out I’d be performing with Dick Hyman at the JCC, I was walking on air for two days,” Topilow said. “It’s as if the president himself called me to the White House to make a statement to the nation.”
According to Jeannie Epstein, JCC president, plans are under way for additional jazz and classical concerts, top Broadway entertainers, comedians, celebrity lecturers, children’s musical productions and American and Israeli film festivals.
The arts center will also serve as a home for ongoing programs at the JCC and for the local community.
Epstein said the center will be a setting for community-wide events as well as a venue for students from prestigious music schools in the region that the Axelrods are affiliated with.
In addition to the Axelrods, the arts center has been made possible by many generous families in the community.
The project was kicked off originally by an initial endowment from Sheldon and Ann Vogel, who have provided continuous support. Donors and contributors will be recognized as part of an official grand opening ceremony being planned for later this year.
Jess Levy, executive director of the Jewish Community Center, said “the curtains are up and the seats are in.”
On July 4, it will be time to hit the lights on the stage of the new theater.
Ticket prices for the July 4 and Sept. 4 concerts are $20, and $15 for seniors and students. Jazz concert sponsor tickets are $36. Encore benefit tickets are $26. For further information, call (732) 531-9100, ext. 100.