Ritz Theater Oaklyn, New Jersey (Axis Video)
- 6 years ago
Ritz Theater Oaklyn, New Jersey (Axis Video)
The Ritz Theatre, formerly Puttin' on the Ritz, produces mainstage plays and musicals, children's theater, runs a summer theatre arts day camp and reaches out to its community with educational and entertaining programming.
The Theatre, built in a Colonial Revival, opened in September 1927 as a vaudeville theatre and quickly became the focal point of the community. The architecture is Greek Revival with the auditorium walls featuring 25-foot high neo-classical canvas murals with gilt trimmed columns and velvet draped balconies enclosed by classic carved balustrades.
In the 1950s and 1960s, the Ritz was known for its fine art and foreign film showings, drawing audiences from Philadelphia and the Southern New Jersey regions.
In the 1970s, the Ritz then became an adult movie theater. By the 1970s, the theatre had become infamous. The foreign and art films had been replaced by pornography. It was operated by Budco, a company that also operated another pornographic theatre in Pennsauken. Films with such titles as “Starlet Nights,” “Purely Physical,” “Airport Girls,” and “Man and Wife” were advertised with an “X” rating. The Ritz movie theatre closed in early 1985.
The theatre closed until 1985, when the Ritz returned to live theatre when Puttin’ on the Ritz took over. The first production of Puttin’ on The Ritz was the musical The Boy Friend by Sandy Wilson.
In 1990, the theatre’s production of Children of a Lesser God would begin a long time commitment to an American Sign Language Initiative. The Ritz serves more than 73,300 patrons annually. The Theatre building also boasts “The Gallery at the Ritz,” an in-house art gallery that offers professional monthly art exhibits.
Being a non-profit company, there is an active Board of Directors. In 2001, the group purchased the 466-seat theatre, making it the permanent home of the ensemble. In 2002, the Ritz was added to the New Jersey and National Register of Historic Places, # 0 2 0 0 1 6 2 5. Added to NRHP: December 26, 2002
The Ritz Theater
915 White Horse Pike
Oaklyn, NJ 08104
NARRATION:
Eileen
"Almost In F"
"Clear Waters"
"Dances and Dames"
"Sapphire Isle"
Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
©2018 Axis Video
The Ritz Theatre, formerly Puttin' on the Ritz, produces mainstage plays and musicals, children's theater, runs a summer theatre arts day camp and reaches out to its community with educational and entertaining programming.
The Theatre, built in a Colonial Revival, opened in September 1927 as a vaudeville theatre and quickly became the focal point of the community. The architecture is Greek Revival with the auditorium walls featuring 25-foot high neo-classical canvas murals with gilt trimmed columns and velvet draped balconies enclosed by classic carved balustrades.
In the 1950s and 1960s, the Ritz was known for its fine art and foreign film showings, drawing audiences from Philadelphia and the Southern New Jersey regions.
In the 1970s, the Ritz then became an adult movie theater. By the 1970s, the theatre had become infamous. The foreign and art films had been replaced by pornography. It was operated by Budco, a company that also operated another pornographic theatre in Pennsauken. Films with such titles as “Starlet Nights,” “Purely Physical,” “Airport Girls,” and “Man and Wife” were advertised with an “X” rating. The Ritz movie theatre closed in early 1985.
The theatre closed until 1985, when the Ritz returned to live theatre when Puttin’ on the Ritz took over. The first production of Puttin’ on The Ritz was the musical The Boy Friend by Sandy Wilson.
In 1990, the theatre’s production of Children of a Lesser God would begin a long time commitment to an American Sign Language Initiative. The Ritz serves more than 73,300 patrons annually. The Theatre building also boasts “The Gallery at the Ritz,” an in-house art gallery that offers professional monthly art exhibits.
Being a non-profit company, there is an active Board of Directors. In 2001, the group purchased the 466-seat theatre, making it the permanent home of the ensemble. In 2002, the Ritz was added to the New Jersey and National Register of Historic Places, # 0 2 0 0 1 6 2 5. Added to NRHP: December 26, 2002
The Ritz Theater
915 White Horse Pike
Oaklyn, NJ 08104
NARRATION:
Eileen
"Almost In F"
"Clear Waters"
"Dances and Dames"
"Sapphire Isle"
Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
©2018 Axis Video