‘The show must go on’

When Center Players began residence in Freehold Borough two decades ago, they called themselves the “Shopping Bag Players.”

“… We dragged everything all over the place,” Bernice Garfield-Szita chuckled as she recalled their beginning.

Garfield-Szita is the company’s artistic director.

“When you love what you do … you will do whatever it takes to keep doing it,” she said.

Stop and take a moment to remember Garfield-Szita’s quote.

“So we developed a fund toward a permanent space, meanwhile performing in venues including the Cornerstone Cafe, the American Hotel and the American Legion Hall.”

There were ups and downs in the search for a new venue, Garfield-Szita acknowledged, including a last-minute fail when a space fell through.

“So we were back to square one,” she said. “We went to a realtor and said, ‘Just find us a space that we can afford and we’ll go wherever we need to go.’

“And that’s how the little theater on the corner of South Mechanic Street was born.”

For two decades, Center Players has been Freehold Borough’s resident theater company providing community theater entertainment.

Now, going back to their beginnings.

The building, which had long housed a balloon store, needed work.

“There was a refrigerator that was like a time capsule from the 1950s,” Garfield-Zita laughed as she recalled “the wreck” of the place. “But the new owner of the property, Alan Steinhaus, was a good guy and he said, ‘Tell me what you need and I’ll build it out for you.’

“So he actually built the stage, we had an architect draw up plans so that we would have a backstage.”

The Center Playhouse became the borough’s intimate “little theater” with 49 seats and a 14 -by -18-foot stage bringing “excitement, energy and a closeness” that comes with community theater.

In 2001, the doors to Center Playhouse opened with a production of Crossing Delancey.

Opening night included a fundraiser dinner at Portobello restaurant in the borough.

“We had a red carpet, we had a doorman and we were totally sold out,” Garfield-Szita relayed.

“It was wonderful, in fact, people kept saying to us, ‘We never thought we would have something like this in Freehold. This is so wonderful, so sophisticated.’”

Center Players worked with the town to even change the street sign from South Street to Delancey Street.

Preparations were underway for a fall production of Laughter on the 23rd Floor when the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 happened.

“We had to work out for ourselves whether we were going to do a show that was funny when such a tragedy happened,” Garfield-Szita recalled.

“It was the board’s decision that one of the roles of theater is to help people distract themselves from their everyday worries and give them energy and good feelings to go on, so the show did go on.

“But that’s part of live theater, you never know, and you can make all the good plans in the world and then something could happen that you never expected would happen. You have to kind of roll with the punches and we’ve always done that,” she said.

Those were the theatre troupe’s humble beginnings. For 22 years, the little theater flourished and has been recognized with multiple awards.

Fast forward to 2023, Center Players finds themselves essentially at square one … again.

But remember Garfield-Zita’s quote:

. “When you love what you do … you will do whatever it takes to keep doing it.

In true troubadour tradition, Center Players is determined the show must go on and is in search of a new venue due to the sale of their long-time theater space in the borough.

“We’re not just a grocery store,” said Garfield-Szita’s husband Bob, alluding to proposed plans to convert Center Players’ intimate 49-seat theater on South Mechanic Street into a food market.

“We want to be part of, and almost belong to and have the town feel like we’re theirs,” said Szita, who fields multiple backstage roles including house manager. “So community theater, they’re local actors in Monmouth County and what happens onstage is done by local people.

“Everything is an expression of feeling proud of what you have and what you do and being able to show it and give it to the rest of the community.

“To say, ‘Oh yes! That’s our theater there, it’s part of the community,’” Szita explained.

Garfield-Szita noted they are a nonprofit.

“Nobody makes any money,” she emphasized. “In fact, we give money to keep things going.”

Ideally, they need to find a space already built out, according to Sheldon Fallon, president of Center Players’ executive committee.

“We need a space that’s at least 2,000 square feet, we have to have room to build a stage and have to have 12 to14 foot ceilings for lights,” Fallon explained. “We need to put in the stage, two public bathrooms, backstage needs a separate bath and dressing area.”

The Center Players are in their space through March 24, 2024 and for a year, they have been “searching and searching within the town” to stay “at home.”

Skyrocketing rent prices has led the crew to not only look in the borough, but also outside.

“We started to look but we have not found anything that we feel is absolutely a perfect space for us,” Garfield-Szita said. “…We would like to stay in the town anyway we could.”

The Center Players crew remains optimistic.

“We recently had some contact with the mayor [Kevin A. Kane], who was positive and said they are going to try to find a way,” Garfield-Zita said.

Community aspect

Bob Szita is a non-theater person.

“Previous to meeting Bernice I had no theater experience other than going to the theater,” he said. “So my interest in community theater and my only experience with Center Players is the community aspect. I like talking with people and involving them in projects, that’s probably the aspect I like the most.”

Over the years, Szita has seen the value of community theater for the creative.

“It’s a beginning for them and I’ve seen many youngsters and even oldsters get on stage for the first time and blossom and go on in different ways with it,” he said, whether its as stage manager, making sets, or operating the sound board or light board.

“The community inspires me. I like to say we are not a theater in the community, we are a community.”

Center Players has involved businesses and individuals throughout the community in many different ways.

They invited a local physical therapist to help two “strong, vibrant, mature men” to move like elderly men in their show I’m Not Rappaport, about two elderly men who become friends.

“By the time he was done they really looked the age that they were portraying,” Szita said.

The theater troupe used a kosher deli to provide food for a show that had a Jewish theme.

Local businesses have allowed Center Players to utilize space in off hours so that they could rehearse. Many places have also provided props and costumes without charge including the antique center and Habitat ReStore.

“It does enrich the people who have become involved in the theater as volunteers,” Szita said. “It often pulls in the whole family and there is a feeling of being a part of this wonderful project and there’s a pride in it. Years later, people will say, ‘I worked on that show.’ Or, ‘You borrowed my (whatever), it’s still a part of them.’

“They’re talking about it years later, so these are lifetime experiences. But it is not just that. It’s not just good theater, it’s all the other involvement and behind-the-scenes activities, the connections, human connections, that go into it.”

These were the theater troupe’s beginnings and two decades followed during which the company flourished and was recognized with multiple awards.

“We love the diverse population, we love the friends we’ve made with the restaurants and businesses,” Garfield-Szita said. “We love being a bridge for the different ethnic and other communities, it’s wonderful.”

Another aspect of Center Players has been facilitating the couple’s work as grief counselors.

Garfield-Szita taught art and theater prior to beginning private practice as a psycho-dramatist, combining drama and therapy.

“For 20 years we held our ‘Mourning After’ grief group at the theater,” Garfield-Zita explained. “The interesting synergy of this was people came in who were absolutely devastated by the loss of a husband or a wife or a child or friend and being in the theater environment was positive for them.”

What does the theater bring to the town, how does the town benefit?

“Certainly economically,” Szita responded, noting their little theater has essentially made Freehold a destination. “People come into town and they eat at the restaurants. As far as attracting business to Freehold, knowing there is a theater there that the town and the residents are proud of.”

Szita said they want borough officials to boast and take ownership.

“If the mayor is talking about Freehold, we want him to say, ‘We have Center Playhouse, an award-winning theater.’”

So where else “can you see a Broadway-quality show for $30?” asked Fallon, who once reviewed community theater productions.

“We’ve won so many awards,” he said wistfully, “and the things we can do on that little stage … Unbelievable!”

Center Players will present A Black and White Cookie, an original play written by Gary Morgenstein and directed by Garfield-Szita Aug. 11-27.

To reserve tickets visit https://centerplayers.org/upcoming/