Star-studded send-off will be April 3
SOMERS POINT — The curtain has fallen on the tenure of Keith Cooper as executive director of the Gateway Playhouse, the Bay Avenue theater he helped resurrect from the dead.
The 62-year-old will enjoy a Broadway star-studded sendoff April 3 during a concert by husband Kelly Briggs at the theater. Guests will include Jerry Christakos and Krissy Fraelich, as well as musical director John McMahon. Showtime is 3 p.m.
Forming the Theater Cooperative of South Jersey with Jim and Debbie Dalfonso and Karen Sutherland, Cooper spent a decade securing funding and putting a ton of sweat equity into rebuilding the circa 1910 theater from the foundation up, climaxing with a grand reopening in August 2017 with Andrea McArdle of “Annie” fame headlining.
Jim Dalfonso, who is chairman of the board of directors, said it was a long and difficult process.
“When we started this I had brown hair,” he said, sporting locks of gray.
The two-story, 5,000-square-foot building now features a 1,000-square-foot stage and seating for 240 guests on the ground floor; office space with five rooms — including a conference room — as well as state-of-the-art lighting and sound booths on the second floor.
The theater presents multiple events throughout the year, including Gateway to the Art, its summer theater camp, and a monthly piano bar with an open mic. Cooper handled the venue’s day-to-day operations, booking and contracting talent and coordinating productions.
A Mays Landing resident for about 30 years, he grew up in Bloomington, Ind., where he later earned a theater degree from Indiana University.
Cooper said at the time majors were offered in theater or music but there were no musical theater degrees. He said he spent time with both departments, earned his degree “and packed my bags and moved to New York City.”
It was 1982 and Times Square was a crime- and drug-infested area devoid of today’s glitz and glamour.
“Broadway was in a sad state. Very few shows were being produced and they were struggling to find nominees for Tonys,” Cooper said. “42nd Street, you couldn’t even walk down. There were adult movie houses, drug dealers and all kinds of people like that. The difference is like night and day.”
Cooper said he was working as a dancer for “Sesame Street Live,” traveling all over the country playing Ernie’s pal Bert. After the tour ended, he wound up in California for a couple of years where “nothing really happened.” Cooper said he auditioned for all kinds of parts but that the industry was “more film and television, not my thing.”
He said he had an opportunity to go back to “Sesame Street Live,” but this time as a manager instead of a dancer, noting he was in his 30s and “my body wasn’t moving the same way as it did in my 20s.”
He took the job but just six months later was offered a position as entertainment specialist for Caesars Atlantic City, bringing him to southern New Jersey in 1994.
“I took that job and made more money than I had ever made in my entire life,” he said.
Cooper said his husband, award-winning Broadway performer Kelly Briggs, was pleased to relocate because he had family living in Sea Isle City. He said they are celebrating 37 years together this year.
Following his time in Atlantic City, Cooper served as company manager for multiple Disney productions on Broadway and national tours. His career took him to the high seas as company manager on Norwegian Cruise Lines’ ship Epic and he eventually served as entertainment director for Norwegian Cruise Lines.
In 2019, he was presented with the Louis P. DeScioli Award of Excellence by the Somers Point Business Association in recognition of his efforts at the Gateway Playhouse and contributions to the community of Somers Point.
Restoring the theater
City Council authorized the purchase of the aging theater at the corner of Gibbs and Bay avenues in 2006.
“A lot of people were trying to buy it,” Cooper said. “The city stepped in because they realized the value of having a performance space on Bay Avenue.”
But the city had no experience operating a theater nor a plan to do so, Cooper said, and closed its doors.
“It sat there and deteriorated another two years,” he said.
In 2008, he had finished managing the national tour of “High School Musical” for Disney — traveling with 60 people, 40 of whom were under 20 years old — and thought he would return home to Mays Landing and “do nothing for the rest of the year, just relax.”
That’s when his phone rang.
Dalfonso called, saying “we have to save this building or they will tear it down and build condos,” he said. “Little did I know … .”
Cooper said they started attending City Council meetings and talking to city leaders about the building’s future. They put together a business plan to take over management, eventually securing a 20-year lease.
To say that taking a building more than a century old and turning it into a modern performance space was a major undertaking would be putting it lightly. It took nine years and more than $1.3 million to get the job done.
Cooper said they knew what they were getting into and had an investor with deep pockets willing to finance the restoration work, which was estimated at $750,000 just to reopen the doors.
Unfortunately, he said, “Bernie Madoff happened and my friend lost his fortune, or a large portion of his fortune.”
Cooper said the donor, who has always remained anonymous, provided start-up money but could not provide what was anticipated.
“It was up to us to fix the building,” he said. “We had a lease but we had to fix it.”
Cooper said they started doing concerts here and there — including in people’s living rooms — raising money during the city’s popular Bayfest event and managing to secure some individual and corporate donations.
They also took part in the Pepsi Refresh Challenge, winning three times for a total of $150,000. In 2010, Pepsico redirected advertising money into community enhancement. Cooper said the process involved public voting as well as collecting codes printed on bottle caps and cartons to secure power votes.
“They did a lot of good with that,” he said.
Dalfonso said Pepsi gave the group a boost and built momentum early.
“Once our work started to grow legs, once we received $150,000 in grants from Pepsi, Shore Medical Center offered a $100,000 matching grant then the city jumped in and took the ball over the goal line,” he said.
Dalfonso said Mayor Jack Glasser was a steadfast supporter of the endeavor.
“The mayor was along for this entire ride,” he said.
“It’s one of the greatest assets that we have brought to Bay Avenue,” Glasser said. “The people have done such a great job down there with Keith at the helm. We were all looking for the performing arts to come to Bay Avenue and they made that come to fruition.”
City Council secured grants in 2015 to help fund completion. They include a $400,000 grant from the New Jersey Economic Development Authority and a $102,000 grant from the New Jersey Historic Trust.
It wasn’t enough.
“You know how renovation goes,” Cooper said. “$750,000 was just the tip of the iceberg. Every time you took a wall out, you found another problem, another issue — $750,000 in the end turned into $1.3 million.”
He said they basically gutted the building down to the cinderblocks and rebuilt it from the ground up — including the roof — then had to buy seating, lighting and sound equipment as well as finish the interior.
Cooper said there had been some renovations completed over the decades by different owners but no maintenance had been performed for about 60 years.
“That fell to us,” he said, noting much of the money came from performing at Grace Lutheran Church and anywhere else they could make a buck.
“Everything we did went back into renovation of the building,” he said. “It truly was a labor of love.”
That labor of love, which he said took the efforts of dozens of people, resulted in the restoration of the theater in a building that now is mostly free of debt, Cooper said.
“I know people who take out huge loans for renovations and improvements and everything they do is about paying off the loan,” he said. “We didn’t want to do that and I’m glad we didn’t.”
He said they did borrow to install lighting and sound equipment but are “well into paying that off.”
One of the benefits of that is it “allows us to be more selective about what we want to do, how we want to do it and when we want to do it.”
Now that’s dedication
Cooper said he has so many fond memories of performing with friends while raising funds to make the dream a reality. One particular episode, however, stands out above the rest.
“When we did the Pepsi Refresh Challenge, there were codes on top of bottle caps and a whole group of us went to recycling centers and dug through garbage to find caps of these bottles to get extra votes. That’s real dedication to a cause — nobody is going to do that,” Cooper said. “It’s a wonderful group of people and I’m thrilled I was able to work with them and call them my friends.”
Dalfonso said it’s been a pleasure to work with Cooper.
“When the idea of doing this kind of appeared, he was the first call I made. Keith and I have very different but very complementary skill sets,” he said. “Without Keith, this doesn’t get off the ground. His passion for the arts, business savvy and entertainment acumen were vital to both our opening and our ability to stay open. He will be sorely missed.”
COVID hits
The theater was in its third year of operations after reopening when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in spring 2020, once again shuttering the theater.
“We were starting to do full seasons of shows, concerts and all kinds of things. Then we followed the guidelines of the governor and CDC and basically had to close our doors, there were no other options,” Cooper said. “They said you can seat 50 percent socially distant but you can’t produce a show at 50 percent — it’s only 240 people at 100 percent — so we had no choice. We had to close.”
Fortunately, he said, the theater was very successful in 2019 and had some money in the bank. The management also followed the lead of other businesses and took the show outside, holding a monthly open-mic piano bar that now continues inside. The next show is slated for 7 to 9 p.m. March 24.
“That was a little money coming in and we just wanted to keep things going,” he said, noting he’s pleased those days are behind them.
They purchased an antibacterial fogger they now use on regular basis to disinfect the facility. Cooper said they had no cases among students or teachers in the summer camp.
Passing the torch
Jennifer Gatewood, who is vice president of the board of trustees for Chartertech High School for the Performing Arts, will replace Cooper.
According to her online biography, Gatewood has had a love for live theater since an early age and has volunteered as part of several companies. Cooper said she has been with the organization for at least five years, serving as volunteer coordinator.
“She knows how our operation works and I feel completely confident passing it off to her,” he said.
“I’m looking forward to working with our new executive director,” Dalfonso said. “When the position came up, she was really eager to throw her energies toward it and we are happy to have her.”
He said Cooper will be missed.
“He’s just a warm, loving personality to have around our patrons who really love him and love his welcoming spirit,” Dalfonso said. “He has shoes that will be hard to fill.”
Glasser agreed.
“Keith Cooper will definitely be missed by the arts community of Somers Point,” he said.
Cooper and Briggs plan to spend time traveling around the world, spending extra time in Ireland.
But Dalfonso thinks Cooper will never be able to stay away from the Gateway.
“My guess is, if I’m a betting man, once he returns from Ireland he will still want to work in our box office and be involved,” Dalfonso said. “He loves the place and we love him.”