RED BANK, NJ (CelebrityAccess) — Comedian Jon Stewart has signed on for a benefit to help fund a planned expansion of the Count Basie Theatre.
The benefit will see Stwart participate in an onstage interview and audience Q&A at the theatre, set for Sunday, June 17th at 8 pm. Tickets will be priced between $75 and $250, and customers will be limited to 4 ticket purchases per household.
“I’m happy to appear at the Basie for a great cause – the Count Basie,” Stewart said. “The expansion going on at the center is going to keep Monmouth County the center of ‘Jersey’s premier arts communities.”
Announced in 2016, the benefit is part of the Basie campaign, a $26 million effort to expand the facility with new performance spaces and renovations to the venue’s physical plant.
The project broke ground last fall on the west end of the Basie Center campus, which will create the Jay And Linda Grunin Arts And Education Building and house a second performance venue, space for the ever-growing Basie Performing Arts Academy, and provide upgrades to the backstage areas of the Basie’s historic, 1926 theater.
A second phase, set to begin shortly, will expand the Basie theater’s lobby, restrooms, and concessions areas, as well as adding upgrades to the building’s exterior, including a new outdoor public arts plaza.
“We’re honored that Jon is lending his support to the Count Basie Center,” said Adam Philipson, President and CEO, Count Basie Center for the Arts. “Proceeds from this evening will go directly towards the construction of our new center. It’s impossible to express how much this means to us. Jon’s dedication to the region, the Basie and the arts, in general, is invaluable.”
