Blairstown's Roy's Hall, built in 1913. Credit: Robert Armin

The Blairstown Theater Festival operated from December 2006 through November 2007 at historic Roy's Hall^[1] (also known as Roy's Theatre), a former silent movie theater built in 1913 at 30 Main Street in Blairstown Township, New Jersey. Blairstown is a Township in Warren County, New Jersey, United States.

Crowds awaiting a screening of Friday the 13th on July 13, 2007.

On July 13th, 2007, the company attracted considerable media attention when they presented three screenings of the classic horror film, Friday the 13th, which was shot in and around Blairstown in the fall of 1979. Roy's Hall appears in the film shortly after the opening credits. ^[2]

The company's January 2007 production of Letters from the Inside was selected by The Star-Ledger as one of the top five new plays of the 2006-2007 New Jersey theater season and actress Kelli Ambrose, who played Mandy in Letters from the Inside, was selected as one of the top five Best Leading Actresses in a Play. The Star-Ledger is a Newspaper in the US state of New Jersey and is based in Newark. ^[3]

Among the other concerts and productions presented by the Blairstown Theater Festival were Nancy Anderson singing early Broadway songs backed by the Baroque Orchestra of North Jersey (Baroque to Broadway), the Still River Band in Concert, Malachy McCourt and Jarlath Conroy in A Couple of Blaguards, Betsy Palmer and Will Hutchins in A.R. Gurney's Love Letters, the New Jersey premiere of I Am Anne Frank, and concerts by cabaret performers KT Sullivan (Vienna to Weimar), John O'Neil ('So Kaye), the Western Wind Vocal Ensemble (Holiday Light), Cris Groenendaal (Music of the Night), Jana Robbins (One Hell of a Ride! The Songs of Cy Coleman) and jazz pianist Bill Mays and his Inventions Trio. Malachy Gerard McCourt (born September 20, 1931) is an Irish-American actor writer and politician Betsy Palmer (born Patricia Betsy Hrunek; November 1 1926) is an American Actress probably best known for her role as a panelist Will Hutchins (born May 5[[ 932]] is an American Actor most noted for playing the lead role of Tom Brewster in the Warner Brothers A R Gurney (Albert Ramsdell Gurney Jr (born November 1, 1930) is an American Playwright and Novelist. Love Letters is a Pulitzer Prize for Drama nominated play by A William Allen Mays ( February 5, 1944) is a jazz pianist from Northern California who is normally referred to as "Bill Mays ^[4]

The company also presented several film festivals with such classic titles as Gone with the Wind, Casablanca, Seven Samurai, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, A Night at the Opera, The Court Jester, La Belle et la Bête, Black Orpheus, Mon Oncle, The Wages of Fear and La Strada. Gone with the Wind is a 1939 American dramatic - romantic - War film adapted from Margaret Mitchell 's 1936 Casablanca ( is an American Romantic drama film directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman and is a 1954 Japanese film co-written edited and directed by Akira Kurosawa. Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (which has the onscreen title Bud Abbott Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein) is a comedy / Horror film A Night at the Opera is a 1935 Comedy film starring Groucho Marx, Chico Marx, Harpo Marx, Kitty Carlisle, The Court Jester is a 1956 Comedy film starring Danny Kaye, Glynis Johns, Basil Rathbone, and Angela Lansbury. Beauty and the Beast ( La Belle et la Bête) is a 1946 French romantic Fantasy film adaptation of Jeanne-Marie Le Prince Black Orpheus ( Orfeu Negro in Portuguese) is a Film made in Brazil by French director Marcel Camus. Mon Oncle ("My Uncle" is a comedic film by French filmmaker Jacques Tati. The Wages of Fear ( Le Salaire de la peur) is a 1953 adventure - Drama film directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot, starring La strada ( English: The Road) ( 1954) is an Italian neorealist film directed by Federico Fellini.

The Blairstown Theater Festival was not able to continue past its first season for several reasons. Most significantly, Blairstown Township suddenly increased the real estate taxes on the building by more than 680% (from $1,031. 55 to $7,032. 30)^[5] and the landlord decided to sell the theatre. ^[6]

A CD featuring highlights from the Blairstown Theater Festival's season was released in February 2008. ^[7]

2007 AUDIO SAMPLER

Performers at the 2007 Blairstown Theater Festival. The following are often-sung Irish folk ballads. The songs are arranged by theme under two main categories of 'Political' and 'Not Political' and are not necessarily contemporary " The Music of the Night " is a song from the musical The Phantom of the Opera. "The Cherry-Tree Carol" is a Ballad with the rare distinction of being both a Christmas carol and one of the Child Ballads (no The Piano Concerto No 23 in A major ( K 488 is a musical composition written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Credit: Robert Armin

References