COURTESY OF STATE THEATRE
Over the last few years, The State Theatre has started to used its Studio space regularly for concerts, children’s entertainment and more.
Taking advantage of being closed to the general public from March 2020 to October 2021, because of the pandemic, The State Theatre in New Brunswick underwent extensive renovations that, among other things, enabled it to maker greater use of an intimate multi-purpose room, accessible via the lobby on its balcony level. It is called The State Theatre Studio, and it currently offers indie pop-rock and classical concerts and children’s entertainment series, and also hosts special events. On March 12, I saw a show there by the trio Always Now, who combine buoyant folk-rock music with inspirational messages.
The show was part of the theater’s first Sound Studio Rock Concerts Series, which concludes on May 28 with a show by the duo Adoraborealis (singer/songwriter Mike Messer and guitarist Tom McCaffrey). Meanwhile, coming up in the Sound Studio Classical Series is The X Ensemble (pianist Neil Alexander, violinist Fung Chern Hwei and reed player Brad Hubbard), on May 17. And the space’s Milk & Cookies series of children’s shows will feature Mike Messer, April 18; and Tahira, May 2. For information, and to find out about new shows when they are added, visit stnj.org/events-tickets.
I spoke to the theater’s president and CEO, Sarah K. Chaplin, about the room’s development, and the way it will continue to be used in the future.
COURTESY OF STATE THEATRE
The band Cold Weather Company performed at The State Theatre Studio in April 2023.
Q: Could you tell me a little bit about the history of the room? It’s been around for a few years at least, right?
A: Yeah, it has. That space has always been a really interesting space, as it relates to the building itself. It’s been a lot of things in its life. But in 2018, I think, was the first real renovation of it into what we call a multi-purpose room. It can be a performance space, an event space, or a meeting space. So that happened in 2018. But unfortunately we weren’t fully ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) Accessible, so we used it a little bit, but not a lot. But when we renovated in ’21, we installed the elevator and so we were able to activate the space in a much greater way.
We did some additional renovations in the ’21 project. Then we started using it as a performance space, primarily for our education stuff like our Milk & Cookies, which is theater for the very young. But we knew that it gave us an opportunity to do some more innovative and experiential and intimate kind of performances, so we started playing around with some concerts. I think our first one was (singer-songwriter) Emily Grove, in ’23. The room has a good vibe for that kind of thing and people are appreciating those more intimate experiences now.
So this year we really committed. We knew we needed to do some additional enhancements, particularly to the equipment, so we spent last year working through that, and then this year we really committed to exploring concerts in that space and we established two series: our classical and rock series. The idea is this intimate experience with the artist and the audience close together
Q: At the show I was there for, it was tables in the front and then rows of seats in the back. But I would assume you could do a totally open floor, or all rows of seats. You have some flexibility.
A: Yes. We’ve done everything. For the rock series, we do more of a cabaret — a mixed cabaret-and-rowed setup — and for the classical music, we do more rows. And we’ve had … not performances, but events where we’ve had a band on the stage and we’ve had it completely open so people could dance. It’s really a mutable space that we can have fun with.
Q: What is the variation in the capacity, in the different formats?
A: We typically are aiming for about 100. But it can go, I think, to 150 if it’s completely standing. But generally we’re doing between 80 and 100.
Adoraborealis (Tom McCaffrey, left, and Mike Messer) will perform at The State Theatre Studio, May 28.
Q: Besides the stuff that is scheduled currently … is this kind of an experiment where you’re seeing how things go, or are you really committed to making this a permanent part of what The State Theatre offers?
A: I would say this year really was our beta year, because, like I said, we’ve done a couple (of shows) in the past. But this year, we fully committed to a more established series, and I would say that the response has been strong enough that we will continue doing it. I think the space provides us with an opportunity to serve an audience that we’re not always serving on the big stage.
I do hope to find some sponsors for the series, because the limited capacity does make the financials a little challenging. But it is something that is important to our mission, as it relates to making the arts available to everyone, so we will continue utilizing the space in this way.
Q: When you think about it … New Jersey theaters in general … NJPAC and The McCarter Theatre Center have different-sized theaters, and The Basie has The Vogel, and BergenPAC has a smaller space. It seems like everyone is thinking that they really need to offer, in addition to their big shows, smaller shows — to be able to offer a broader range of things.
A: Right. There’s such a difference in what audiences are looking for now. Particularly this whole idea of experiential and the immersive. Now, immersive is really challenging to do on a proscenium stage — and it’s challenging to do in a small space like the Studio. We’ve explored some but haven’t really found a project that makes sense.
That would be an opportunity for us to attract a younger audience, too. The younger audiences are wanting a more intimate experience, so this is our opportunity. It’s also our opportunity to play a little bit and to have artists in the theater that we wouldn’t have because they’re not 1,800-seat artists yet. It’s an opportunity for us to get involved in an earlier-career artist, and also, it kind of harkens back to New Brunswick and its rock scene back in the day. We’re happy to revisit that as well.
Q: When you say “immersive,” are you just talking about that intimacy, or is there something else you mean by that?
A: There’s a brand of performance and performance art … think of, if you’ve seen “The Van Gogh Experience” … an event or an experience in New York where you could go in and experience Van Gogh’s paintings in a much more intimate and immersive way. There are artists out there creating shows where the audience is an intricate part of the performance, and we call that immersive. There was one in New York called “Blind,” where you basically eat in the dark. That’s not something we’re going to be doing anytime soon, but those kinds of experiential events are gaining more traction and more interest from audiences. I think a lot of arts organizations are trying to figure out, how do they participate?
Like I said, we haven’t found one that works for us yet, but maybe someday.
Q: It’s also a good space … for instance, if you wanted to have an author there, to do a book event and take questions.
A: We have used it for lectures. We have regular dramaturgy lectures that happen before our Saturday night Broadway performances where the dramaturges from the Mason Gross School of the Arts talk about the show that the audience is going to see. So the room really is multi-purpose. It allows us to do so much.
I’m a big believer of welcoming people to a venue for their purpose, because then they’re more likely to come back for our purpose. So we use it as part of our Community Partners program, where organizations can use the space for a party or a meeting or an expo or something — something for them and their mission. And then it introduces those people to The State Theatre as a place, and hopefully they feel comfortable coming back to see a show either in the Studio or on our main stage. It’s really kind of a door to The State Theatre.
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