About The Meadowbrook
ABOUT THE MEADOWBROOK
It’s
impossible
to
go
into
detail
about
the
long
and
varied
history
of
Meadowbrook
but
a
brief
overview
will
give
your some insight.
The
Meadowbrook
opened
in
1923.
The
Meadowbrook
hosted
all
of
the
famous
‘Big
Bands’.
It’s
even
purported
to
have
featured,
as
one
of
the
band
singers,
Frank
Sinatra.
Frank
Dailey’s
Meadowbrook
became
a
household
name
as
a
dance
hall
in
1936
for
it’s
radio
broadcasts
that
announced
“And
now
from
Frank
Dailey’s
Meadowbrook,
on
the
Newark-Pompton
Turnpike,
in
the
heart
of
Cedar
Grove,
New
Jersey
comes
the
music
of
.
.
.
.”
.
When
the
big
band
era
ended
the
Meadowbrook
became
a
banquet
hall,
run
after
the
death
of
Frank,
by
his
brother Cliff. It had become the property of the bank and Cliff would run it for them for the occasional event.
There
seems
to
be
some
discussion
as
to
who
opened
the
first
dinner
theatre.
Wikipedia
states
that
the
Barksdale
Theatre
in
Virginia
was
the
first.
I
believe
this
to
be
incorrect,
Barksdale
had
a
separate
facility
for
the
theatre
and
dinner
(buffet)
service.
The
Meadowbrook
was
all
in
one
room
with
tables
surrounding
the
‘in-the-round’
stage.
In
my
opinion
the
Meadowbrook
was
the
first
dinner
theatre
of
its
kind
where
the
patrons
never
left
their
seats
and
dinner
and
theatre
was
brought
to
them.
After
the
theatrical
performance
the
stage
was
removed
so
that
the
patrons had the use of the dance floor to a live orchestra until closing, all in one room.
In
1959
Gary
and
Helga
McHugh
came
up
with
the
idea
of
the
Dinner
Theatre.
Gary
was
a
great
salesman
and
was
able
to
convince
the
bank
to
allow
him
to
rent
the
old
hall
and
operate
it
as
the
world’s
first
dinner
theatre.
It
opened
as
the
Meadowbrook
Dinner
Theatre
in
the
fall
of
1959.
The
Meadowbrook
was
a
full
union
operation;
Actor’s
Equity,
union
stage
hands,
union
musicians
and
kitchen,
bartender
and
wait
staff.
Early
into
its
operation
the
property
was
purchased
from
the
bank
by
John
Thumann.
It
would
be
best
to
explain
here
that
the
Thumann
corporation
owned
the
liquor
license
and
derived
revenue
from
liquor
sales
which
were
not
shared
with
the
theatre
operation
which
derived
its
revenue
from
food
service
and
show
only
ticket
sales.
On
the
other
hand
that
was
to
be considered rent.
It
would
only
be
fair
to
give
credit
where
credit
is
due.
The
concept
was
well
accepted
and
business
flourished.
Gary
was
joined
by
Carl
Sawyer
as
co-producer;
Richard
Scanga
joined
as
Production
Stage
Manager
and
hired
me
as
his
assistant.
Soon
I
moved
to
Production
Stage
Manager
and
Mr.
Scanga
moved
to
co-Producer.
Sometime
later
Mr.
Scanga
became
general
manager
of
the
Vogue
Terrace
Dinner
Theatre
in
Pittsburg,
PA
,
and
was
replaced
by
John
Wingate.
As
time
went
by
I
moved
up
to
Associate
Producer
above
title.
John
Wingate
moved
on
to
manage
the
Wedgewood
Dinner
Theatre
in
Glen
Cove,
LI,
NY
,
I
now
had
single
billing
as
Associate
Producer,
followed
by
co-Producer
with
Gary
McHugh
.
The
Wedgewood
and
Vogue
Terrace
were
both
operated
by
Dinner
Theatre,
Inc.
,
part
of
the
Meadowbrook
operation.
Gary,
as
it
turned
out,
was
not
a
great
business
man
and
began
to
spend
more
money
that
he
was
taking
in.
Not
on
himself,
but
in
an
attempt
to
expand
other
dinner
theatre
operations.
Finally
unable
to
talk
his
way
out
of
government
owed
taxes
he
was
forced
to
shutter
the
operation.
Business
was
good
and
there
was
no
reason
the
Meadowbrook
should
have
closed.
Marvin
Sprague
,
Len
Leonards
and
Eddie
Lutzkow
contacted
me
and
together
with
some
of
the
former
employees
and
some
outside
investors
were
able
to
reopen.
We
changed
the
name
to
Meadowbrook
Theatre/Restaurant
to
avoid
any
confusion
with the old operation that owed lots of money to lots of people.
Meadowbrook
reopened
with
the
public
not
knowing
that
anything
had
changed.
I
became
Producer
and
Marvin
Sprague
Associate
Producer.
The
1973
recession,
as
well
as
a
strike
by
the
wait
staff,
forced
the
decision
to
close
the
operation
before
we
met
the
same
fate
as
our
predecessor.
We
shuttered
the
doors
in
the
black.
For
some
press about the closing
click here.
Another
producer
attempted
to
reopen
the
old
girl,
but
after
two
shows
it
was
shuttered
again
only
to
reopen
as
a
Disco.
After
some
trouble
with
the
police
and
town
hall
the
venue
was
shuttered
for
good.
The
Meadowbrook
was
sold
to
a
developer
who
had
nothing
but
trouble
with
the
town
to
do
anything
with
the
property.
He
finally
sold
it
to
Sts.
Kiril
and
Metodij
Macedynian
Orthodox
Church
that
now
owns
it.
They
did
a
wonderful
job
of
bringing
it
back
to
its
original
grandeur
and
it’s
used
for
church
functions
for
its
parishioners.
The
old
dance
floor
still
feels
the
touch of happy feet.
I hope I’ve not left out anything that’s important – if I have, I’m sure someone will let me know.
John
