Summit Playhouse

United States historic place

Summit Playhouse

U.S. National Register of Historic Places

New Jersey Register of Historic Places

Original 1891 building

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Location| 10 New England Avenue
Summit, New Jersey
Coordinates| 40°42′54″N 74°21′55″W﻿ / ﻿40.71500°N 74.36528°W﻿ / 40.71500; -74.36528
Built| ca. 1891
Architect| Arthur Bates Jennings
Architectural style| Romanesque
NRHP reference No.| 09001177 [1]
NJRHP No.| 4407 [2]
Significant dates
Added to NRHP| December 30, 2009
Designated NJRHP| September 29, 2009

The Summit Playhouse is a theater in Summit, New Jersey and home to one of the oldest continuously operating amateur community theaters in the United States[3] producing a new show each calendar season.[4] In 2011, it presented Meet Me in St. Louis,[5] Closer Than Ever,[6] and Speed the Plow.[3]

## History

[edit]

The original stone Romanesque building designed by Arthur Bates Jennings was constructed in 1891 as the town's first library.[1] A municipally-operated Summit Public Library was established in 1900, and in 1910 the library was moved to another building, leaving the Romanesque building under-utilized but still belonging to the library. In 1918, The Playhouse Association was founded as a World War I relief organization, and the theatrical group rented the empty older library from the Summit Library Association for one dollar a year for the next fifty years on condition that the group maintain the facility. In 1960, a 120-seat auditorium was added and the original 1891 structure was converted into a stage. The Summit Library Association officially deeded the building to the theater in 1968.[4]

## Directors

[edit]

* Norman Lee Swartout (1918)[7]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
2. ^ "New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places - Union County" (PDF). New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection \- Historic Preservation Office. April 1, 2010. p. 19\. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 24, 2012.
3. ^ a b John De Bellis (January 19, 2011). "A Challenging Work in Progress at Summit Playhouse". Summit Patch. Retrieved 2011-09-12. "... the historic community theater–one of the oldest amateur companies in the nation–..."
4. ^ a b "Summit Playhouse". Summit Playhouse Association. Retrieved 2011-09-12.
5. ^ "SUMMIT PLAYHOUSE PROUDLY PRESENTS 94TH SEASON". The Alternative Press. September 9, 2011. Retrieved 2011-09-12. "MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS is running at the Summit Playhouse November..."
6. ^ Liz Keill (April 28, 2011). "'Closer Than Ever' at Summit Playhouse; a light-hearted musical romp across the life span". Independent Press. Retrieved 2011-09-12. "Director Susan Speidel brings the music to life in a spirited production at The Summit Playhouse."
7. ^ Patricia E. Meola (1998). Summit: Wish You Were Here. ISBN 9780752413495. "The first director was Norman Lee Swartout, the first stage manager was Jack Manley Rose, and the first costume manager was Marjorie Cranstoun Jefferson ..."

## External links

[edit]

* Summit Playhouse

* v
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U.S. National Register of Historic Places in New Jersey

Topics|

* Contributing property
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Other lists|

* Bridges
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* Category
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National Register of Historic Places in Union County, New Jersey

Landmarks|

* Baltusrol Golf Club
* Boxwood Hall
* William Livingston House

Districts|

* Belcher–Ogden Mansion; Benjamin Price House; and Price–Brittan House Historic District
* Cedar Brook Park
* Crescent Area Historic District
* Fanwood Park Historic District
* Feltville Historic District
* Green Brook Park
* Hillside Avenue Historic District
* Mid-Town Historic District
* North Avenue Commercial District
* Plainfield Civic District
* Stoneleigh Park Historic District
* Summit Downtown Historic District
* Van Wyck Brooks Historic District

Places of
worship|

* All Souls Church
* First Congregation of the Presbyterian Church at Springfield
* First Presbyterian Church of Elizabeth
* First Presbyterian Congregation of Connecticut Farms
* Grace Episcopal Church
* Saint Mary's Catholic Church Complex
* Scotch Plains Baptist Church, Parsonage, and Cemetery
* Wallace Chapel AME Zion Church

Houses|

* Badgley House and Site
* Belcher–Ogden House
* Caldwell Parsonage
* Crane-Phillips House
* John De Camp House
* Nathaniel Drake House
* Charles N. Fowler House
* Elizabeth and Gershom Frazee House
* Deacon Andrew Hetfield House
* Homestead Farm at Oak Ridge
* Hutchings Homestead
* Littel–Lord Farmstead
* Miller-Cory House
* Oswald J. Nitschke House
* Old Baptist Parsonage
* William Edgar Reeve House
* Sayre Homestead
* Seventeenth Century Clark House
* Nathaniel Smith House
* St. John's Parsonage
* George A. Strong House
* James Townley House
* Twin Maples
* Orville T. Waring House
* Whyman House
* Woodruff House

Buildings|

* Droescher's Mill
* Elizabeth Station
* Fanwood Station
* Firehouse No. 4
* Merchants and Drovers Tavern
* Murray Hill Station
* Netherwood Station
* Plainfield Central Fire Headquarters
* Plainfield Station
* Rahway Theatre
* Scotch Plains School
* Shady Rest Golf and Country Club
* Stage House Inn
* Summit Playhouse
* Union County Park Commission Administration Buildings
* Westfield Fire Headquarters
* Young Women's Christian Association of Plainfield and North Plainfield

Sites|

* Burial Ground of the Presbyterian Church in the West Fields of Elizabethtown
* Evergreen Cemetery
* Reeves-Reed Arboretum

See also: National Register of Historic Places listings in Union County, New Jersey and List of National Historic Landmarks in New Jersey
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