BY THE SEA, BY THE SEA, BY THE BEAUTIFUL SEA

This whole trip came about from seeing an ad for the Blue Bay Inn, a “European style boutique hotel” in Atlantic Highlands, in the playbill for the musical I had seen in Red Bank at the end of May. I investigated the website, just curious, and while there, in the site’s section on “Getaway Packages”, I discovered the First Avenue Playhouse and learned that the next production was ROOMMATES, a comedy, with the following description:

“This is the first comedy by our own resident playwright Joe Simonelli, and the one for which The Asbury Park Press dubbed him 'the next Neil Simon'. Self styled ladies man Frank Avino, a divorced, forty something accountant and aspiring writer lets his pretentious friend Tom move in with him 'temporarily' only to find that Tom won't leave. Throw into the mix Frank's eccentric mother from Brooklyn and his latest flame and you have a recipe for fun.”

I next checked out the Playhouse site and found that they offered dinner theatre packages – “Start off the evening with a great dinner at 6:30 pm, and then on to the First Avenue Playhouse, for dessert, coffee and a great show”. Dinner was available at three area restaurants – Memphis Pig Out, Julia’s and Gianna’s.

The Blue Bay Inn site “Destination Information” section mentioned the Atlantic Highland Princess, which offered “Victorian Style Riverboat sailing the Navesink & Shrewsbury Rivers”. Presumably the two rivers of the Two Rivers Theatre Company in Red Bank. A sightseeing Cruise was offered on Friday afternoons.

And it turned out that everything, the theatre, the restaurants, the inn, and the cruise, was within walking distance on the same street – First Avenue (as one would deduce from the name of the Playhouse). The Avenue even has a movie theatre. So I decided to book an overnight trip – choosing a Thursday evening performance, as I figured that the room rate would be less expensive mid-week. After investigating the three dining choices online I selected Julia’s, “an elegant dining experience with an Italian Mediterranean inspired menu”.

I have a friend and client who had lived in Atlantic Highlands, a retired fire chief who I first met while on one of the Railroad Passenger Services Corporation escorted cross-country rail trips in the 1980s. Learning of my weekly visits to Ocean Grove to see my parents, he had invited me to stop in and visit him. But it was too late to see him on this trip, as he moved to Georgia last year.

After a hearty breakfast at the diner on Route 440 I headed out on Routes 1+9 to 35 to 36. I located First Avenue and checked it before going back to Route 36 South. As check-in was not until 3:00 pm, and there was no afternoon cruise on Thursday, I was off to the multiplex on Route 35, near Neptune, to see GET SMART.

My previous experience with Route 36 was taking it briefly each tax season to pick up a return in Union Beach (the First Avenue turn-off was about 8 miles from Union Beach), and taking it from Route 35 to the Monmouth Park racetrack a few years ago. I had never been in between, so I thought I would take 36 South to Route 35.

After passing Sandy Hook it turned into a leisurely drive along the ocean through several Monmouth county communities. At Long Branch Route 36 North and South suddenly became Route 36 East and West at a right turn, which soon brought me to Route 35 by the Monmouth Mall.

Returning to Atlantic Highlands I checked into Blue Bay Inn and found myself with a small but comfortable room on the second floor overlooking First Avenue. I then went out to explore the area, walking down to the Municipal Marina at the bottom of First Avenue to see where I would be taking the cruise. The marina also has a ferry that shuttles back and forth to Manhattan.

The menu offerings at Julia’s were quite interesting, but, as anticipated, since I was on a theatre package I was given a special menu with choice of salad (Caesar) and a limited selection of entrees (Crab Cake). I taught another bartender (I have lost count) how to make a Stinger, which he did very well – so well I had a second. The dinner, from the rolls to the salad with a tasty dressing to the crab cake, was excellent, served in a relaxing but formal setting with a tape of Michael Buble playing in the background. I will certainly return here in the future, and next time I will not limit my dining choices.

The First Avenue Playhouse is a “desert theatre”, as was mentioned on the website. The seating is “Las Vegas style” (at least the old-fashioned Las Vegas style of my earlier visits to Nevada), with tables of various sizes set in front of the stage instead of traditional theatre seating. Upon presenting my ticket I was directed to a private table and took a paper plate with carrot cake from a counter on the way. A pot of coffee was placed on the table. The carrot cake was quite good. At intermission we were given plastic glasses of soda.

As one would expect from the title and description, ROOMMATES is a poor man’s ODD COUPLE (I wonder if this is why the Asbury Park Press referred to the author as “the next Neil Simon”?). The lead even refers to his roommate as “Felix Unger” in the play. It certainly is not up to the level of a Neil Simon, although it had some chuckles and amusing situations. The stereotypical nagging mother was perhaps a highlight. She would write to the Pope each week and believed she received his response in code in the local parish priest’s sermons.

The production was obviously amateur, which is not always bad. The “divorced, forty something accountant and aspiring writer” was portrayed by the play’s author. While ROOMMATES is supposedly “semi-autobiographical”, he was not necessarily the best choice for the part.

Bottom line – just about everything in the play has already been done much better elsewhere. Although with more polished actors and direction I might have found the show funnier.

The theatre also needs some technical upgrades. The stage manager would signal the lighting man in the back of the room by means of a flashlight stuck out of the side of the curtain.

The Playhouse will be doing the political drama THE BEST MAN in July and another comedy by Joe Simonelli, this time with him directing, titled MEN ARE DOGS in August. I am not sure if I will return for either, although I do want to give the company another chance before writing it off.

FYI, the theatre also presents productions of the “Paper Moon Puppet Theatre” every Saturday at 2 p.m. The current show is THE WIZARD OF OZ.

The next morning was extremely hot and humid. After the complimentary continental breakfast (nothing special – just orange juice, coffee and two types of pastries) I decided to pass on the afternoon cruise and return home early. Check out time was 11:00 am and I didn’t want to hang around and sweat for a couple of hours. Unlike Ocean Grove, I could not sit in the shade on the boardwalk and read a mystery – no boardwalk here. Besides I was concerned about leaving Nosey in a hot apartment for another full day.

I will wait until perhaps the early fall to return for the cruise and another dinner at Julia’s.

TTYL