Mantoloking Road Playhouse, Brick, N.J. (Photo: Kendra Zarrilli)
A dream thought up by Brick Township residents Anthony and Kendra Zarrilli has come to fruition, placing Brick Township among the towns that have its own playhouse and arts studio.
The Zarrilli family is best known in town for their home-building business, as well as another labor of love – their purchase and rebranding of the popular Mantoloking Ale House restaurant. For years, however, the family has been involved in the Brick Community Children’s Theater (BCCT), which never had a stage of its own despite being recognized as one of the most prominent children’s theater companies in the region.
After receiving approval from the township’s planning board late in 2023 for a 120-seat theater, the Zarrillis got to work renovating a non-descript commercial building at 266 Mantoloking Road that was once part of a boatyard that operated on the property. A little over a year later, the show is almost ready to go on. The Mantoloking Playhouse will open in just two weeks, and appropriately, be home to beloved theater company BCCT, which will be celebrating its 33rd season in the new venue.
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While BCCT will be the in-house resident, the Playhouse will be open for other performing arts groups and performances, such as music shows, small recitals and stand-up comedy. In the past, many of Brick’s arts performances had to be pushed to other venues in neighboring towns, Kendra Zarrilli told Shorebeat. But with the Playhouse stage open, the township now has a venue of its own.
Though its beginnings were humble in the old boathouse, the theater facility itself is state-of-the-art after receiving a dose of the Zarrilli family’s creativity throughout the renovation process. The Playhouse has features that capture the experience of a larger theater in a smaller, more intimate space. With the integration of the unused basement space in the building that provided room for theater-style seating, there comes 120-seats, 20-foot ceilings, a 20-by-40 foot stage, high-tech LED lighting and projections, and “incredible” acoustics.
While a theater in Brick Township has always been something of an aspirational notion, for members of the BCCT company, it essentially became a necessity following the coronavirus pandemic five years ago.
“Long story short, we were two weeks out from a show and a day away from one of our major fundraisers when everything closed up,” Kendra Zarrilli told Shorebeat after the theater received its approvals. “During that lockdown time, we’d sit around and ask ourselves, ‘what are we going to do?’ knowing that theater would probably not make it back until a lot of other things did first.”
A rendering of the future Mantoloking Road Playhouse. (Planning Document)
Mantoloking Road Playhouse, Brick, N.J. (Photo: Kendra Zarrilli)
The Strand Theater in Lakewood, where BCCT performed for years, remained closed even after the pandemic subsided, leaving the group to perform at Windward Beach Park outdoors with permission from the township. They were squeezed in at the Grunin Center in Toms River and a small theater in Stafford Township, but ultimately, the connection between theater, the family’s construction business, and a vacant building nearly across the street from their restaurant just seemed to fall into place.
A rendering of the future Mantoloking Road Playhouse. (Planning Document)
A rendering of the future Mantoloking Road Playhouse. (Planning Document)
The Zarrillis have been involved with BCCT for over 15 years, starting when their – at the time – 3-year-old daughter said that she wanted to be “in a real performance.” Soon enough, she was involved with BCCT and her identical twin would join shortly after. BCCT became a family affair and the Zarrilis say the Playhouse is a way for them to give back to a community theatre group that has become such a big part of their lives.
The first performance will be “Frozen Jr.,” performed by the BCCT, March 6-9, 2025. Only about 100 tickets remain, and can be purchased online. The second confirmed performance will be a Grand Opening Gala featuring BCCT alum and Brick Native “Remember Jones.” That performance is scheduled for March 21 at 7 p.m., with proceeds benefiting the children’s theater company.
The playhouse also hosts its own dedicated website, where opportunities for sponsorships or renting the space are available.
