Wine being poured at a bar. (Credit: Maria Eklind/ Flickr)
Brick Township’s first playhouse, which will celebrate its opening gala this weekend, may be able to serve drinks alongside entertainment.
The township council last week authorized the sale of one retail consumption license under the state’s theater exemption, which allows a non-profit corporation which conducts musical or theatrical performances to sell alcoholic beverages at certain times. Specifically, drinks can be sold under the exception during the two hours immediately preceding the show, the show (including intermission), and the two hours immediately following the show. Until 2020, the exception was only available for theaters with more than 1,000 seats, however the state legislature passed a law that year reducing the capacity to 50 seats. The license can only be used 15 times per year, however.
The township’s first theater to qualify, the Mantoloking Road Playhouse, has opened to great excitement and will celebrate its opening gala March 21, 2025. Though it will serve primarily as the home of the Brick Community Children’s Theater, the venue itself is also planned to be used for general theatrical performances, live comedy and musical performances.
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The legislature revised the law in order to stimulate the growth of the arts in New Jersey and create a revenue stream for small theaters to be able to attract more patrons and support an increasing number of performances. The license generally carries the same safety and regulatory requirements of traditional liquor licenses, and venues are judged for eligibility based on state-mandated criteria.
A theater exemption license does not count toward the maximum number of commercial plenary consumption licenses available per city under New Jersey’s existing liquor laws, which limits licenses to one for every 3,000 residents (alongside many old licenses grandfathered in).
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