History of The Ritz Theatre

The Ritz Theatre Company  has been providing live, quality theater performances to the South Jersey communities for over two decades. The Ritz Theatre building, located at 915 White Horse Pike in Camden County, has recently been placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The historic Ritz Theatre opened in September, 1927 as a vaudeville, movie house and quickly  became the focal point of the community.  Intimate and
ornamental, the 472 seat Ritz is the only producing theater in the area still resplendent in its original decor. The architecture is Greek revival with the
auditorium walls featuring 25 foot high neo-classical canvas murals with gilt trimmed columns and velvet draped balconies enclosed by classic carved balustrades.  In the 1950’s and 1960’s, the Ritz was known for its fine art and foreign film showings, drawing audiences from Philadelphia and beyond the immediate community. In the 1970's the Ritz became a porno movie house. In January of 1986, Puttin’ On The Ritz was formed and the Ritz reopened its doors, to once again, become the focal point of South Jersey entertainment. The Ritz Theatre Company, Inc. presents six mainstage productions  and eleven children’s productions each season. Also offered are holiday shows, special events, summer theatre camp, dramatic workshops and outreach programs. The Theatre building also boasts  “The Gallery at the Ritz,” an in-house art gallery that offers professional monthly art exhibits.

Artistic Milestones

1986 ( January)  Grand Opening of  “Puttin’ On The Ritz”   “The Boyfriend”

1987 Original Adaptation of A Midsummer Nights Dream the Musical

1990  Our production of Children of a Lessor God committed us to our ASL Interpreted Initiative..

1994 Original Ritzy the Wolf Children’s Review to open New Honeywell Ford Theatre in Wabash Indiana

1995 Celebration    A new version working with Jones and Schmidt who also visited and attended opening night celebrations

1997 Sweeney Todd Received 3 Philadelphia Barrymore Nominations for Best Musical, Director and Female Lead.  Carol Furphy Won Female Lead in a Musical.

1998 Johnson Award from YMCA for outstanding Community Service. Little Shop of Horrors Received 4 Barrymore Nominations. Outreach Programs Received Barrymore Nominations two years in a row.

1999 Subaru Foundation becomes a Leading Sponsor for our Educational Matinee Series and continues through 2005

1999 Introduced Shadow Interpreted Performance of The Fantasticks , Broadway Overtures Original Review Summer Concert Series

2000 Premiere of Alex Wilkie’s Vaudeville Villians in our Mainstage Season.

2001 The Magick in the Music    Development and premiere of Stephen Schwartz’s Musical Revue incorporating Magic and Music.  Special Project Grant from NJSCA for The Magick in the Music was awarded.  In conjunction with The Magick in the Music, Stephen Schwartz performed at a luncheon in his honor.

2001 Our Production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream chosen to be performed in the Haddon Heights Dell by Camden County Parks Department and entertainment for the South Jersey Cultural Alliance Encore Awards dinner, in Atlantic City.

2001 Received $175,000.00 Cultural Enrichment Grant from the State of New Jersey

2002 Original “Western version” of Gilbert and Sullivan’s Mikado presented.

2002 The Ritz Theatre Building was listed on both The New Jersey State and National Register of Historic Places

2002 Our Production of Nunsense was chosen to be performed in the Park by Camden County Parks Department

2002 Contracted by Camden County Parks to produce The Rhythm of America from Hollywood to Broadway with City Rhythm Orchestra at Cooper River.

 2003  Cast of “1776” performs at the Grand Opening of the National Constitution Center

2003 Camden County Parks became major funder for Hair in Concert

2003 Second original play performed on the main stage Fall of 2003 with Alex Wilkie’s Yankee Panky.

2004 Received $10,000 Support from the Camden County Freeholders

2004 Received $100,000 from The New Jersey State Council on the Arts

2004 Received Support from the Cultural Trust through the Historical Trust for the Theatre Building

2004 Performed Ain’t Misbehavin’ in the Park, presented by Camden County Parks

2005 Camden County and Commerce Bank Sponsors for the 20th Anniversary Season