Though a $50,000 deficit facing the First Avenue Playhouse has left the future of this iconic borough theater uncertain, another Bayshore icon, film director and television personality Kevin Smith, has stepped up to help.
Smith, a Highlands native and Henry Hudson Regional High School alum, was made aware of the playhouse’s hardships during a May 7 interview with The Two River Times. The article about the independent art space’s desperate need for a new roof, air conditioning, chairs, rugs and other necessities came two days later.
Smith took to Twitter Monday where he shared a link to the story with his 3.1 million followers, but it was the message he attached to the post that left fans buzzing.
“Woke to a @TwoRiverTimes piece about how the First Avenue Playhouse. Needs 50k or it’s gonna close. This historic l’il dinner theater is where we cast CLERKS – so I’m thinking I should do a live reading of the CLERKS 3 script there in June to raise loot,” Smith tweeted Tuesday morning.
Though a date and time for the proposed event has not been confirmed, Dawn Antonis, the daughter of Joe Bagnole, First Avenue Playhouse executive director, said she is working to coordinate the logistics of the benefit performance.
Bagnole said Wednesday the proposed fundraiser would be a big help to the venue, and called Smith’s willingness “special.”
“It’s an exciting idea, now we just have to come together and set a date,” Bagnole said. “Of everyone that has come through here, Kevin is the one who has gone on to have the most success. And we’re very thankful that he’s remembered us, and is willing to help.”
Online fundraising is being done on the playhouse’s GoFundMe page.
When reached by The Two River Times Wednesday, Smith said he was inspired to host the fundraiser because, “I’m a public speaker who loves the sound of his own voice and I’ve never performed on the stage that helped me make ‘Clerks.’ So this is my big chance to finally get the lead in a First Avenue Playhouse show!”
“Clerks” is Smith’s 1994 acclaimed motion picture debut, an independent feature-length film shot primarily inside the Quickstop Groceries convenience store on Leonard Avenue in the Leonardo section of Middletown.
The casting for the film was done over two nights inside the playhouse and, according to the Smith, Bagnole’s willingness to help at the very beginning of his career “made me feel like a professional.”
Smith said many of the actors who appeared in “Clerks,” including those in starring roles like Bryan O’Halloran (Dante Hicks) and Marilyn Ghigliotti (Veronica Loughran), were products of the playhouse. Bagnole and his wife Donna Jeanne also landed small parts.
Following the success of “Clerks,” Smith wrote and/ or directed 11 feature films, including “Mallrats,” “Chasing Amy,” “Dogma,” “Jersey Girl,” “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back” and “Clerks II.”
Smith is currently preparing to release his 12th film, “Jay and Silent Bob Reboot,” which wrapped filming in March.
This article was first published in the May 23-29, 2019 print edition of The Two River Times.
