Gateway is upping its ante. Formerly known as The Gateway, the regional theater in Bellport, known for its Broadway talent and ebullient musicals, announced its new name, Gateway Playhouse, at its recent Cabaret Night Benefit Fundraiser. Besides the name, Cabaret Night is new too. The new Cabaret Night Fundraisers debuted in March, with standing-room-only attendance in the barn theater and top-area restaurant food and drink.
Actors from The Full Monty and alumni like Gail Bennett, who starred in Mary Poppins and Phantom, attended. Jessica Norland Baker of Ain’t Too Proud was the master of ceremonies, leading with grace and humor.
“Cabaret night will continue,” Allan said, “and we’ll have other gatherings. It’s kind of … natural for the actors who are staying on the grounds or live close by to be part of it. They enjoy it.”
Gateway Playhouse is emblazoned outside on the barn theater, an original structure when the nonprofit began over 70 years ago, with summer stock shows. Executive artistic director Paul Allan explained that there had been a switch to Gateway Theater, then in 1998, it became The Gateway.
“In 1998, we took over the Patchogue Theater when it opened again, and patrons would ask if our shows would be at the Gateway Theater or Patchogue Theater, so we created an umbrella name at the time as The Gateway,” he explained.
Allan emphasized the playhouse allure as a regional theater. Regional theaters referred to as playhouses are professional producing companies outside New York City, like Ogunquit, La Hoya and Paper Mill playhouses.
“There aren’t that many of us that remain,” Allan explained. “It’s a very unique group. So, we decided to go back to the original name.”
It is also the oldest professional theater on Long Island.
“Gateway Playhouse is self-producing,” Michael Baker, director of education and associate artistic director, explained. “We hire the creative team, the actors, the musicians, the sets, we have in-house designers and carpenters, and we schedule the rehearsals. We don’t pay for a touring company.”
Leads are Actors’ Equity with a slew of credits, including Broadway and regional tours, along with directors, choreographers, and musical directors.
“They also appreciate the opportunity to give back,” Baker added. “They’ve done shows here or heard about us from a circle of actors and musicians.”
Community support, besides donations, is evident here with the familiar local faces among the volunteers who help park cars, usher, scan tickets, tend bar, and work in the box office, pitching in. At the second Cabaret Fundraiser, two of the most recent board members were introduced along with the full slate: David Ruttura, who has served as the associate/resident director on a dozen Broadway productions, and AJ Lebenns, Executive Producer of Existence Media Inc.
“AJ was a student in our Acting School,” Baker said. Mary Giattino, last year’s addition, a director/choreographer/educator with over 20 years’ experience dancing and creating with multiple teams for Broadway, film, and TV, has starred and choreographed in Gateway productions and owns Stage Door School of Dance.
“We’re also unique in that we have a theater campus,” Allan pointed out. Housing for the company is on the grounds.
As for the physical location, improvements such as brand-new plush seats with a “G” logo in the aisles and new restrooms are among the emerging renovations, thanks to a $1,450,000 Suffolk County SMART Small Business Downtown Grant awarded and a New York State Arts Capital Grant Small Improvement Grant of about $10,000. A private donor gave an additional $500,000. That funding will enable Phase 2, a 3,300-square-foot lobby addition that will hold 300 people and include a 40-by-60 bar area with a rounded glass exterior wall in front of the barn, overlooking the Gateway sign behind it. That phase is scheduled to start this fall, according to Allan.
Come From Away, Million-Dollar Quartet, and Funny Girl are among the upcoming 2026-27 offerings at the Gateway Playhouse, but the big wow news is the upcoming Harry Chapin musical set to open next March: I Wanna Learn a Love Song. Chapin was a prolific Long Island folk and pop-rock singer-songwriter, a major philanthropist, and a hunger activist with Long Island Cares: The Harry Chapin Foodbank, which he and his wife, Sandy, founded. Sandy Chapin, an advisor for the Gateway musical, is being honored at this year’s July 31 gala.
“David Ruttura is directing it, and it started as a collaboration of David’s and Broadway producer Michael Mitri, (“Be More Chill,” among others) Allan said. “Michael was developing the show and approached David to direct. The script is written with songs, and it was workshopped.”
