This Saturday night marked the Cultural Arts Playhouse's last production on its Old Bethpage stage, which it has called home for the past 13 years. The Cultural Arts Playhouse Center, Inc., lovingly referred by Long Islanders as CAP, was founded by 1995 by Bruce Grossman. The Old Bethpage playhouse closed this weekend before the big move to its new theater space located at 633 Old Country Road in Plainview.

Named by Long Island Press as Long Island's Best Live Theater 2007, the Cultural Arts Playhouse is a year-round regional, off-off Broadway theater that has produced over 250 productions including educational and touring shows. The theater serves more than 20,000 people each year with its professional adult productions, children's theater performances, and theatre education classes for ages 7-18.

Coming by the end of this month, CAP theatergoers and students will enjoy a brand new modern style theater in Plainview. This state-of-the-art, stadium-seated theater is designed to hold 90 audience members. The new Plainview theatre will be handicapped accessible, featuring two handicapped accessible bathrooms. Cultural Arts Playhouse of Plainview will offer year-round Children's Theatre, Main Stage Musical Theatre, and Musical Theatre Acting Academy classes. The theater will also host many year-round special events like Children's Birthday Parties, Custom Theater Events, and Theater Dance Parties.

Parade is one of Bruce Grossman's favorite scores, having directed the piece at CAP in 1991. He could think of no better show to close his old theater before moving to CAP's brand new Plainview theater space. Bruce Grossman, CAP's owner and president, was thrilled to direct Parade, a musical about the real-life 1913 trial of Jewish factory manager Leo Frank, who was accused of raping and murdering a 13-year-old employee, Mary Phagan. Book by Alfred Uhry and music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown. The original production was directed by Harold Prince. Musical theater trivia buffs would care to know that Director Prince turned to Brown to write the score after Stephen Sondheim turned the project down.

With a proud and smiling face, Bruce opened the evening with a touching speech to all 250 theatergoers and fans. "It has been my distinct pleasure to have been president of CAP for the last 13 years and been a part of so many magical moments over the years at this Old Bethpage playhouse" said Bruce Grossman. Bruce has directed countless musical productions over the years and been executive producer to many Long Island premieres at CAP which include Big, Parade, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Assassins (Directed by partner Ed Huether), Breaking Up Is Hard to Do (Co-produced with Brown Pinto Productions), Starmites, Side Show, Bat Boy, and Miss Siagon to name a few.

"The theater has changed the lives of so many and inspired the community of Old Bethpage/Plainview." Many CAP Center and CAP Musical Theater and Acting Academy students and performers have been able to use their CAP experiences and use the talents they have learned to do professional theater, recordings, television and film: Jamie-Lynn Sigler, co-star of HBO's The Sopranos, Brian D'Addario, now playing Flounder in Disney's Broadway Musical Production of The Little Mermaid and Marissa McGowan of this year's Broadway revival of Les Miserables.

For more information, please contact the Cultural Arts Playhouse at 694-3330 or www.culturalartsplayhouse.com.