BRICK – The new Mantoloking Road Playhouse had two sold out shows on its opening weekend, in no small part to the performer, “Remember Jones,” who brought his 17-piece band to the new venue for the electric and soulful performances.
The show, entitled “Jones Sings Jones” featured the former Brick resident, whose real name is Anthony D’Amato, singing the entire album of “Tom Jones Live in Las Vegas!” recorded at the Flamingo Hotel and Casino in 1969.
The 120-seat theater will be the new home of Brick Children’s Theater (BCCT) of which D’Amato is an alumnus and said meant so much to him growing up in Brick.
Every summer between the ages of 12 and 18, D’Amato performed with the children’s theater and even started getting roles outside of school and local theater productions.
“I don’t get back to Brick very often, but I wouldn’t have missed this for anything,” he said during his Saturday performance.
As a 2002 graduate of Brick Memorial High School, D’Amato said he comes from a family of music lovers, and after performing in “Little Shop of Horrors” at Veterans Memorial Middle School as a sixth-grader, he said he knew that music and theater would become part of his life.
Since then, “Remember Jones” has become a national touring artist and has been known for his emotional musical interpretations of entire albums, including Amy Winehouse’s “Back to Black,” The Who’s “Tommy,” Meat Loaf’s “Bat Out of Hell,” Joe Cocker’s “Mad Dogs and Englishmen” and more.
His performances have sold out at major clubs and theaters throughout the country.
Some of his upcoming shows include gigs at the City Winery in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; City Winery in Atlanta, Georgia; Neighborhood Theater in Charlotte, North Carolina; Cat’s Cradle in Carrboro, North Carolina; and The Canal Club in Richmond, Virginia.
“Something happens to me when I’m onstage,” he said. “I don’t think about it. I love to entertain, I love to tell a story, and I love to evoke emotion,” he said.
Now an Asbury Park resident, D’Amato was recently named the producing artistic director at the Asbury Park Theater Company for the upcoming 2025 season. He previously held the same role at the Strand Theater in Lakewood.
Full musicals planned for the Company in collaboration with Bell Theater in Holmdel include “Hedwig and the Angry Inch,” featuring Remember Jones, which will run from June 13-29 and “A Night With Janis Joplin,” featuring Tony nominee Mary Bridget Davies from October 3-19.
The Asbury Park Theater Company is expanding its youth programs and is presenting “Disney’s The Lion King, Jr.” from July 18-20 at the Jersey Shore Arts Center in Ocean Grove, and at the same venue, “A Big Band Holiday to Remember,” on December 13.
BCCT is a non-profit community theater group founded in 1992 and dedicated to the children of Ocean and Monmouth counties.
The group receives funding from the Ocean County Cultural & Heritage Commission through grants funded by the NJ State Council on the Arts, through sponsorships and through donations.
During his Saturday performance, D’Amato pledged a $1,000 donation to the children’s theater.
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