By Carlton Wilkinson • Correspondent
June 21, 2009

Call it a thrilling combination.

On Thursday, the Algonquin Arts Theatre in Manasquan will bring together Broadway celebrities, community leaders and supporters for a gala fundraiser honoring the Rev. Alphonse Stephenson. The event, to be held at The Mill at Spring Lake Heights, will include multiple performances, dinner and cocktails, a silent auction and other events.

Father Alphonse is a great person and a great entertainer,'' said John Neuman, incoming chair of the Algonquin Arts Theatre's board of trustees. "He is the perfect person, we thought, to honor in this way. He's just so full of life.''

Thrilling combination might also be the way to describe Stephenson himself. In addition to his duties as a priest, he also is founder and conductor of The Orchestra of St. Peter's by the Sea; founder of the nonprofit Cecilia Foundation that delivers musical instruments to young people who need them; founder and director of the summer beach concerts known as the Festival of the Atlantic, and command chaplain of the New Jersey Army and Air National Guard who has served in the Persian Gulf.

The name chosen for the gala, "One Singular Sensation,'' reflects what is probably Stephenson's most public role -- as conductor for the original Broadway production of "A Chorus Line'' at the Shubert Theatre and later music director for one of the production's touring companies. Over the years, Stephenson's theatrical work earned him the nickname "The Broadway Priest.''

The board and the theater administration sent out invitations to celebrities and others Stephenson has worked with over the years. The response, Neuman said, was overwhelmingly positive.

"We're looking for this to be a big success and a lot of fun,'' Neuman said.

One of the celebrities who responded and who will be performing at the gala is Don Pippin, the music director of the original Broadway cast of "A Chorus Line.''

"When I first met him, I didn't realize he was a priest,'' Pippin said, recalling encountering Stephenson in the mid-'70s on Broadway. "I just thought he was a conductor. Right away I could see he was very well qualified, very easy to work with and very capable. He made my job easy.''

Discovering a friend and colleague is a member of the clergy can produce "a back-away thing,'' Pippin said.

"But in his case, it was just such a total part of his personality -- he was not a different person. I just never viewed it that way.

"You don't feel that he's above us all because he's a priest,'' Pippin added. "He's part of us; he's one of us. He's very easy to communicate with -- and he has a great sense of humor.''

Pippin will be offering "a few roasting words'' and "some musical entertainment'' with Tony-nominated singer Lee Roy Reams. The content of both is a secret.

"We don't want Alphonse to know what's going to happen,'' Pippin said.

Along with Pippin and Reams will be personalities from every aspect of Stephenson's life, including original "Chorus Line'' cast member Kevin Spirtas, Holy See ambassador to the U.N. Archbishop Celestine Migliore, tenor Eddie Perretti, soprano Maria Zito-Kaufman and Commander of the New Jersey Air National Guard Brigadier Gen. Maria Falca-Dudson.

"I think it's a marvelous thing that this is being done,'' Pippin said.

The decision to honor Stephenson came about as the Algonquin staff was planning this year's gala fundraiser.

According to Fran Drew, the current chair of the board of trustees for the theater, Stephenson was one of first to encourage the group to pursue preservation of the theater in 1991. At that point, the building -- an old movie house originally constructed in 1938 -- had been closed for years and was in severe disrepair.

"He was one of the first to come into the theater when it was abandoned,'' Drew said. "He came in at our request to see if the theater would make a good concert space. He said it would be a 'great bright space' and perfect for music -- and he was right.''

The first Algonquin Arts gala fundraiser, held after the theater was refurbished in 1994, also honored Stephenson, as founder of the Cecilia Foundation and the Festival of the Atlantic and for his work with young people, Drew said.

"Since then his support for the arts has grown phenomenally,'' Drew said. "He's really brought to the Shore community a great awareness of classical music as well as pop. So we thought it was time to bring him back as an honoree.''

In addition to performances, the gala will include a silent auction and other opportunities for attendees, Drew said. The gala this year is doubly significant for the community and for the theater, she added.

"No government agency is throwing money at the arts the way they are at the auto industry and the banks,'' Drew said.

Attending the gala will mean "not only honoring Father Alphonse Stephenson and what he has done, but honoring what we've done, working to maintain this activity at the Jersey Shore.''

Neuman also stressed the importance of the timing of the gala.

"An event like this is so important to keep Algonquin Arts going,'' Neuman said. "People think, "If I can't support the arts, there's going to be some county program or other that's going to step up. But that's not true."