Community Partnership: Media Theatre and Springfield's Healthplex

Actors on stage need to be as healthy as possible in order to maintain a seven-show per week performance schedule. To that end, Springfield’s Healthplex Sports Club has had a cooperative partnership with The Media Theatre that assists out-of-town actors in remaining physically fit with free club memberships.

Grant Gegwich, the assistant Vice-President of Public Relations and Marketing for Crozer-Keystone health systems, always looks forward to seeing Media Theatre’s actors at The Healthplex.

“We understand that actors not only need to look their best, but need to feel their best,” he said. “The Healthplex offers plenty of opportunity for that with a comprehensive fitness area featuring cardiovascular and strength-training equipment, along with a large swimming pool, tennis and game courts, and an indoor running track that is one-fifth of a mile long.”

Jesse Cline, the Artistic Director for The Media Theatre, is appreciative of the memberships offered by the Healthplex to the actors.

“Performing in a show, particularly a musical with singing and dancing, is physically demanding. An actor must be as fit as possible,” he explained. “This does not mean you need to be one particular physical type. What it means is that in order to sustain performance levels each week for appreciative audiences, an actor must build and maintain stamina. The Healthplex has been very helpful to our guest actors in maintaining this level of strength.”

Cline also has his own membership at the club. “I have been a member there for several years,” he said. “It’s the finest gym and health club you’ll find in this region.”

The Healthplex Sports Club was honored with a Community Partnership Award at The Media Theatre’s Annual Gala four years ago. It is considered one of the largest and most fully integrated centers of its kind in the United States. To find out more, visit www.crozerkeystone.org/Healthplex

Gegwich looks forward to many more years of assisting with the physical fitness of The Media Theatre’s professional actors. “We have had several Broadway actors travelling to the area to perform at The Media Theatre,” he said. “It’s exciting for us and our clientele to have them here, and it’s a good feeling knowing we are supporting a not-for-profit professional music theatre.”

Cline agrees. “It’s also exciting for our visiting actors who stay with us for two to three months at a time to use the Healthplex,” he stated. “These are professional performers who travel around the country doing shows at various regional theatres. In all of their travels, they have not seen a gym or fitness club as state-of-the-art or as large as Springfield’s Healthplex. They often say ‘The Healthplex rivals any health club or gym in Manhattan.’”

The Media Theatre, in exchange for the club memberships, gives the Healthplex staff complimentary tickets to each musical’s opening night and offers discounts to all Healthplex Sports Club members.

Gegwich and Cline agree, “It’s a partnership with many benefits.”

The Media Theatre’s next production is the Philadelphia regional professional premiere of Dr. Dolittle November 20-January 27 featuring Bill Vargus in the title role. Visit mediatheatre.org for more information or call 610-891-0100.