Executive Director of Majestic Theater Jeffery Gabel to Retire
By Laurel Bennett, Staff Writer
Jeffrey Gabel (Photo Provided)
After 20 years of serving as the founding executive director of Gettysburg College’s Majestic Theater, Jeffrey Gabel will retire in early Jan. 2024.
Gabel joined the administration in 2003 to orchestrate the theater’s $16.5 million renovation, which added a cinema wing with two theaters, an art gallery, a cafe and a backstage production wing. The Majestic Theater served as a movie theater for 20 years prior to Gabel’s hiring, but it required restorations that Gabel oversaw.
“The college purposely hired me two years in advance of the targeted opening date, so that not only could I be involved in the design of the theater and work with the architects on how the layout of the facility would be, but so that I could also build the entire organization,” Gabel said. “This included fundraising, writing job positions, writing operating manuals, and putting budgets together for the first time, and all of that was a huge undertaking that set the scene for our success over the years.”
Over the course of his tenure as executive director, Gabel produced many events, including the recent Ken Burns Film Festival. Over 300 performers, including Burns, were able to be booked at the theater due to the centennial endowment campaign. This campaign has raised over six million dollars in the past 10 years.
Although Gabel said that it is difficult to select a favorite performance that he produced, he said Hal Holbrook in 2008 was particularly memorable due to the time he and Holbrook spent exploring Gettysburg together.
“Halbrook studied all about Mark Twain and put together a one-man show. We took him on a tour of the Gettysburg Battlefield, and the final place the guide took us to was where Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address,” Gabel said. “Halbrook started to do Lincoln’s voice and then he launched into the Gettysburg Address.”
Despite Gabel’s busy schedule with the Majestic Theater, as well as his involvement with the Finance Committee on campus, he previously served as a mentor for the Garthwait Leadership Center Leadership Coaching program.
Former Editor-in-Chief of The Gettysburgian Ben Pontz ’20 had Gabel as his mentor during his first year, and Gabel remained a confidant for Pontz during the remainder of his time at Gettysburg.
“Jeffrey is someone whose exuberant spirit and relentless passion for the arts enriched Gettysburg College and the Borough of Gettysburg alike. The Majestic Theater is a treasure that Jeffrey essentially built from scratch, navigated through a pandemic, and then rebuilt on the other side. The attention he devoted to booking high-quality shows, curating independent films, and supporting the incredible volume of Conservatory activity that takes place in the Majestic every week makes Jeffrey a tough act to follow,” Pontz said. “But what makes him truly one-of-a-kind is that he did all of that while engaging tirelessly in the Gettysburg College community.”
Gabel expressed gratitude for the number of people who reached out following the announcement of his retirement. He said that he feels proud of his work that connected the campus and the community by bringing high-quality artists to the theater.
Additionally, when asked to reflect on his time as executive director, Gabel said he wished more students would come to the theater outside of attending Sunderman Conservatory of Music concerts.
“It has never been easy to get students to come here. I understand the cost of tickets is a problem, but we have had so many amazing artists come here,” Gabel said. “I hope the next executive director can find a better way to engage with the campus and college-aged people.”
The Majestic Theater is currently searching for its next executive director.
