ELMART Theatre Service was founded in 1969 by Elma T. Bateman and Arthur L. Wilson, both members of 
Queen of Angels Players, an amateur theater group based at Queen of Angels R.C. Church in Newark, NJ. They participated in variety and well-known plays from about 1957 until the late 1960s when the group disbanded.
In 2013 after 44 years and in the interest of keeping ELMART Theatre Service going after its co-founders retired and eventually passed, CB&A took over the organization and continues to provide clients with quality theatrical trips and expanding the mission to include cultural excursions relative to the Black Experience such as the Obama White House and the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC). CB&A provides bus rides to the Black theater and extraordinary dining experiences while supporting African-American owned businesses, restaurants, caterers and other organizations.
Recent Press
ELMART Theatre Service was recently recognized by the Bergen Record/NorthJersey.com publication. See the article and video here>>> NorthJersey.com
Since taking over in 2014, Celeste Bateman & Assocs., LLC / ELMART Theatre Service has taken audiences to see “Master Harold”… and the Boys (March 2, 2014)* at Luna Stage in West Orange; While I Yet Live by Tony Award-winner Billy Porter at The Duke on 42nd, NYC (Oct. 11, 2014)*; Lines in the Dust by Obie Award-winning playwright Nikkole Salter at Luna Stage, (Nov. 9, 2014)*; Autumn (April 26, 2015)* by native Newarker, Richard Wesley at Crossroads, New Brunswick; Repairing a Nation at Crossroads (March 7, 2015) and Sistahs at St. Luke’s Theatre, NYC (Sept. 19, 2015). We also went to BB King’s Blues Club in NYC for their Gospel Brunch featuring the Harlem Gospel Choir (Dec. 14, 2014).
On two gorgeous weekends in October 2015, ELMART patrons enjoyed an extraordinary visit to the nation’s Capital. October 17-18 we visited the Capitol Building and October 24-25, ELMART travelers toured the Obama White House. Both groups had a delicious lunch at the famous Ben’s Chili Bowl before heading to the awe-inspiring MLK monument. The second group got to visit the Anacostia Museum, a beautiful neighborhood facility in Southeast DC, part of the Smithsonian Institution. After an overnight stay at the Dulles Hyatt in Herndon, VA and a buffet breakfast, we headed to Philly where we partied at the renowned Warmdaddy’s where the brunch buffet and the entertainment were phenomenal.
On March 6, 2016 we saw The Brothers Size at Luna Stage in West Orange and hosted a closing reception for the cast. We went to Broadway twice in 2016. On April 23 we saw Shuffle Along at the Music Box Theater, an outstanding musical with choreography by Newark’s own Savion Glover. On June 18, we saw Eclipsed at the Golden Theatre, which featured Academy Award-winner Lupita Nyong’o. On October 22 we saw Vy Higginson’s Alive, 55+ and Kicking at the Dempsey Theater in Harlem. We enjoyed breakfast at Amy Ruth’s on 116th Street before the play
On March 19, 2017, we ventured to the National Museum of African American History and Culture with a busload of over 50 patrons and took another busload on April 23, 2017. We took a small group to the New Jersey Performing Arts Center for a Mother’s Day performance of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater on May 14, 2017. On June 10, 2017, we saw Sweat by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, Lynn Nottage at Studio 54 Theatre on Broadway.
On Sunday, April 15, 2018, ELMART hosted 30+ patrons at a matinee performance of The Man in Room 306 at Luna Stage in West Orange, NJ, a one-man show featuring ELMART artist-in-residence Jamil A. C. Mangan and directed by On/Off-Broadway performer Jerome Preston Bates, followed by a reception for the cast and crew. The show by playwright Craig Alan Edwards, is an extraordinary examination of a vulnerable Martin Luther King, Jr., troubled by doubt, fear and even depression. Jamil A. C. Mangan, a New York based actor, gave a stellar performance and received rave reviews from theater-goers and various news outlets. . (Pictured above: Jamil A. C Mangan and director Jerome Preston Bates. Photographer unknown)
On June 16, 2018 we saw Denzel Washington in The Iceman Cometh at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre. On September 8, 2018 we saw The Little Rock Nine in the East Village, NYC at the Sheen Center and on November 3 we saw Smokey Joe’s Café at the 42nd Street Theatre.
On April 6, 2019, we ventured off-Broadway to see Newark-based Playwright Chisa Hutchinson’s Surely Goodness and Mercy at Theater Row Theatre and on April 20th we saw an outstanding Broadway production of Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations at the Imperial Theatre. On July 14th, we headed to Philadelphia on a cultural excursion: first stop — the legendary Warmdaddy’s for a soul food brunch and live entertainment. From there we visited the African American and Colored Girls Museums and then off to Uncle Bobbies Coffee and Books in Germantown. (pictured: Celeste and Jamil Mangan with playwright Chisa Hutchinson and husband Kyle Winslow (2019)
On Saturday, November 16, 2019 we closed out the year with a final trip to Broadway to see Tina ~ The Tina Turner Musical at the Lunt Fontanne Theatre.
After the Pandemic
Covid19 hit in early 2020 and on March 13, 2020, Broadway (and all other theatres around the country) closed down. We had reservations for Hamilton for April and had begun selling MJ : The Michael Jackson Musical for June 2020. All of that was canceled. We were on hiatus for two years.
On January 5, 2022 we re-grouped and about 40 of us went to see the outstanding Broadway production of MJ (Neil Simon Theatre) which featured over 25 of Michael Jackson’s biggest hits and starred Myles Frost who went on to win the Tony Award for “Best Leading Actor in a Musical.” It was a tenuous time and several patrons who had reservations with us canceled as word of a Covid variant hit the news. Still, those of us who went had a great time. We served box lunches on the bus prepared by our favorite caterer Eclectic Catering. (pictured: ELMART patrons at MJ)
On June 25, 2022, a small group of 17 took ourselves to Crossroads Theatre in New Brunswick, NJ for Freedom Rider, a world premiere conceived by Crossroads co-founder Ricardo Khan and co-written by 
Murray Horowitz, Nathan Louis Jackson, Ricardo Khan, Kathleen McGee-Anderson and Nikkole Salter. With 12 multi-talented performers, including our artist-in-residence Jamil A.C. Mangan, this highly theatrical, physical, visceral form of musical play told this historic story set to a 1960’s folk and gospel musical soundtrack. Between the pandemic and the gas price explosion, the cost of the charter bus escalated $400 since 2021 which has posed a major challenge for ELMART — how to keep our ticket prices affordable.
On October 15, 2022, we attended the outstanding production of August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson at the Barrymore Theatre. The production stars Academy Award-winner Samuel L. Jackson, Screen Actors Guild Award nominee John David Washington and Tony and Emmy nominee Danielle Brooks, directed by Tony nominee LaTanya Richardson Jackson.
Our final show of 2022 was the exceptional Death of a Salesman
on Broadway on December 7th at the Hudson Theatre. Olivier Award nominee Wendell Pierce and 2022 Tony® nominee Sharon D Clarke reprised their roles as Willy and Linda Loman (following their London run) in a revival-told for the first time on Broadway-from the perspective of an African American family. A new cast of supporting actors joined the production in New York, led by Tony® winner André De Shields (Ben) and Khris Davis (Biff).
On Saturday, October 26, 2019 ELMART Theatre Service hosted our 50th Anniversary Celebration at The Priory @ St. Joseph Plaza in Newark, NJ. We honored five New Jersey theater professionals and presented the first ever NJ Black Theater Awards. The honorees were: Actor/Children’s Theater Producer/Director Marie Thomas, Playwrights Chisa Hutchinson and Richard Wesley and Actress/Poet Helen D. Lewis. We also acknowledged the many contributions of Crossroads Theatre Company in New Brunswick, NJ, presenting the award to co-founder Ricardo Khan. There was a live performance by Ms. Lewis who performed an excerpt from her popular one-woman show, Call Me Crazy: Diary of a Mad Social Worker. 
“…we all enjoyed ourselves so much on your recent bus trip to see Smokey Joe’s Café. We’ve been on many bus trips, but none compares to what I experienced with you. The brunch you arranged before boarding the bus was absolutely delightful! The bus itself was really nice and not having to drive ourselves through the NY traffic was so relaxing. The play was so enjoyable, no matter where you were seated in the theatre. Thank you for including us in an opportunity that I’m hoping will last for a long time.”
Joe & Jackie J., Wayne, NJ
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Above: Our theater-goers at the closing reception (hosted by ELMART) with the cast of The Brothers Size at Luna Stage: actors Brandon Carter, Clinton Lowe and Shamsuddin Abdul-Hamid and director Christopher Burris, are in the photo. Sadly, Shamsuddin passed away soon after. (2016)
