Jeffrey Gabel, the Founding Executive Director of Gettysburg College’s Majestic Theater, announced today that he will retire in early January 2024 after 20 years of dedicated service.
“It has been a privilege and pleasure to build ‘the grandest small-town theater in America,’ which has been so generously supported by the college and the community,” said Gabel. “Twenty years is a long run in show business, and my time at the Majestic has been the most gratifying period of my career.
“Having an opportunity to help shape this important college and community resource has been incredibly rewarding and a lot of fun! After nearly 40 years in the entertainment business, I’m looking forward to attending shows and movies at the Majestic as a carefree patron.”
“Jeffrey represents the very best of our community,” said Gettysburg College President Bob Iuliano. “His collaboration, his charisma, and his deep commitment to the arts have helped to build the Majestic Theater into all that it is today. Indeed, Jeffrey’s impact over the last two decades reflected so vividly with a first-of-its-kind film festival this February will undoubtedly be felt by Gettysburgians for decades to come. We wish him a joyous and well-deserved retirement.”
Gabel joined the Gettysburg College administration in 2003 to lead the theater’s $16.5 million renovation that meticulously restored the 1925 vaudeville and silent movie theater and added a cinema wing with two theaters, an art gallery, a café, and a backstage production wing.
In addition to programming more than 300 concerts by professional artists; raising $21.7 million in community support and establishing a $5.9 million endowment for programming support, Gabel counts producing the recent Ken Burns Film Festival—which drew sold-out audiences from 28 states across the country—among his most important accomplishments.
Gabel also serves as the vice chair of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and is board member emeritus and past board chair of the League of Historic American Theatres.
Gettysburg College will launch a national search for a new executive director in the spring of 2023.
The Majestic Theater at the LeVan Performing Arts Center in downtown Gettysburg is open year-round. It presents a diverse lineup of more than 50 live performances by national and international performing artists, as well as a nightly lineup of independent, foreign, and classic films. The Majestic also serves as the rehearsal and performance venue for the major instrumental ensembles of the Sunderman Conservatory of Music at Gettysburg College.