The Jersey Shore is a vacation hub for families for many reasons; whether it be the beach, the attractions, boardwalks, or live music. The Music Man Singing Ice Cream Shoppe, located at 2305 Grand Central Avenue in Lavallette, is one small business that has become a critical part of forming such memories for Jersey Shore tourists, locals, and repeat visitors. The Music Man is more than just a spot to grab ice cream — it is a family entertainment venue for families of all ages; picture a vaudeville-style cabaret of upbeat American tunes performed during every seating. Read on to learn more about The Music Man: The Singing Ice Cream Shoppe — a Jersey Shore location bringing generations of family members to one table since 2003.
Origins of The Music Man
Aggie Roberts, creative director + co-owner, and his wife and co-owner, Josephine-Sessa Agliata, created The Music Man because they wanted a space for families to come together, regardless of age. Roberts said the location was chosen because they “love Lavellete because it’s family-based.” In 2003, The Music Man opened for its first season, and the vision for creating an entertainment space for all ages began.
The Music Man has become a celebration venue for families to revel in life’s happenings. The venue functions as a space for people to celebrate their loved ones, and this is what Aggie Roberts refers to as a “family affair.” While rated G, the shows find a way to engage and connect family members of all ages through personalized music selections. Aggie Roberts recalls that this approach has led to repeat visits, which has granted him the experience of witnessing “people grow up [which is] an unforeseen benefit of starting a business.”
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What Customers Can Expect
At The Music Man, the performers create a family-centered, interactive atmosphere by singing directly to all visitors and maneuvering their way through the shop. At the same time, families indulge and bond through a shared love and staple of the Jersey Shore: its ice cream.
Photo Credit: The Music Man Singing Ice Cream Shoppe
A new group of performers comes from all over the country each year. The bios for the cast for the 2024 season can be found here. Or, check out The Music Man’s Podcast: The Best Summer Adventure Podcast which interviews the cast in a meet-and-greet fashion. Once selected, the cast goes through ten days of training, where they collaborate with the musician director + choreographer to rehearse for the anticipated summer season of performances.
However, while the show is well rehearsed, when JSG asked Aggie Roberts what people may be surprised to learn about The Music Man, his response was, “When you come to a family cabaret, the performers don’t even know what songs we’ll be performing until the show starts.” That is because the performers practice and learn 60 to 65 songs during rehearsals, so they will be ready to perform any based on the read of the audience.
Photo Credit: The Music Man Singing Ice Cream Shoppe
During the show, the performers will receive cues about which songs will be performed next, which makes for a fun and interactive experience for all customers. Each show is personalized to fit the families in the room, so repeat visitors are frequent as they know each show will be a different experience.
The Logistics
While walk-ins are still welcome, The Music Man recommends making a reservation, which involves enrolling in the Music Man Reservation Club. To be part of the club, customers must enter their email address and credit card (which will only be charged if there is a no-show or cancellation). The Reservation Club provides a unique reservation number that can be used for future visits. Click here to register for the club online; after, reservations for a table are made by calling The Music Man at 732-854-2779. More information on its reservation policy can be found here.
Photo Credit: The Music Man Singing Ice Cream Shoppe
Starting in July, there are five shows a night + check-in times are 4:45PM, 6PM, 7PM, 8PM, and 9:30PM. The Music Man describes check-in times by comparing it to the fast pace at Disney World; there is a 30-minute grace period, meaning if a customer selects 7PM as their “check-in,” they can expect to get seated any time between 7PM and 7:30PM. The crowd will all get seated together for the next show, similar to an amusement park. The night’s first show is typically the Disney Sing Along, with the next performances all being the Family Cabaret.
JSG loves that ice cream is the only purchase necessary for admission to the show. FYI: The Music Mann is a cash-only venue that also accepts Venmo.
The Menu
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While the performance is enough of a draw to visit The Music Man, the sweet treats are a good topping. There are plenty of fun sundaes to select from, but JSG recommends the Doughboy, which is three scoops of cookie dough ice cream with hot fudge and marshmallow créme, banana wheels, whipped cream, and a cherry. There are also banana splits, no-sugar-added ice cream, yogurt, water ice, and shakes + floats. For those family members who don’t want ice cream, there is a coffee bar and other indulgences like the Bavarian pretzel, cookies + milk, and cotton candy. JSG pro tip: after the show, stop by its fudge shop and bring home a box of treats for those family members who couldn’t make the show.
See More: The Best Ice Cream Shops to Try in Northern New Jersey
Look Out For Taylor Swift + The Music Man
Swifties rejoice: The Music Man now has a Taylor Swift Cabaret, which had its preview show on June 16th. Stay tuned for future details on how it fits into the standard calendar schedule of events, which can be found here.
Meet Danielle Hickson, the Maker Behind Asbury Park Sea Salt
Asbury Park Sea Salt is a female, LGBTQ+-owned company that hand-harvests edible sea salt from the Atlantic Ocean, creating a product that embodies the unique character of the Jersey Shore. Whether sprinkled over fresh vegetables, used to finish a perfectly grilled steak, or stirred into a pot of homemade caramel, the salt brings an unmistakable taste of the sea and a touch of Asbury Park’s unique spirit to every dish. The small business is making waves — and using waves — to elevate the art of seasoning while representing the creativity and community-centered focus of the diverse Jersey Shore entrepreneurs shaping the local landscape. Read on to learn more about Asbury Park Sea Salt, the artisanal, hand-harvested sea salt that comes directly from the iconic shores of Asbury Park, New Jersey.
Photo Credit: Jessica Norton
About Danielle Hickson
Danielle Hickson (also known around Asbury Park by her music moniker Dano) is the creator and founder of Asbury Park Sea Salt. Danielle is a singer, songwriter, and musician who writes for musical theater, teaches music lessons, and performs her original songs. After falling in love with attending and shopping at the local markets in the Asbury Park area, she knew she wanted to get involved by selling her own product. She felt drawn to start creating something that she could hold in her hands. As an Asbury Park local and an ocean lover, the idea to harvest sea salt popped into her head and she immediately began to research the science behind it.
Photo Credit: Jessica Norton
“I feel like for every big life event for the past few years I just immediately go to the beach,” Danielle told The Jersey Shore Girl. “I have a strong connection to the ocean and nothing felt better to me than making a product that is directly sourced from the Asbury Park beach.”
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The salty singer admits that while she is not a great cook, she loves eating and always uses add-ons, like salt, spices, and sauces, to compensate for her cooking skills.
Diving Into Harvesting Sea Salt
Photo Credit: Danielle Hickson
With the help of a Chemistry for Dummies book, Danielle began experimenting and researching all the tools and methods needed to harvest sea salt. Despite not having a science background, she said that the process felt very natural.
“A lot of it was just intuition,” she said, “I’m a crunchy person – I eat all organic. I’m concerned about the quality of our water. So thinking about testing the water for heavy metals, filtering the water, the dehydration process, it was all pretty instinctual.”
After Danielle made her first batch of homemade, harvested sea salt in her kitchen — with just a water bottle full of ocean water — she was shocked at how delicious it was. The singer-turned-seaside scientist immediately began to take regular trips to Asbury Park Beach with four five-gallon buckets to fill up with salt water, load in her car, and bring home to harvest more. The buckets have since been swapped to 10 two-gallon buckets, as Danielle is currently pregnant and not able to carry that much weight. The mom-to-be loves stepping into her waterproof waders to collect salt water and even though she now has to take more trips back and forth to the car, she finds the process to be extremely meditative.
“I am not the best person to go to the gym regularly so this is my workout,” Danielle laughed, “I love going to the beach. I am very grateful to the ocean for letting me come out and take this water. I always draw a symbol of gratitude in the sand before I leave. I feel like the ocean is alive and I don’t want it to be mad at me for taking its resources. I am always so grateful to take just what we need. If you ever see a swirly mark in the sand [on the Asbury Park beach] that’s me. You’ll know I was there.”
Photo Credit: Danielle Hickson
The real science project starts once the buckets get to Danielle’s kitchen where she tests for heavy metals and filters the water. The tests and filtering are followed by lengthy processes of boiling, evaporating, and crystallizing. The time from going to the beach and collecting the salt water to when it is jarred for consumers is about seven to 12 days. In her current kitchen, using a stove top burner and an Instapot — which she admitted are both constantly running — she will produce about 15 jars of Asbury Park Sea Salt from 20 gallons of saltwater.
Take It With A Grain of Salt
Photo Credit: Danielle Hickson
Asbury Park Sea Salt is incredibly versatile and can be used in various ways. The more obvious culinary methods include seasoning and baking. Sea salt also has health and wellness benefits such as salt water gargling for sore throats, nasal rinses for congestion, and relaxing bath soaks for stress relief and aching muscles.
“My favorite thing to use the sea salt for is veggies. Especially fresh veggies. It just explodes the flavor,” Danielle told JSG, “Salt makes food taste better. A surprising thing to try is salt on watermelon. I can never eat watermelon without sea salt now. Besides the salty-sweet combination, the salt actually dissolves and extracts all the sugars from the watermelon which makes it so much sweeter. I don’t eat meat but I’ve heard that people like Asbury Park Sea Salt on steak a lot..”
A Seasoned Pro
Photo Credit: Danielle Hickson
Danielle is an active seller at the same Jersey Shore markets she loves to peruse. Her shore-born product constantly sells out due to the long production process and demand. The salt alchemist admits that while she is satisfied with the deliciousness, quality, and texture of the salt she harvests, she will never stop tweaking and testing to see how it can improve.
In the future, she hopes to go commercial — she currently operates under New Jersey’s Cottage Food License, which allows her to produce the product from her home and distribute it directly to her consumers — and plans to invest in a more elaborate and efficient set up for harvesting sea salt. For now, her stovetop runs while she teaches virtual music lessons and she is deeply fulfilled by getting to go through the motions of creating a product that is close to her heart and uniquely special to her home in Asbury Park.
“One of my favorite things when people try my sea salt – especially the locals – is when they have a taste and they go, ‘Oh my gosh, I’ve tasted this before! It’s like when I go to the beach and get a little bit of water in my mouth,’ and I’m like, ‘Yes! It’s the exact same flavor!’ You can taste the difference in the salt water and you can taste the distinction of the area,” she said. “If you get ocean water splashed in your mouth and taste it while swimming at the beach here at the Jersey Shore, it's gonna taste different than if you get ocean water in your mouth down in the Caribbean, or in California, or wherever!”
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Asbury Park Sea Salt can be purchased in person at market events listed on its website. At this time, online orders are only able to be delivered to residents in Monmouth County. Special discount pricing is available for bulk orders — for weddings, showers, event favors, etc — with advance notice.
Be sure to follow Asbury Park Sea Salt on Instagram to see which market they will be vending at next.
