Hopewell Theatre
by Diana Cercone
How many venues do you know where you can hear music, lectures, T.E.D. talks and participate in discussions as well as see films, Shakespeare and ballets? Add to that they’re also a venue where you can enjoy well-prepared food and desserts from area chefs and restaurants recognized for their locally sourced ingredients. You can even bring a bottle of wine to enjoy. Better still, you get to enjoy all this in a warm and inviting comfortable setting more akin to a sophisticated supper club than to the usual theater experience. How many, did you say? None—uh-huh, I thought so.
Well, I’m here to tell you there is such a venue. And even if you travel to New York or Philly, you won’t find another like it. For it’s an all-inclusive entertainment theater that makes it easy for everyone to call it home. And it’s right here in the sweet town of Hopewell, NJ. Located at 5 S. Greenwood Avenue, the theater proudly bares the town’s name.
The Hopewell Theater dates to the 1880s. Back then it started as a community center called Columbia Hall. On its second floor was a lyceum theater where performers, lectures and films were showcased. The ground floor was reserved for community groups, the fire department and borough council meetings as well as elections. Then in 1939 the Association’s owners wanted to make way for a new theater—one that was modern and fire-proof. To cover the cost of the renovations, the Association publicly issued bonds—and the community responded.
The high-peaked Colonial Revival-style lobby and cinder block addition that forms the main theater today was built and in 1940, the entire renovated building re-opened as a movie theater and with a new name: The Colonial Playhouse. A couple decades later George Gallop bought the building and from 1960 to 1984, operated the building as the home base for his Gallop polling group. In 1984 Gallop leased the building to Bob and Julie Thick to put on their theatrical productions. Eventually Gallop sold the building to the Thicks who made their own modifications to the interior to accommodate their Off-Broadstreet Theater, a dessert-theater featuring live theater and children’s shows which continued until 2014.
Fast-forward to 2015. Enter today’s new owners: Jon McConaughy, Liza Moorehouse and Mitchell Skolnick. And though they could have turned the building into a more lucrative enterprise such as rentals for shops or even tearing the building down to build tony townhouses, the owners chose to keep it as a community theater for the arts.
Under their ownership, the Hopewell Theater receives a much-needed renovation, including gutting the interior, replacing the heating system, installing state-of-the art lighting and sound systems which required major upgrades to the electrical system. Another priority was updating the plumbing system which included adding well-appointed and accessible men’s and women’s rest rooms on the first floor and a prep kitchen. Not stopping there, the new owners expanded the theater seating area by adding a balcony—and included two more rest rooms.
The bones of the theater upgraded, the owners looked to a visionary who could pull all this together. And that’s when Sara Scully came on board. Sara was first hired to develop a business plan for a “dine-in theater.” Sara, who’s first love is film, saw the theater’s potential. (Folks may recognize Sara from the ACME Screening Room in Lambertville where she was the driving force and creative director.) After the owners saw her business plan, which included showcasing independent films and local musicians, health specialists and playwrights, they hired her last fall for the “Fit Out.” To find out more about the theater, and exactly what a “fit-out” is, I met with Sara, now executive director of the Hopewell Theater on a sunny day this past fall. Though the building is owned by McConaughy, Moorehouse and Skolnick, Sara and her business partner, Mitch Skolnick, run the theater under their company, Hopewell Theater.
“A fit-out,” Sara, explains, “is all about the interior design.” It encompasses everything, she says, from the color scheme of the theater to the seating arrangements to the color of the stage curtains and from the lobby, concession stand and ticket booth to everything in between. The theater’s color-scheme, says Sara, picks up on the stainless steel girders and wood beams found in the original high ceilings which were recovered by the new owners during the renovations. The palette throughout the theater is of warm wood, stainless steel and jewel tones of plum and royal blue. That goes for the lobby, ticket counter and concession stand as well. Here you’ll find the same sleek, yet warm and inviting color scheme.
A good design, Sara says, begins from the moment patrons walk through the door to being ushered to their seats to when they exit. (A walk-through told me she and Mitch had succeeded in spades.) But I’m getting ahead of myself.
To help me understand their fit-out Sara takes me on a tour. We begin in the theater area where comfortable banquets line the outer rim—some designed for two, others for four, or when combined together a party of eight. The banquets ring wooden tables for four with ample stadium-sized chairs that easily move to allow interaction with nearby tables or adjust, if needed, to face the stage.
Attractive tea-light lamps grace each table, giving off just enough light to enjoy your food and beverage. An elevated section offers more dining and theater options, including an area offering traditional theater seats. Unobtrusive, soft floor lighting allows patrons to easily see when leaving and returning to their seats during a show. (If you do leave, you won’t have to worry about missing a thing because the lobby and rest rooms are fitted with a state-of-the-art sound system that allows you to hear what’s happening on the stage or screen. Pretty cool, huh?)
Seating capacity is at 176. But it’s the way the seating is configured that is pure genius. I count five different seating options. I mean, in what other theater can you find this?
Sara just smiles, and says, that the type and arrangement of seating was crucial. No traditional seating for them, she explains. The first criterion was that the seats had to be comfortable to fit any size. Next, they wanted arrangements that would allow patrons to move about, talk with each other or across to the next table or row. Above all, she says, they did not want a theater where people just took their seats, saw the show and then left without any communication of what they just saw or heard. Their aim, she says, is to create a community through the arts—a true exchange venue, she says. Where it’s okay to engage the person or persons next to you whether you know them or not in a conversation about what they thought of the performance, film or lecture.
Though I could picture what Sara was telling me during our tour, it wasn’t until a few nights later that I got a first-hand look of the theater (and her fit-out) in action—including a few delectable trips to the concession stand.
The first evening I saw the 2017 Sundance Short Film winners. But before the show, I paid a visit to the concession stand where gourmet food prepared by Brick Farm and The Peasant Grill is featured alongside fresh-popped popcorn and candy. Menu offerings include Cows in the Blanket, Brick Farm grass-fed 100 percent beef hot dogs wrapped in local wheat puff pastry; Lemon-Herb Turkey Panini with brie, arugula and cranberry relish; Brick Farm Cheese Plate and/or a selection of its Charcuterie; and a Hummus & Veggie plate. For the gourmet dessert lovers, there are hand-crafted tantalizing desserts and Bent Spoon ice creams.
This evening the personable Ojaje Davis was working Concession and I asked him his favorite. Didn’t have to think. For him, he says, it’s The Peasant Grill’s classic mac-n-cheese made with a béchamel of sharp cheddar and gruyére. But, he said, “Patrons who order the Thai Meatballs, usually order it again when they come back.” It’s cooked in a coconut, lemongrass ad curry broth, he says. Knowing I would have many opportunities to try everything on the menu, I opted for the meatballs and a bottle of Joe Tea.
And get this. I didn’t have to wait for my order, Ojae says. One of the ushers will bring it to me. (When buying your ticket, you choose the seating option you want with its accompanying seat number. For this evening’s film, I was sitting at one of the center banquets.)
There were five 2017 Sundance short film winners. And each was different, engaging and thought-provoking. OK, I admit, there was one I didn’t totally get, but that added to the overall enjoyment—and to some interesting discussion with fellow patrons like Jackie from Ewing and Kevin from Cranberry. “These are films we would never see in our hometowns,” says Kevin. “The Hopewell Theater gives you access to see things like film and performances that you normally wouldn’t see without going to the big city.”
And while credits rolled, I notice other patrons turning to fellow theater goers and talking or leaving their seats to talk with friends in other rows to discuss the shorts. It was a marvelous evening.
The next time I went it was for a musical performance. Kaki King, a well-respected American guitarist and composer known for her percussive and jazz-tinged melodies (She’s appeared on the cover of Acoustic Guitar Magazine) was performing. Though I count myself among jazz lovers, King was unknown to me. But not to our photographer, Paul Wesley, who is a huge Kaki King fan, including possessing, among others, her first CD recorded years ago. He promised I would love her. And he was right. She totally expanded my conception of what jazz can be all about.
And from the moment she stepped onto the stage, King wowed the audience. First by her personal presence, quickly establishing a give and take dialogue with the audience—and then, by her incredible musicianship. The room was packed with King fans as well as newbies like myself. The crowd that night was a mixture of Baby-Boom rockers to hip millennials to every age in between. There were tables of groups of couples, women friends enjoying a Girls Night Out and guys doing the same. All brought their beverage of choice, be it wine or beer.
The common thread through all was the enjoyment of good music. And communication. Both with Kaki and with each other. I was reminded of venues like the Main Point in Bryn Mawr where Joni Mitchell and Bruce Springsteen performed early in their careers, and to the New York clubs where Dylan got his start.
In addition to the calendar of performances by local and national musicians, each month the theater hosts “Singer Song Fighters.” It’s an evening hosted by John Francis Quinn where he invites local singer/songwriter friends to perform and connect with the audience.
Coming up this November and December, look for live-filmed productions of the Royal Ballet’s Nutcracker and of the Twelfth Night by the Royal Shakespeare Company along with musical performances by Daniela Cotton, Mama’s Marmalade, Band of Changes and Don Flemons. And that’s just a short glimpse of what the Hopewell Theater has to offer this winter season.
Then there’s the Theater’s monthly Supper Club. These are full dinners prepared by local chefs and/or caterers and served by wait staff at your table in the theater two hours before the performance. Memberships to the Hopewell Theater are also available with hard-to-resist perks, such as 10 percent discount on small plates, desserts and tickets; free popcorn for Life of Membership; and first word on select shows and events as well as invites to special events.
You can even rent the theater for a conference or a private party, and it’s a perfect venue for artists to rent and try new material, as well as provide a venue where playwrights and producers can develop plays and stage works in progress. (For more information, go to http://hopewelltheater.com/live/dev/rent.php).
If you haven’t attended a performance already, I hope you’ll treat yourself and go soon. For as the Theater’s mottos says: “You belong where it all comes together.”
Just make sure before you enter the seating area, take a moment to look at the mural by well-known local artist Illia Barger. Using the same jewel tones of plum and royal blue, culminating in a glowing burst of gold in the center, Illia’s mural says it all. It draws you in—predicting that when you leave, your level of art appreciation will have been expanded and your world made a little brighter.
In summing up what the Hopewell Theater is, Sara says, “It is intimate and gorgeous, but casual enough that you want to hang-out.” It’s where you want to come to see an indie or first-run film, an original play, join in film and director talks, and hear an emerging or international musician—the list keeps expanding all the time. And there’s so much local talent around the area, Sara says. One of the theater’s main goal is to showcase local and regional talent as well as those that are well established national and international talents. Adding she says, “We want to build an audience that appreciates different levels of talent and a broad range of entertainment. Your connection to the event is as important as your connection to others who share the experience with you. We want our audience to trust us so much that they want to come and take a chance.” Even if you’re not familiar with what is showing that evening, she says, hopefully, you’ll leave happy you did. I know I was.
The Hopewell Theater is located at 5 S. Greenwood Avenue in Hopewell, NJ. For more information, schedules and tickets, go to hopewelltheater.com or call 609-466-1964.
Diana Cercone is an area freelance writer who specializes in food, art and travel.