2003-2004
I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change
June 4th - August 8th
Written By: Joe DiPietro
Music By: Jimmy Roberts
Directed By: Heidi Cline
Are you about to take a walk down the aisle? Or are you singing to the tune of D-I-V-O-R-C-E? Ever been on a first date and wished you could jump ahead to the 3rd? Found romance in your "golden years?" Or are you always a bridesmaid and never a bride? Whatever situation you're in, I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change is sure to highlight it with humor and harmony because long before reality dating shows dominated the networks, this musical-comedy hit had already won America's vote as a "perfect mating dance" (Star-Ledger). You'll see why I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change is the longest running musical revue in New York history.
The Hippodrome State Theatre is thrilled to bring you this highly requested and hilarious "great first date show" that's like "Seinfeld set to music" (Star-Ledger). Join our quartet of talented actors and guest director Heidi Cline for one wild and wonderful ride through the relationship jungle! We'll take detours through dating, engagement, marriage, parenthood, divorce, widowhood and everything in-between. Through a surplus of musical styles and witty lyrics, I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change explores everything you have ever secretly thought about relationships but were afraid to admit out loud: from awkward first dates ("Will my hopes be met? My fear dispel? Will I captivate or will I repel?") to wedding bliss ("Church bells, wedding day/Dating hell gone away") and commitment fear ("Do you swear to love and honor?/Then your bachelorhood's a goner"). Capturing parenting dilemmas ("Once I became a parent/I became quite incoherent"), a singleton's frustration ("Each bride has me dressed/In a gown I detest/Always a bridesmaid, never a bride"), and dating rituals in widowhood ("My ways are set/Well, people change/I find you sexy/I find you strange"), creators Joe DiPietro and Jimmy Roberts leave no stone unturned!
Rounding Third
April 14th - May 16th
Written By: Richard Dresser
Directed By: Mary Hausch
This quirky comedy teams up two of the most mismatched men to coach for a Little League team. Don is an affable, beer swilling ex-jock, a win-at-all-cost veteran whose philosophy is "Winning is fun; losing stinks" Don instructs his team to "have fun" and then reminds them that having fun translates into winning. He is a relic from the masculine rights of passage pre-dating political correctness. He expects his assistant coach to chug beer, his wife to cook the team snacks, his son to pitch a no hitter, and his team to win even if this means pushing the envelope of honesty. He spends his days dreaming about sex, money, and revenge fantasies... in other words, he is the average American male. His son is the team's star pitcher and every dad's dream.
Every year Don gets help from an assistant coach. This year the man filling those shoes is Michael, a wide-eyed new comer who wears a suit, packs a cell phone, and drinks Starbuck's cappuccinos. Michael believes that "the fun is in the playing, not winning or losing." He wants to give every kid a chance to play the position he has dreamed of, to know that he is a winner even if the team loses. His son can't hit the ball or field, is nearly blind without his glasses, and can't remember Don's tips from one game to the next. Don and Michael disagree on everything especially as they coax their struggling young team closer and closer to the playoffs.
The War of the Worlds
February 27th - March 21st
Written By: H.G. Wells
Directed By: Lauren Caldwell
Hippodrome Artistic Director Lauren Caldwell's creative juices are flowing as she prepares the world premiere of The War of the Worlds! The inspiration for her work is the Sci-Fi masterpiece The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells written in 1898. Less than 50 years after it was written on Oct. 30, 1938, Orson Welles was inspired to adapt this fantastical story about interplanetary conflict into a radio drama that was set it in the real American town of Grover's Mill. His broadcast created a wave of mass hysteria as the people tuned in their radios on Halloween night to hear of an alien invasion from Mars. Police Departments were overwhelmed with reports of aliens, meteor sightings, gas raids, and bombings. People fled their homes, packed the roads, hid in cellars, loaded guns, and wrapped their heads in wet towels to protect themselves from the poisonous Martian gases.
The War of the Worlds is one of the most important works in the history of science fiction because it was the catalyst for the whole Sci- Fi genre about the alien invasion of the Earth. H.G. Wells and Lauren Caldwell raise fascinating questions with their stories. How is our global culture affected by the media? What are the effects of deceptions in news, advertising, public relations and politics on an unsuspecting public? How has our fascination with life on other planets influenced scientific discovery? How has mans' greed impacted our world? Are there superior worlds and cultures on other planets? What happens when cultures clash? Are we all at risk of extinction? Caldwell applies a 21st Century perspective to the 1898 novel, using such universal themes as man vs. man, man vs. the universe, and science vs. nature. With the creative collaboration of Set Designer Mihai Ciupe, Costume Designer Marilyn Wall, Lighting Designer Robert Robins, Properties Designer Lorelei Esser and a talented cast, Caldwell's adaptation will ignite the Hippodrome's mainstage in an original story that will excite audiences of all ages.
Life X3
January 7th - February 8th
Written By: Yasmina Reza
Translated By: Christopher Hampton
Directed By: Mary Hausch
Get ready for the dinnerless party from hell! Henry and Sonia are putting their son to bed and settling in for a quiet evening at home when an unexpected knock at their door throws their lives into chaos. Hubert, Henry's colleague, and his wife Inez show up for an important business dinner — a day early! Thus begins Life x 3, Yasmina Reza's latest Broadway hit filled with the hilarity and poignancy that made her earlier work, "Art", such a huge success.
The evening quickly and comically spirals down toward the catastrophic unraveling of normal civilized behavior. With no food in the house, Henry and Sonia serve an impromptu feast of Cheez-Its, cookies, and lots of wine. Their son's behavior sets off the couples' competitive parenting skills. Marital spats erupt. Inez discovers an ever-growing run in her pantyhose. Hubert drops the unsettling news that another research team is about to publish a paper bearing a remarkable resemblance to Henry's work — news that could make Henry's past three years of research obsolete. Combine all these events with Hubert's lecherous advances and Sonia's shameless flirtation and you have Reza's comedy Life x 3.
A Christmas Carol
November 28th - December 21st
Written By: Charles Dickens
Adapted By: Mary Hausch
Directed By: Sara Morsey
For 25 years (almost as old as the Hippodrome itself) A Christmas Carol has delivered the heartfelt themes of love and redemption. This 28th production promises to do the same. The play will provide a pleasing holiday treat for the whole family as Jacob Marley unfolds the story of his lost partner Ebeneezer Scrooge with the eye-opening lesson which alters the course of Scrooge's life. Along the way, you'll discover three wise spirits, who help deliver Scrooge from years of darkness through a most unusual journey. Audiences of all ages will be held captive by the play's sparkling special effects, gentle humor and an inspiring message from Dickens' classic Victorian story. A treat for the whole family!
The Santaland Diaries
November 28th - December 21st
Written By: David Sedaris
Adapted and Directed By: Joe Mantello
The Santaland Diaries comes from Mr. Sedaris’ Best-Selling book, Holidays on Ice in which he shares the sardonic tale of his employment as "Crumpet", an elf in Macy's Santaland. Sedaris' reading of this story on NPR generated one of the largest responses from its listening audience ever. As a stage piece, The Santaland Diaries has also met with huge success in theatres nationwide. It is a bombastic one-man show that will feature the amazingly diverse talent of Mark Chambers. Full of wry insight, the play explores the collision of Christmas and American consumerism at that popular Santa stop: the department store. Crumpet joins other elves-in-training and gets caught in the Yuletide lunacy that brings out the best and worst in people – including Santa. Frightened children, bored elves, grumpy Santas, overworked managers and camcorder-toting parents make up the well-known picture of the holiday rush with the colors only Sedaris can mix so brilliantly. Check it out!
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde
October 17th - November 16th
Written By: Robert Louis Stevenson
Adapted By: Jean Lafayette
Directed By: Lauren Caldwell
"The most racking pangs succeeded: a grinding in the bones, deadly nausea, and a horror of the spirit that cannot be exceeded at the hour of birth or death. Then ...there was something strange in my sensations, something indescribably new and, from its very novelty, incredibly sweet. ...I knew myself, at the first breath of this new life, to be more wicked, and the thought, in that moment, braced and delighted me like wine."
Dr. Jekyll is at odds with himself - literally. On one hand, he is a brilliant scientist and professor loved and respected by his family and friends. On the other hand, he recognizes his darker, more reckless self... a "self" that longs to be set free. For years, Dr. Jekyll dreams of unique ways to separate these two elements of his being: "If each could be housed in separate identities, life would be relieved of all that was unbearable". And so with great perseverance, Dr. Jekyll launches an experiment to achieve his long-term dream. The results are disastrous!
The Big Bang
August 29th - September 28th
Written By: Boyd Graham
Music By: Jed Freur
Directed By: Lauren Caldwell
Two wacky off Broadway creators, "Jed" and "Boyd";, are in the borrowed Park Avenue penthouse of Mrs. Sidney Lipbalm to perform their new creation, an epic musical that spans the history of the world from the Big Bang to the present, for potential backers. Their play is budgeted for $83.5 million with a cast of 318 performers and 6,428 costumes. The average running time is 12 hours (move over Nicholas Nickelby). Lucky for the backers — that's you — the creators will only be performing "highlights" of the impending extravaganza. That's where the fun begins!
Our two zany creators accompanied by a third on piano perform eighteen side splitting musical numbers, singing, dancing, narrating, and portraying every major figure in world and pop history (Adam and Eve, Attila the Hun, Julius Caesar, Napoleon, Plato, Jesus, Cher, to name a few). Unfortunately, every treasure in Mrs. Lipbalm's "borrowed" opulent Park Avenue apartment becomes fair game for Jed and Boyd as they snatch furnishings to create makeshift costumes and props while singing and clowning their way through a condensed and inventive look at world history, musical style.