2005-2006
Mere Mortals
August 26th - September 18thWritten By: David Ives
Directed By: Lauren Caldwell
"Funny and colorful … a feast." --Gainesville Sun Review
David Ives is popularly known for his previous collection of one acts titled All In The Timing. In the six short plays that comprise Mere Mortals, Ives parades some 20 foolish humans across the stage (actually make that 20 foolish humans and two lowly mayflies). These characters (played by six talented actors) address human insecurities, illusions, delusions, deceptions and other frailties. The result is a hilarious collection of intelligence and compassion.
In the first of the six short plays Foreplay or: The Art Of The Fugue, we find Chuck at different stages of his life on dates at a miniature golf course. The couples find innuendo from golf terms that eventually create a fugue of sexually charged discussions. Foreplay serves as a great ice-breaker and sets the tone for the silliness that follows.
We are then lead into the title piece, Mere Mortals, where we find three macho construction workers having lunch on a girder 50 stories up. Macho males aren't known for their willingness to open up to one another and bare their innermost secrets, but these guys are different. Their secrets are matters of inner identity and their revelations challenge each other's ability to believe and their capacity for one-upmanship.
Probably the most hilarious piece of the show is Time Flies where Ives has cleverly placed a David Attenborough nature documentary with the romance of two mayflies. Realizing they are the subjects of the documentary and even more horrifying that they only live for one day, they make the decision to live it with eagerness. Their carpe diem attitude is the basis of this adult fairy tale that is side-splitting in hilarity, gentle in its poignancy, and, while obvious, inspiring in its metaphoric moral.
The lightness of Time Flies leads us into a cautionary fable telling us how a married couple faces a menace in their living room: a television that talks back to them and threatens to swallow them whole in Captive Audience.
In Dr. Fritz, Ives deals with the role that God plays in our lives through a German voodoo witch-doctor parody. The scene is set with an American tourist in pain seeking medical attention and his dealings with a wacky souvenir seller who channels an even wackier German doctor.
The final play, Degas C'est Moi, explores a fascination with famous figures from the past as well as our desire to leave our own significant thumbprint for future generations. In this piece a jobless New Yorker convinces himself he is Edgar Degas, and then sets out on a day long odyssey as such. The piece ends with a feel-good epiphany that being yourself isn't so bad, especially when you notice the beauty around you.
As described by the director of the play, Lauren Caldwell, Mere Mortals is a meeting of the Twilight Zone and the X-Files. Mere Mortals gives audiences what they expect from television comedies with an added punch of meaningful insight.
Dracula
October 14th - November 13
Written By: Hamilton Dean and John L. Balderston
Directed By: Lauren Caldwell
"Dracula a feast of sight, sound and splatter,"--Gainesville Sun Review
If you thought you saw the ultimate vampire thriller 8 years ago on the Hipp stage, think again!! We thought we caught him, but…he’s baaaaaaack! See the famous bloodsucking Count from Romania in an even scarier adaptation than before. Dracula, the haunting vampire thriller will be at the Hippodrome October 14-November 6.
The ravenous Count Dracula takes Lucy, the daughter of Dr. Seward, as his "bride." Seward and Jonathan Harker, Lucy’s fiancé, call on the legendary Professor Van Helsing to cure Lucy of the “anemia” she suddenly develops. Soon, all three find themselves fighting Dracula’s evil powers and his band of the undead as well as the erratic behavior of Seward’s eccentric patient, Renfield!
This wickedly theatrical adaptation of the seductive vampire thriller explodes with visual effects and psychological fury. Join Jonathan Harker, Dr. Seward and Professor Van Helsing as they attempt to conquer the most notorious character in horror history!
The play is packed with thrilling effects and intense moments created by the lustful and evil Count who is more forceful and violent than the sensuous and romantic Dracula of most movie adaptations. This Dracula delivers what’s to be expected of the popular horror story loved by audiences who have an appetite for ferocious danger and psychological thrills! You’ll jump in your seat and leave the theatre watching your back!
A Christmas Carol
November 25th - December 18th
Written By: Charles Dickens
Adapted By: Mary Hausch
Directed By: Sara Morsey
Still cranky after all these years — Gainesville Sun Article
Back by popular demand the Hippodrome presents two holiday offerings. A Christmas Carol, adapted by Mary Hausch from the story by Charles Dickens, and A Tuna Christmas by Jaston Williams, Joe Sears and Ed Howard, return to the Hippodrome November 25-December 18
For 27 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!
A Tuna Christmas
November 25th - December 18th
Written By: Jaston Williams, Joe Sears and Ed Howard
Directed By: Mary Hausch
Back by popular demand the Hippodrome presents two holiday offerings. A Christmas Carol, adapted by Mary Hausch from the story by Charles Dickens, and A Tuna Christmas by Jaston Williams, Joe Sears and Ed Howard, return to the Hippodrome November 25-December 18
Many of you have witnessed the wacky characters from Tuna, Texas strut across our stage in past seasons under the clever direction of Producing Director Mary Hausch (who has directed the play at the Hippodrome since its premiere in 1998). This year those characters are brought back to life with veteran "Tuna" actors Mark Chambers and Lauren Caldwell. Take a trip with them to the third smallest town in Texas where the tensions run high in the competition for the annual Christmas yard display contest. Meet Didi Snavely, the chain-smoking weapons shop owner; Stanley Bumiller, a juvenile delinquent doing community service in the hometown production of A Christmas Carol; Good 'Ole "Rubber Sheets" Givens, the town sheriff; Vera Carp, President of the Smut Snatchers of the New Order; and many others including the mysterious Christmas phantom who's wreaking havoc on the contest.
Frozen
January 6th - January 29th
Written By: Bryony Lavery
Directed By: Lauren Caldwell
Sometimes a story comes along that has the potential to seep its way into the heart of a community. I think FROZEN is that kind of story." — Hippodrome Artistic Director Lauren Caldwell
Powerful cast, lingering questions — Gainesville Sun Review
Riveting —EntertainingU Review
When 10-year-old Rhona disappears, her mother Nancy embarks on a brave and profound journey into the unknown. 20 years later Nancy appears before us to reveal - through a series of difficult, sometimes humorous, always poignant memories - how her life intersected in unexpected ways with that of her daughter’s murderer and the criminal psychiatrist who studied him. Through the perspective of its three fictional characters, FROZEN is an extraordinary play that encourages our capacity for forgiveness, remorse and change after an act that would seem to rule them out entirely. In the words of its playwright, FROZEN lets “the stage be the place where we explore the confusion…and survive.”
A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings
February 24th - March 19th
Written By: Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Adapted By: Nilo Cruz
Directed By: Mary Hausch
"A play about truth and kindness triumphs with this shining production geared especially for children. Enchanting music, electrifying dance and colorful visual images will keep young eyes glued to the stage." — Arline Greer, Gainesville Sun
The Hippodrome is proud to present a magical fable for all ages from the pen of Gabriel García Márquez.
Travel with us to a land forgotten in time, where a brother and sister discover an old man with enormous wings who has apparently dropped from the sky. Believing him to be an angel, the children give him shelter and protection. Encumbered by his poverty, their father tries to capitalize on this strange creature for monetary gain. He cannot imagine that the winged man is what the children believe him to be - a magical angel in their midst.
The children decide to call him “Afar” and take him to their stable so he may rest. Big changes lie ahead with the presence of this mysterious creature -- changes that will leave quite an impact on the children, their family and neighbors.
Once discovered by the townspeople, the mysterious man seems to become what people want him to be: at once angel and money-making sideshow freak, powerful granter of wishes and hopelessly tragic creature.
The story explores the themes of faith and imagination, the magic that exists in everyday reality, and how our perceptions are formed by our expectations. This beautiful myth delights the imagination and the senses with archetypical imagery, as well as a wondrous set, artful lighting and extraordinary costumes.
The Sleeper
April 14th - May 7th
Written By: Catherine Butterfield
Directed By: Lauren Caldwell
"Brilliant ... a runaway comic strip ... a smart, entertaining show - enjoyable from the moment you walk into the theater. The Sleeper is as funny and mind-blowing a play as the Hippodrome has produced in a long time, a thoroughly enjoyable experience." — Arline Greer, The Gainesville Sun
If the housewives of Wisteria Lane have taught us one thing, it's that the last wild American frontier is the entrance to any gated community. But if you think Susan, Lynette, and Bree are desperate, just wait until you meet Gretchen!
Gretchen is the central character in The Sleeper, trapped in a loveless marriage, petrified by post-9/11 paranoia, disillusioned by her meaningless existence … until the day she meets Matthew. He's young and charismatic, seemingly just the remedy for her ills. Soon, however, strange things start happening all around Gretchen, and she begins to wonder: is Matthew what he seems to be?
Catherine Butterfield is a prolific writer of film and television, who came up with idea for The Sleeper while in the process of writing a film for Miramax. The Hippodrome is only the second theatre in the country to produce it. Artistic Director Lauren Caldwell was immediately drawn to this "wickedly funny and eccentric satire of the world's fear and suspicion of everyone."
This all adds up to a very funny play, in the vein of Shear Madness and All in the Timing. It won the 2004 Kaufman & Hart Prize for New American Comedy, and its humor has a kinky bend to it.
The Hippodrome production is the East Coast Premiere of the play.
The Great American Trailer Park Musical
May 31st - August 20th
Written By: David Nehls and Betsy Kelso
Directed By: Lauren Caldwell
"A rowdy spoof with heart" — Arline Greer
"The outstanding voices make this show a winner. It could become a cult classic." —Dick Kerekes, EntertainingU.com
Batten down the hatches because a "storm's a-brewin'" and we're not talking about the weather. The fictional neighborhood of Armadillo Acres - North Florida's most exclusive manufactured housing community - is about to be hit with one heck of a "hurricane": new resident Pippi, a runaway stripper. Fleeing from Duke, her wildly unpredictable ex, Pippi seeks refuge in a tight-knit little community where everyone knows everyone and relationships are as strong as crazy glue (at least for the moment). What's more, the play is set in our own neighboring municipality of Starke, FL, just up the road a piece!!!
Longtime residentsLinoleum (whose husband is awaiting his fate on death row), Pickles (an ingénue suffering from a hysterical pregnancy) and Betty (Armadillo Acres' resident den mother) serve as your guides in this musical comedy hit that has "enough show-stopping electricity to trump every musical that opened on Broadway last season" (Talkin' Broadway). These women - "the Bottle Blondes" - serve as a pop-trio Greek chorus to keep us informed of the antics and personal history of their friends and neighbors. Through a series of original songs in the style of '80s rock, country pop, R&B and rockabilly, with a plot to rival anything worthy of a daytime Emmy, these women and their fellow neighbors will entertain and shock you!