2009-2010
Up
September 4th - September 27th
Written By: Bridget Carpenter
Directed By: Lauren Caldwell
"If superb acting is what you appreciate in theatre, then you will find it in abundance in this marvelous production." --Dick Kerekes, EntertainingU.com
"The balance between the different threads of the story is maintained to the end allowing the actors to shine and carry the audience up with them." --Dick Maxwell, Gainesville Sun
"It's about real life, and that's why I like it." --Margaret Greco, Alligator
The expression "What goes up must come down" is the perfect motto for Walter Griffin, who once tied a bunch of weather balloons to a Sears lawn chair and soared 16,000 feet into the sky.
After his ground-breaking flight, his life will never be the same. But since then, he has not been able to live up to the great expectations he once had for bigger and better achievements in aviation. Walter is a dreamer, living in a competitive society where money and fame are often the measure of success.
Yet Walter is grounded by the increasing pressure from his wife to please just get a job. Instead, Walter chooses instead to make one final gamble. Meanwhile, his son Mikey is in high school and is more aware than ever that his father is probably not ever going to support the family in the way that a "normal" dad would. Looking elsewhere, the teenager befriends a pregnant classmate and her aunt, which leads him down an new, exciting, and risky path. UP is a quirky, funny and bittersweet story that launches the Hippodrome's 37th season into the stratosphere.
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Mindgame
October 16th - November 8th
Written By: Anthony Horowitz
Directed By: Lauren Caldwell
"A truly gripping thriller [that] keeps you guessing and marveling from its deceptively normal opening to its fearful climax." -- The Stage
"Mindgame has a little of everything, sex, horror, laughs, special effects, good acting and thrills, so what more could you ask for?" --Dick Kerekes, EntertainingU.com
"Serves up enough twists and turns, highs and lows, to rival the world’s largest roller coaster." --Sherwin Mackintosh, Gainesville Sun
True Crime writer Mark Styler is looking for his next subject. After "monster" success with his books, he turns to Fairfields Institute for the Criminally Insane to obtain access to one of its notorious patients - a serial killer known as Easterman.
It's coming up on the 30th anniversary of Easterman's arrest, and there's huge interest in the story. If Styler can just get past the strange behavior and reluctance of Dr. Farquhar, head of the asylum, he'd be off and running to the next leap in his career. But will he get the interview with Easterman and will it be what he expected?
Soon, nothing can be trusted, not even Styler's own eyes. Through a series of lies, manipulations and memories, dark secrets are revealed and questions keep surfacing.
Be careful what you wish for, Mr. Styler! And be ready to sleep with the lights on, audience!
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A Tuna Christmas
November 27th - December 20th
Created 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 28-December 20.
If you're looking for an alternative to the classic holiday story, A Tuna Christmas may be all you need as a unique gift for a friend or family member. 2009 will mark the play's 10th appearance at the Hippodrome, due to overwhelmingly popular demand!
Those wacky characters from Tuna, Texas have once again entered the heated Yuletide lawn display contest. Socialite Vera Carp hopes to win another consecutive victory, but she faces stiff competition from the crusty proprietor of Didi's Used Weapons and from a pair of cowboy-loving Tastee Creme waitresses. Don't miss tour-de-force performances for two actors in multiple roles!
A Christmas Carol
November 28th - December 20th
Written by: Charles Dickens
Adapted By: Mary Hausch
Directed by: Sara Morsey
"Nothing short of entertaining" - The Independent Florida Alligator.
A Hipp Holiday Humbug --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 28-December 20.
For 31 years (almost as old as the Hippodrome itself) A Christmas Carol has delivered the heartfelt themes of love and redemption. This 32nd production promises to do the same. Join Scrooge, Marley, the Cratchits and a host of Christmas ghosts for this holiday favorite and a Hippodrome tradition.
"...[Rusty Salling] is the quintessential Ebenezer Scrooge… What would the holiday season be without the Hippodrome's production of A Christmas Carol…flashing lights, ominous sounds and holiday music, not to mention a spry ghost flying high above the heads of the audience" -The Gainesville Sun.
Dead Man's Cell Phone
January 8th - January 31st
Written By: Sarah Ruhl
Directed By: Lauren Caldwell
“Mesmerizing ... a beautiful production that moves on every level.” --Arline Greer, Gainesville Sun
"Clever and funny ... unusual and truly interesting theatre experience." --Dick Kerekes, EntertainingU.com
Jean, a mild-mannered museum worker, is sitting peacefully in a café when a cell phone rings... and rings... and rings. When she discovers the phone's owner (Gordon) is dead, she does something extraordinary: she answers the call! Soon, she finds herself at Gordon's funeral and enmeshed in the lives of his eccentric family. By holding the torch of his memory alive for loved ones, - and holding onto his phone - Jean is soon burdened with the task of creating "confabulations" for Gordon. But how long can she keep up with these loving (yet comical) fabrications? And how many calls is she willing to take?
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Defiance
February 26th - March 21st
Written By: John Patrick Shanley
Directed By: Mary Hausch
"Defiance is a moving piece of theater that engages the audience from start to finish, commands our attention and wages a successful campaign for our hearts and minds." --Dick Maxwell, Gainesville Sun
"David Sitler is excellent ... Ryan George is fabulous ... Matthew Lindsay is a terrific actor. Want to see superb acting and direction (by Mary Hausch)? Seeing a play at the Hippodrome is like living it." --Dick Kerekes, EntertainingU.com
John Patrick Shanley, the author of 2005 Pulitzer and Tony-winner Doubt has written a stunning new play intertwining ethical dilemmas about race, sexual fidelity and the cost of doing the right thing. On a North Carolina marine base in 1971, a young black Captain is promoted in order to ease the camp’s growing racial tensions. Soon, Captain and his superior officer are caught in a riveting web of moral issues that set the stage on fire. Shanley has crafted another timely play exploring issues of power and morality within a hallowed institution. Defiance is a gripping drama that pushes viewers to the edge of their seats and keeps them thinking long after the show is over.
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Around the World in 80 Days
April 16th - May 9th
Written by: Jules Verne
Adapted by: Mark Brown
Directed by: Lauren Caldwell
"The Hipp's new production is magical in the sense that this is a totally original, smart and ingenious production. And it inspires one final word: Go." - Sherwin Mackintosh, Gainesville Sun
Hold onto your seats for the original amazing race when the Hippodrome Theatre takes you through Jules Verne's classic tale of Danger, Romance and Comic surprises in this stage adaptation of one of the great advertures of all time! A fun-filled adventure for the entire family!
It's England 1872 and Phileas Fogg is the most exact of men. He conducts his days on a most precise of schedules and spends his evenings at the local Reform Club. A well traveled gentleman of substantial means, Fogg agrees to an outrageous wager that puts his fortune at risk. With his loyal French manservant, Passepartout, by his side, Fogg sets off to circumnavigate the globe in a mere 80 days.
Along the way, he encounters an ever-increasing entourage of hilarious characters. To complicate matters, the bumbling, inept lawman, Detective Fix, has mistaken Fogg for a notorious bank robber and tenaciously shadows Fogg's movements around the globe. The tension builds as danger, romance and surprises abound in this whirlwind adventure across continents.
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Shear Madness
June 4th - August 1st
Written by: Paul Portner
Directed by: Mary Hausch
"Hipp's Shear Madness an evening of comedic pleasure. The theatre was packed the night I saw the show and everyone was having a wonderful time." --Dick Maxwell, Gainesville Sun
"A comedic whodunit that is as entertaining and flamboyant as it sounds." --Britt Perkins, Independent Florida Alligator
Living above the Shear Madness hair salon can be murder. It is for concert pianist Isabel Czerny. But the question remains, “whodunit?” Was it her friend, Barbara DeMarco, the hairstylist extraordinaire? Was it Tony Whitcomb, the salon’s irrepressible proprietor? What about Eddie Lawrence, the charming mystery man? It certainly couldn’t be Mrs. Shubert, the town’s prim and proper socialite. Or could it? You decide.
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