By Andrew Martins, Managing Editor
More than three decades of community theater will come to an end for a number of local thespians and enthusiasts in Hopewell, as the Off-Broadstreet group gets set to take its final bow at the turn of the new year.
Following the final performance of “Altar Boyz,” the group will have 30 days to vacate the playhouse located on South Greenwood Avenue.
“I’m disappointed,” D&R Greenway President and CEO Linda Mead said as she stood outside the venue. “I’m really excited about going to their New Years Eve performance and I was looking forward to going to more in the future.”
Like Ms. Mead, fans of the local theater were recently shocked to learn of the group’s plans to hang it up after becoming a cultural fixture in the Hopewell Valley area.
For Bob Thick, who had been helping to put on “dessert theater” productions ranging from comedy to dramas to musicals with his wife Julie, the decision to close up shop was a shock as well, as a massive rent hike forced the couple’s hand.
Starting in 2017, the playhouse’s monthly rent will increase from $2,000 to $7,500, representing an approximately 375 percent increase.
“We’re priced out,” Mr. Thick said.
According to the building’s owner, Jon McConaughey, the rent hikes came as a direct result of the more than $1 million in renovations that took place shortly after he purchased the venue from the Thicks in 2012.
At the time, the businessman said he had been looking for somewhere to house a creamery to support the McConaugheys’ other business ventures, like the Brick Farm Market and Brick Farm Tavern, but decided keep the location as a “cultural center” for Hopewell.
“As we started to think about it later, with the restaurant and market up and going, that the building would be a great place to have dinner and theater or dinner and live music and have it be a local arts center,” Mr. McConaughy said. “[The location] can tap into the wealth of culture that we have in the area.”
Though the Thicks sold the property, they were allowed to continue running their theatre productions out of the venue.
For the first two years following the completion of the renovations, Mr. McConaughey said the monthly rent for the approximately 6,000 square-foot building was set at $1,600. The rent then went up to $2,000 a month.
Both Mr. McConaughey and Mr. Thick said the rent increases were expected, as the venue was going to include other live events, such as concerts, movies and TED Talks throughout the week to generate more income.
“It made sense to just continue (the Off Broadstreet Theatre productions) for a few years until we could determine how we could incorporate some of that other stuff into the program,” Mr. McConaughy said.
As the years went on, however, Mr. McConaughey said those events never transpired.
“(The Thicks) had known that in order to get to that $7,500 a month level, that there was going to have to be something other than plays three nights a week,” Mr. McConaughey said. “I think that was something that they never got to the point (of doing).”
Though the venue stayed “dormant” for most of the time, Mr. Thick said he and his wife were on board with Mr. McConaughey’s vision for the theater. Getting the events lined up, however, proved to be a time-consuming effort.
“I agreed with (the plans to ad new events,)” Mr. Thick said. “But it’s not something that happens overnight.”
Mr. Thick also added that he and his wife were under the impression that the rent increase would be gradual and not be “huge increase all of a sudden.”
He also said that he and Mrs. Thick were planning a new series of shows with the hope that a new arrangement would be made.
“We had two letters ready to go out,” Mr. Thick said. “One was going to be a cessation of activity and the other was going to be a new series.”
With the Off-Broadstreet Theater productions coming to an end, Mr. McConaughey said he and his business partners Liza Morehouse and Mitchel Skolnick have begun planning out the venue’s future.
Along with movies one night a week, live music two nights a week and then a variety of other events as they come available, Mr. McConaughey said a new theater production group will be started, with events beginning by March at the earliest following additional renovations.
“There’s a shortage in the area of spaces that are big enough to accommodate a crowd that wants to see some of those cultural events but small enough that it can pay for itself,” he said.
For example, McCarter Theatre in Princeton can seat more than 1,000 people, while the Hopewell Theater House can seat 240 seated, but standing room capacity is approximately 500 people.
To that end, Mr. McConaughey said he plans on taking the Thicks’ dessert theater approach and adopting it to provide a wider dining experience provided by local restaurants during events.
“In terms of really supporting local business, it would not only be the acts that are playing, but the food and drinks that are served,” Mr. McConaughey said.
Though the future for the South Greenwood Avenue location looks like it could see more activity in the coming years, Mr. Thick said that he and his wife have already begun thinking of what comes next for Off-Broadstreet.
One potential outcome, he said, could be finding a new venue for their productions, though he admits the chances of them returning to the Hopewell area would be slim.
“We’re working at that,” he said. “It’s a lot of planning that has to take place and we’re not going to rush it.”
In the end, Mr. Thick added that he and his wife have enjoyed their 33 years presenting shows in Hopewell.
If things don’t pan out for the Thicks, Mr. McConaughey said there was always a chance for an Off-Broadstreet return.
“The theater has always been something that’s a great part of the community and Off Broadstreet has been a great part of the community,” Mr. McConaughey said. “I hope we can find a way to have the two of those continue to work together, even as we add other events into the mix.”
Anthony Stoeckert contributed to this story.
