After over a year of closure, the Hopewell Theater has set an opening date of Sept. 7.
That date marks the anniversary of the theater’s first opening four years ago in 2017, said Sara Scully, executive director and co-founder, in a statement released to the public.
“To celebrate our anniversary and our reemergence from the long pandemic shutdown, we will hold a special event performance that week – headliner to be announced – for our dedicated members, press and special local guests,” she announced.
“On Sept. 15, the selectively eclectic programming our patrons have come to expect at Hopewell Theater will resume. Get ready for an array of live music, live performance, comedy shows, and film screenings to go on sale in the coming month for the fall season.”
Scully said more than 200 comments were received for the reopening survey “letting us know how much you value our theater and in-person live shows. Knowing that kept us going,” she said in the statement.
Hopewell Theater joined the New Jersey Independent Venue Association last year in hopes of securing necessary funding for local theaters.
“We also want to thank you for helping us advocate for and spread awareness of the plight of shuttered indie venues during our campaign for federal and state venue relief funds. Not all venues made it through to the other side, but your loyalty is one of the reasons why Hopewell Theater and many other venues can return this fall – the government heard your support for venues and answered with relief dollars,” she said in the statement.
“The pandemic affected the entire world as we once knew it, from billions of individuals to the whole of society itself. The decline of performing arts during the pandemic was not just a loss to the economy and community, but to the cultural nourishment of each and every one of us. It showed us how much we need each other and need to be together, in person, over creative entertainment.
“The reopening of the state is a boon for the arts industry, the communities tied together by their local performing arts centers, and the people who have come to miss the unforgettable experiences theaters provide. With the state reopening and the promised but not-yet-delivered state and federal venue relief grants, our theaters will fully recover, together,” Scully said in the statement.
