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12 THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT
Mark S. Hoebee
Paper Mill Playhouse producer continues to champion the power of theater
WRITTEN BY KAITLYN KANZLER
Mark Hoebee,
the Paper Mill
Playhouse’s producing
artistic
director, dreamed
as achild of being
an Olympic gymnast who would
travel across the world, compete
internationally and perform great
feats ofphysical strength.
He was sidelined by atorn ligament
during his freshman year of high
school, but the setback positioned him
to realize his life’s true passion —theater.
Hecurrently lives in Glen Ridge
with his partner, Larry Elardo, broadcast
coordinating producer for the
CBS Evening News and CBS Sunday
Morning, and their two children.
Here are 12 things to know about
Mark S. Hoebee, and how the Paper
Mill Playhouse is coping during the
coronavirus pandemic.
AND THE AWARD GOES TO The Paper Mill
Playhouse’s Producing Artistic Director, Mark
S. Hoebee (right) and Managing Director, Todd
Schmidt, proudly display their 2016 Tony Award
for Best Regional Theater.
HE SEGUED EASILYFROM
GYMNASTICS TO PERFORMANCE.
Hoebee, who grew up in Freehold
Township, says he took up theater as
a hobby after his injury. “I realized
quickly, through my flexibility and
agility, that dance came very
naturally to me,” he says.
Following his graduation from
Freehold Borough High School,
Hoebee studied acting and dance at
Northwestern University, and pursued
a career as a performer. He spent
10 years dancing on Broadway and
with national tours, working with
acclaimed choreographers like Bob
Fosse and Jerome Robbins.
He was later the youngest graduate
to be inducted into the Freehold
Borough High School’s Alumni Hall of
Fame, and his photo hangs alongside
Bruce Springsteen’s.
HIS PRODUCTION OF DREAM GIRLS
LED TO AJOB AT THEPAPER MILL
PLAYHOUSE. As Hoebee performed
and danced in shows, he says his
career naturally began to evolve over
time, first as a choreographer and
then as a director in Chicago, where
he lived and worked for many years.
Producers at the Paper Mill Playhouse
saw his production of Dream Girls at
The Marriott Theater in Lincolnshire,
Illinois.
“They invited me to Paper Mill
with my collaborator Kenny Ingram
to direct a production on their stage,”
Hoebee says. “And that’s what
launched my career as a director and
choreographer in the New York area
and nationally.”
After directing a few national tours,
Hoebee and Elardo started their family,
adopting a son. Hoebee wanted
to stop jumping around the country
and had been interviewing to be an
associate chair at Northwestern, but
he also received an offer to join the
artistic staff at Paper Mill. He became
Paper Mill’s associate director in 2000
and rose through their ranks. He has
served as the playhouse’s producing
artistic director for the past 10 years.
THE PAPER MILL WAS IN FINANCIAL
TROUBLE WHEN HOEBEE TOOK OVER.
The 2008 financial crisis struck right
before Hoebee “took the reins of the
organization,” he says. The Paper Mill
Playhouse was $4 million in debt, only
had about $6,000 in the bank and had
lost its subscription base.
“A group of board members and
townspeople rallied and came to an
incredible deal with the township of
Millburn to save the organization,”
Hoebee says.
HOEBEE HELPED PAPER MILL BOUNCE
BACK. The theater was built back up
—starting with Hoebee’s production
of Happy Days: A New Musical
— and has presented four shows
that moved to Broadway, including
A Bronx Tale and Bandstand. The
playhouse has worked with British
theatrical producer Cameron
COURTESY OF THE PAPER MILL PLAYHOUSE
32 BACK TOSCHOOL 2020 MONTCLAIR MAGAZINE