SING IT LOUD The Paper Mill
Playhouse’s Broadway Show
Choir on stage.
employees and patrons, too. Hoebee
says the theater and unions are working
on protocols for actors, musicians
and crew members, but do not have
enough medical information at present
to move forward. “We’re all in a
holding pattern,” he says.
COURTESY OF THE PAPER MILL PLAYHOUSE
Mackintosh and has hosted a number
of national tours. In 2016, it received
The Regional Theatre Tony Award.
LIKE BROADWAY,HE SAYS, PAPER
MILL IS SUFFERING BECAUSE OF
THE PANDEMIC. Hoebee says Paper
Mill shut down on March 13 and
canceled the last two shows they
had in the season’s line-up — The
Wanderer, which was moved to the
2021 season, and Sister Act. “We lost
about $4 million in ticket income,
and we had to cancel our gala and
furlough 30 percent of our staff,”
Hoebee says. “We’re all playing the
waiting game.”
IT’S NOT EASY TO TELEVISE THEATER
PRODUCTIONS,HESAYS. “Theater
does not easily translate to the digital
screen,” he says. “It’s not made
for that. Many of my colleagues
and institutions regionally and on
Broadway aren’t prepared to make that
jump, and there are people who do it
better than we do. They’re called film
and TV people.”
HE SAYS SOCIAL DISTANCING MAKES
PUTTING PRODUCTIONS TOGETHER
DIFFICULT. Hoebee says plans have
been made for the upcoming season,
scheduled at present to open in
October, but that this is looking
unlikely. Productions have been put on
hold because they can’t happen under
social distancing guidelines. “One of
two things has to happen,” Hoebee
says. “We have to alter our producing
selections, or the guidelines have to
ease to allow us to bring audiences
back into the theater.”
HE SAYS THAT SOME ASPECTSOF
HIS THEATER ARE THRIVING. While
most of Paper Mill’s operations
are suspended, they have had
great success in transferring their
education programs and the summer
conservatory program online. “It’s
doing very well,” Hoebee says. The
theater’s restaurant, F.M. Kirby
Carriage House Restaurant, has
also reopened for outdoor dining.
Entertainment has been added on
Thursdays and Saturdays, which
Hoebee says gives the restaurant a
caberet-style atmosphere.
HOEBEE HELPS HOST A PODCAST.
Paper Mill started three online
series, one of which Hoebee hosts.
All of the content is streamed on
the theater’s Facebook page and
YouTube channel. On Mondays, there
are archival performances of their
New Voices concerts featuring Paper
Mill’s young students; Thursdays
feature replays from the theater’s
Humanity series of the 1980s and
1990. Hoebee hosts “Babbling by the
Brook” on Wednesdays, for which he
interviews Paper Mill Playhouse artists,
including directors, choreographers
and performers. He says he recently
interviewed Ali Stroker, a Ridgewood
resident who was the first actor
in awheelchair to win aTony
for her performance in Rogers &
Hammerstein’s Oklahoma.
HOEBEE SAYS A SAFETY PLAN IS
BEING DEVELOPED. A safety plan is
already in place for the restaurant,
requiring diners and staff to wear
masks; their temperatures need to be
taken, and only one person is allowed
in the bathroom, which is cleaned
after every use, at atime.
The Paper Mill is working on creating
a“very robust safety plan” for its
HE IS CONCERNED ABOUT THE
LONGTERM SURVIVAL OF ARTS
ORGANIZATIONS. Hoebee fears for
the survival of not only the Paper Mill
Playhouse, but other organizations
like it. Broadway has provided
ticket refunds for up until January,
but Hoebee says that doesn’t mean
productions will start again, as
everything depends on the country’s
“health situation.”
“Live performances could be
delayed until January, they could be
delayed until April, they could be
delayed until the fall of 2021,” Hoebee
says. “That’s a real possibility which
makes surviving that time for an arts
organization nearly impossible.”
Paper Mill heavily relies on income
earned through box office sales in
addition to grants from foundations
and corporations, and individual giving.
But much of it is centered around
its programming, and education
programs within schools and at the
playhouse.
HE PRAISES PAPER MILL SUPPORTERS.
While the pandemic is longlasting,
“We’ve been so impressed
by the generosity of the Paper Mill
family,” Hoebee says. He says many
people have continued to donate
to the organization or have offered
consulting services to help them
design a plan to move forward, even
while facing hardships themselves.
Hoebee says it would be all too easy
for donors to stop providing financial
support to institutions like the Paper
Mill Playhouse.
“We are an organization that serves
the public,” he says. “We bring entertainment
and arts education to the
community, and they value what we
do. They are stepping up to say ‘We
want to help you get through.’ That’s
been incredibly moving and impressive
to me.” ■
MONTCLAIR MAGAZINE BACK TO SCHOOL 2020
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