(HOPEWELL, NJ) -- Hopewell Theater has set up an exciting lineup of family-friendly films and special performances for the summer. Family Fun concerts, Saturday Afternoon Cartoons, and educational stage productions offer entertainment for all ages to enjoy. Experience classic and new kid-friendly films on the big screen with Family Matinees and sensory-friendly Crybaby Matinees for parents or guardians with infants and toddlers. 1st through 7th graders can register for the HT Summer Stars theatre camp in July to experience fun and hands-on theater arts activities. Traveling Lantern Theatre Company, Grammy winner Steve Pullara, and Bee Parks and the Hornets are among the special family live programs for children and their parents coming to Hopewell Theater.
Family-friendly programs coming to Hopewell Theater this summer include the following (click on the link to purchase tickets):
Saturday Afternoon Cartoons: Bugs Bunny and Friends - Saturday, June 8, 2:30pm. It's "wabbit" season! Reunite with Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd, Porky Pig, Tweety Bird, Sylvester, Daffy Duck and all the Looney tunes gang in an animated assortment of hits that have tickled the funny bones of cartoon lovers for generations. There's something for everyone in this screening of Looney tunes classics that helped contribute to 90 years of Warner Bros. cartoon magic. Cartoons included in this screening are: RABBIT OF SEVILLE, DUCK DODGERS IN THE 24½th CENTURY, ONE FROGGY EVENING, DUCK AMUCK, WHAT'S OPERA, DOC?, and FEED THE KITTY.
Father's Day Brunch Club: To Kill A Mockingbird - Sunday, June 16, 11:00am. Join Hopewell Theater for a delicious and entertaining Father's Day brunch with a screening of TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD. Enjoy a sumptuous buffet with an array of delectable food items before a screening of this award-winning classic! A film only ticket is available. To purchase, select mezzanine seats or call our box office at 609-466-1964 for assistance. The menu for the Sunday, June 16 brunch is to be announced. Doors open at 10:30 am, brunch is served at 11 am, and the film will begin at 11:45 am.
Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize-winning autobiographical novel was translated to film in 1962 by Horton Foote and the producer/director team of Robert Mulligan and Alan J. Pakula. Set in a small Alabama town in the 1930s, the story focuses on scrupulously honest, highly respected lawyer Atticus Finch. Finch puts his career on the line when he agrees to represent Tom Robinson, a black man accused of rape. The trial and the events surrounding it are seen through the eyes of Finch's six-year-old daughter Scout. While Robinson's trial gives the film its momentum, there are plenty of anecdotal occurrences before and after the court date: Scout's ever-strengthening bond with older brother Jem, her friendship with precocious young Dill Harris, her father's no-nonsense reactions to such life-and-death crises as a rampaging mad dog, and especially Scout's reactions to, and relationship with, Boo Radley, the reclusive "village idiot" who turns out to be her salvation when she is attacked by a venomous bigot.
The Red Balloon & White Mane - Family Matinee on Saturday, June 22 at 4:30pm, Crybaby Matinee on Thursday, June 20 at 11:00am. Albert Lamorisse’s exquisite The Red Balloon remains one of the most beloved children's films of all time. In this deceptively simple, nearly wordless tale, a young boy discovers a stray balloon, which seems to have a mind of its own, on the streets of Paris. The two become inseparable, yet the world’s harsh realities finally interfere. With its glorious palette and allegorical purity, the Academy Award–winning The Red Balloon has enchanted movie lovers, young and old, for generations.
In the south of France, in a vast plain region called the Camargue, lives White Mane, a magnificent stallion and the leader of a herd of wild horses too proud to let themselves be broken by humans. Only Folco, a young fisherman, manages to tame him. A strong friendship grows between the boy and the horse, as the two go looking for the freedom that the world of men won’t allow them. Long unavailable in the U.S., this extraordinarily shot wonder from Albert Lamorisse, the director of The Red Balloon, is a work of technical sophistication and immense natural beauty.
Family Fun Concert: Steve Pullara - Saturday, June 29, 12:00pm. Grammy recipient Steve Pullara brings his popular Cool Beans Music ® to your family! Bring your kids and grand-kids for a rollicking musical time through Steve's 20-plus years of award winning songs. New Jersey born and Philadelphia based, Steve’s musical roots go deep within many cultural traditions. Often, in live performances, he blends a mix of drawing and singing that harken the days of the Gene London and the Sandy Becker TV shows from the 50's & 60's. Put on your dancing shoes for a lively and interactive family concert that your children will remember for a lifetime!
The Phantom Tollbooth - Family Matinee on Saturday, July 6, at 4:30pm, Crybaby Matinee on Thursday, July 11, at 11:00am. A delivery arrives at the home of young Milo (Butch Patrick), and at first the small tollbooth appears to be an ordinary toy. But when Milo steers his miniature car through the booth's gateway, he finds himself in a mysterious fantasy land. In Dictionopolis, Milo and his dog sidekick Tock encounter a city fixated on words, and draw the ire of Officer Short Shrift (Mel Blanc). Milo also treks through Digitopolis and over the Mountains of Ignorance, an adventure that teaches the boy vital lessons.
Summer Stars Theatre Camp - Monday, July 8 through Friday, July 19. Monday through Friday from 1:30pm to 5:00pm. Kids, get ready to take the stage at Hopewell Theater - you are cordially invited to join our Summer Stars theatre camp! Every afternoon will be filled with fun, hands-on theater arts activities exploring character, movement, costuming, and backstage jobs. The program will lead up to and prepare campers for the final big show at the end of camp, the "Showcase" where every camper will have a part, performed at Hopewell Theater. All campers will also have the opportunity to "meet-the-actors" after HT's children's theater production of My Mother, The Astronaut the week of camp (includes two free tickets to the show for camper and parent/guardian).
Camp begins each day at 1:30pm. Late-afternoon snack and supplies will be provided, included in registration cost. Pick up time is between 5:00pm - 5:30pm. Late afternoon snack will be provided in standard and vegetarian options each camp day for every registered camper. All late afternoon snacks will not contain nuts. Camp is appropriate for 1st through 7th graders. There will be an afternoon Summer Stars showcase at 4:30 pm on Friday, July 19.
Ashley Layton will direct the summer camp. Ashley was the Director of Branchburg Township's Creative Theater program for 5 years, working with children ages 6 to 14, after serving as Assistant Director for 5 years. During her tenure running the Creative Theater program, she wrote, directed, designed and stage managed every production. In 2014, she co-founded the non-profit theater company, The Igloo Collective, which focuses on using theater to connect communities and ignite change; she is currently President of the Board of Directors. Ashley received her theater training at The New School. She currently curates the programming at Hopewell Theater, as Program Manager.
Traveling Lantern Theatre Company: My Mother, The Astronaut - Saturday, July 13, 12:00pm. To the moon and beyond! Aquarius' mom is an astronaut and today is "Take your child to work day". Aquarius can't wait to go to NASA and find out what it's like to be in space! They visit Mission Control where she meets scientists and engineers who show her what they do and she learns all about space travel. Her imagination blasts off and she dreams of incredible journeys through the cosmos!
Traveling Lantern Theatre Company has been educating and entertaining children all over the country since 1985. Their mission is to bring great stories to children, to draw them into an interactive theater experience, to excite their minds and to tickle their imaginations. Their plays present important ethical ideas to children on a level that they can absorb, relate to, and consider.
All HT Summer Stars campers will have the opportunity to "meet-the-actors", as well as receive two free tickets to the show for camper and parent/guardian!
Crybaby Matinee: Pink Floyd’s The Wall - Thursday, July 18, 11:00am. Regular Screening at 7:00pm. In this visual riff on Pink Floyd's album "The Wall," successful but drugged-out musician Pink (Bob Geldof) is looking back on his isolated childhood from the confines of a Los Angeles hotel room. Through a swirl of flashbacks and chemical-induced hallucinations, Pink recalls his lonely upbringing, during which he built a symbolic wall to the world as he coped with the death of his father (James Laurenson) and the overbearing ways of his mother (Christine Hargreaves).
Hopewell Theater offers Cry Baby Screenings every Thursday. Babes-in-arms, infants in strollers, and carriers will be let in for free. Otherwise all tickets are $6. These screenings offer a sensory friendly environment: Lights are turned up and sound is turned down. All ages are welcome (including infants). Talking and noise is allowed and guests can move around. Latecomers are admitted
Saturday Afternoon Cartoons: Superman Cartoons Part One - Saturday, July 20, 1:00pm. Crybaby Matinee on Thursday, July 25, at 11:00am. It's a bird…it's a plane...it's Superman cartoons! The Man of Steel first came to the screen in 1941 and there was no turning back. Since then, films, television series and collectables based on the superhero have become a classic part of pop culture. Don't miss out on these original, rare cartoons featuring one of the most beloved characters of all time in his first animated appearance. Part 2 will screen on August 15 and 17.
Family Fun Concert: Bee Parks and The Hornets - Saturday, August 3, 12:00pm. An indie pop-rock band for all insects and ages, Bee Parks and the Hornets perform high-energy concert parties that combine rockin’ music, puppetry and audience participation to inspire young people to get up and move — both with their feet and in their communities. With all-original songs that promote kindness, equality, self-confidence, social justice, environmental awareness and dancing your heart out, Bee Parks and the Hornets take audience members of all ages on a musical adventure that will open up spirits and imaginations.
Back to the Future - Crybaby Matinee on Thursday, August 1, at 11:00am. Family Matinee on Saturday, August 3, at 4:30pm. In this 1980s sci-fi classic, small-town California teen Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) is thrown back into the '50s when an experiment by his eccentric scientist friend Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd) goes awry. Traveling through time in a modified DeLorean car, Marty encounters young versions of his parents (Crispin Glover, Lea Thompson), and must make sure that they fall in love or he'll cease to exist. Even more dauntingly, Marty has to return to his own time and save the life of Doc Brown.
Saturday Afternoon Cartoons: Superman Cartoons Part Two - Saturday, August 17, 1:00pm. Crybaby Matinee on Thursday, August 15, at 11:00am. It's a bird…it's a plane...it's Superman cartoons! The Man of Steel first came to the screen in 1941 and there was no turning back. Since then, films, television series and collectables based on the superhero have become a classic part of pop culture. Don't miss out on these original, rare cartoons featuring one of the most beloved characters of all time in his first animated appearance.
Hopewell Theater is located at 5 South Greenwood Avenue in Hopewell, New Jersey and tickets can be purchased online at www.HopewellTheater.com.
