A Hipp Half-Century

http://www.hipp50.com/

A theatre company is sort of like a band, say the Beatles or the Stones. Most bands break up after a while, the Stones being an anomaly. The Hippodrome Theatre is more than an anomaly; it’s unique. A theatre company that transformed itself into a theatre, a cultural icon, and a living testament to creativity and dedication. Now Richard Gartee tells the story of the Hipp’s 50-year journey, from one century to the next, to a proud place in American theatre history, with his book The Hippodrome Theatre: First 50 Years.

From its humble beginnings on the Hawthorne Road to its stately magnificence in the heart of downtown Gainesville, the Hipp has survived against all odds, and Gartee charts it, year by year, production by production, citing reviews, talking to the players and directors and designers, tracking the action onstage and off.

You’ll meet The Six, the intrepid band of University of Florida kids, Gregory and Mary Hausch, Marilyn Wall, Orin Wechsberg, Bruce Cornwell, and Kerry McKenney, who thought it might be fun to start a theatre here, and then found out it could be more than fun; it could be a place where dreams could come alive far into the future.

You watch the theatre grow from a tight-knit ensemble to a burgeoning enterprise, conducting auditions in New York, importing talent from all over the country, premiering plays, hosting playwrights. It’s show business, with profit and loss calling the shots. This is where the creativity offstage comes in. Managing to stay afloat for half a century in a world where even Toys R Us couldn’t last, takes some fancy financial footwork. Gartee accounts for it, keeping track of ticket sales, capricious arts grants, generous donations, all with the sword of bankruptcy dangling by a thread overhead.

The pivotal moment occurs when the Hipp miraculously scores a home in the federal building, the old Post Office, in the heart of downtown Gainesville, in 1981, eight seasons after starting out, first on the Hawthorne Road, then in a warehouse on 441.

It’s a history of Gainesville as well. The city becomes an audience, and then pledges its support where it counts most, at the box office and as subscribers.

We watch the critics and reviewers encounter the plays and players, and see their appreciation and judgments evolve over time. At first the plays must prove themselves worthy of the critics. However, as the Hipp’s reputation grows, and its cache of talent expands, the critics must prove themselves worthy of the art they critique.

Meticulously researched and documented, the numerous footnotes fasten the narrative to both the chronology and the sources, without being obtrusive. It’s a wonderful yearbook of a class that’s always graduating, with stars arriving and departing. It begins to take on the arch of life, as we witness the passing of some of its most revered and vital players and artists, Michael Doyle,  Marilyn Wall, Orin Wechsberg ,and Rusty Salling.

It’s also a story without an ending, because the Hipp is seen blazing its path into the future, with Gartee following its flight up to the moment of publication by including info on the Hipp’s 2023 summer musical The Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder.

(Photo by Allison Durham)