(upbeat music) - We're pleased to welcome Mark Hoebee, who's Producing Artistic Director at the Paper Mill Playhouse in beautiful Millburn, New Jersey.

Good to see you, Mark.

- Thanks for having me, great to see you too.

- You got it.

This is part of our series called "The Arts Connection."

We feature, particularly not-for-profit organizations engaged in the arts, so important.

As we put up the website, tell everyone what the Paper Mill Playhouse is.

- Well, it is one of the largest producing musical theaters actually in the country, which means that the art you see on our stage is actually created by artists we bring in specifically for our audiences.

Some of them, the shows that are created, go on to have a life beyond us, but really, the focus is serving the community of Millburn and the surrounding areas, both through our main stage attractions and our education and outreach programs.

- How do you wind up in this role and what's your connection to the arts?

- Okay, well, it was a circuitous route for me to get here.

I actually started out a long time ago as a gymnast and then made my way to being a dancer.

I was a dancer on Broadway for many years.

Did a lot of shows, worked with Jerome Robbins, Bob Fosse, Julie Andrews in "Victor/Victoria," and eventually transitioned into becoming a director and a choreographer.

And I worked, I was hired by Paper Mill to direct shows, and then they were looking for an addition in the artistic department to their team.

They invited me in as an associate, and eventually, I made my way to the role I have now, which is Producing Artistic Director.

- That's awesome.

Mark, let me ask you, 'cause we're gonna talk about "The Great Gatsby."

We're taping this in late January.

"Great Gatsby" coming to Paper Mill in March, if I'm not mistaken, correct?

- Well, actually no.

"Great Gatsby" was with us in the fall, and it's moving to Broadway in spring.

- It's moving to Broadway in March.

- Yeah, it will open in March.

- Explain that to us.

Do plays often go to Paper Mill and what happens on the way to Broadway?

Is that the plan for most?

- Yes, actually, Paper Mill is one of the regional theater, is one of an esteemed group of regional theaters that has become an incubator, a host, for brand new musicals.

So producers, writers, creative teams, bring a brand new product that has never been seen before to do a tryout on our stage in front of our audience, which is great for us.

We love having that material.

"Great Gatsby" is one of them, and then the commercial producer has a longer range goal of getting the show into New York on Broadway.

If it's successful, launching national tours, maybe international productions, so it's a collaboration between the regional theater and the commercial producer.

- Mark, "Great Gatsby" sold out at the Paper Mill, right?

- Yes, it was the highest grossing show ever to play at Paper Mill Playhouse.

It was sold out essentially before our first preview performance, except for house seats, and that was the strength of the title.

"The Great Gatsby" had just come into the public domain, so there are a couple of different productions using that source material, but we had a crack creative team director and a high profile cast, led by Jeremy Jordan and Eva Noblezada, so we had a great success with it.

- Mark, you know, as we are into 2024, 4 years into COVID, how did Paper Mill survive, much less be in a position to thrive through COVID?

- Well, I'll tell you, Paper Mill made it through COVID only because of the generosity of our subscribers, donors, and the community.

We all had to shut down.

We were closed for two years essentially, but we did some online digital programming, and then we've slowly been making our way back.

We're still bearing the weight of those non-productive years, carrying deficits, and trying to erase those, working really hard.

We've had success in the last two years with our programming, and obviously, this year with the "Great Gatsby" and "Fiddler," which just closed, which was a highly popular production.

We've made back some ground, but we're still carrying debt and deficit, and it'll be a couple of years before we can expect balanced budgets again.

So we're really reliant on our donors and our subscribers and the people of the community, who support us.

- The other thing that these dollars, these corporate foundation dollars, philanthropic dollars, people who are individual donors, supports would be the Paper Mills educational programming.

Talk about that, please.

- Well, Paper Mill has a huge educational footprint in the state of New Jersey, one that I wasn't even fully aware of until I started working here.

Our programs reach between 35 and 40,000 students across the entire state, usually in at least 19 of the 21 counties, and they span from Early Access to Arts programs to putting programs into schools that have underserved or underserved communities or under resourced communities for arts education.

We have a professional training program in the summer that spawned talent, like Academy Award winner Anne Hathaway and Tony Winters, Laura Benanti, and Nikki James, and we have classes for adults and anyone of any age or any talent that just wants to be introduced to the arts.

But what I'm most proud of is our Access programs.

Paper Mill was the first theater in the country to offer a comprehensive autism friendly performance, and that has been copied by many theaters, and we offer those resources even to theaters in New York City.

And we have Access programs, we provide the opportunity for people with any disability, whether it be physical, cognitive, hearing impaired, site impaired to come enjoy a performance with a support, so they can overcome whatever they face in their daily lives.

- Mark, do us a favor, a minute left.

Go back to the, you're talking about support, you're talking about access.

What is the difference, in terms of someone who is there to see a play, who is on the, if you will, the autism spectrum, how's it different?

How's the performance different?

- When we have our autism friendly performances, we make adjustments so that the families and those people with autism can enjoy the production without any judgment.

So, the lights stay up in the auditorium, we adjust the sound.

We have a full compliment of staff that's there to guide both the families and those people with autism.

They can speak out, they can move around.

There's a breakout area.

It's all so that the people attending can enjoy the experience and be supported in as many ways as possible without any kind of judgment, for lack of a better word.

They can just enjoy the whole experience.

- Mark Hoebee is Producing Artistic Director at a great place, a great arts organization, iconic arts organization, Paper Mill Playhouse.

For those of us who live in Northern New Jersey, we know it well.

It's right in Millburn, downtown Millburn.

Check it out, the Paper Mill Playhouse.

Thank you, Mark, we appreciate it.

- Thank you so much, Steve.

- You got it, stay with us, we'll be right back.

- [Narrator] One-On-One with Steve Adubato has been a production of the Caucus Educational Corporation.

Celebrating 30 years in public broadcasting.

Funding has been provided by The North Ward Center.

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And by the Adler Aphasia Center.

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And most recently Hope House, a permanent home for adults with autism, supporting and nurturing our autism community with Hope House 2 coming soon.

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