Hopewell Theater | Performing Arts Theater in Central NJ

Experience movies, live music, talks, and performance in one cool theater. Dine in on local comfort food. Hopewell Theater is a spectacular live venue with State-of-the-art projection, lighting and sound. Theater is available for private events.

Goodbye Summer

For the month of August, say "Goodbye Summer" at concessions and receive a free small popcorn. Limited to one per customer.

Featured Events

View All Events

The Farewell

Opens Friday, August 23! Also showing on August 24, 25, 28, and 29.

In this funny, uplifting tale based on an actual lie, Chinese-born, U.S.-raised Billi (Awkwafina) reluctantly returns to Changchun to find that, although the whole family knows their beloved matriarch, Nai-Nai, has been given mere weeks to live, everyone has decided not to tell Nai Nai herself. To assure her happiness, they gather under the joyful guise of an expedited wedding, uniting family members scattered among new homes abroad. As Billi navigates a minefield of family expectations and proprieties, she finds there’s a lot to celebrate: a chance to rediscover the country she left as a child, her grandmother’s wondrous spirit, and the ties that keep on binding even when so much goes unspoken. With The Farewell, writer/director Lulu Wang has created a heartfelt celebration of both the way we perform family and the way we live it, masterfully interweaving a gently humorous depiction of the good lie in action with a richly moving story of how family can unite and strengthen us, often in spite of ourselves.

Directed by Lulu Wang
Runtime: 98 mins
Rating: PGmore

25^th August 2019 | 4:15 pm

Kusama: Infinity

One Night Only! Tuesday, August 27

Now the top-selling female artist in the world, Yayoi Kusama overcame countless odds to bring her radical artistic vision to the world stage. For decades, her work pushed boundaries that often alienated her from her peers and those in power in the art world. Kusama was an underdog with everything stacked against her-the trauma of growing up in Japan during World War II, life in a dysfunctional family that discouraged her creative ambitions, sexism and racism in the art establishment, mental illness in a culture where that was a particular shame, and eventually growing old and continuing to pursue and be devoted to her art full time. In spite of it all, Kusama has endured and has created a legacy of artwork that spans the disciplines of painting, sculpture, installation art, performance art, poetry, and novels. After working as an artist for over six decades, people around the globe are experiencing her Infinity Mirrored Rooms in record numbers, as Kusama continues to create new work every day.

This film is a part of Hopewell Theater's ongoing series, The Art of Living Well, featuring inspiring films, speakers and interactive discussions exploring ways of cultivating serenity, meaning and a deeper connection to one’s self and the world.

Directed by Heather Lenz.
Runtime: 85 mins.
Rating: NRmore

27^th August 2019 | 7:00 pm

Crybaby Matinee: A Boy Named Charlie Brown

One Day Only! Thursday, August 29th

Charlie Brown and his fellow Peanuts make their feature film debut in this animated comedy that is based on Charles Schultz long-lived cartoon strip. The story centers on a national spelling bee. Lucky Charlie Brown is so excited that he is selected to participate in it, but will he be able to overcome his chronic bad-karma and actually win?

Directed by Bill Melendez
Runtime: 86 mins
Rating: G

--

Hopewell Theater is proud to offer Cry Baby Screenings. 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

29^th August 2019 | 11:00 am

Michael Menes' A Juggler's Travelogue Adventure: Above and Beyond

Friday, September 6

Part performance, part travelogue, ALL AMAZING. An avid juggler and world traveler, Michael Menes has toured the world for over 3 decades as a virtuoso juggler, mime, physical comedian and video geek. With a long and successful career in the cruise industry, Michael has been virtually everywhere and has brought back an astonishing collection of short travelogue films. These video gems become his onstage partners as he weaves a fascinating journey with projections, variety acts, and world class comedy. The show’s finale is his dazzling new OPTICAL JUGGLING ACT.more

06^th September 2019 | 8:00 pm

Danielia Cotton

Saturday, Sepember 7!

Special VIP Meet and Greet ticket upgrade available for $20! Package includes VIP access to soundcheck for and a photo op after soundcheck and before doors. Upgrade your ticket at check out.

Hopewell native Danielia Cotton closes her new record, The Mystery of Me, with a message of resilience. "The dark spots will appear," she sings on the title track. "Just remember, you're still here. "Cotton penned "The Mystery of Me"—a lovely ode to self-acceptance—in just one night. "I sat down and the song came, I was settling into that good place I’m al-right with the fact that there’s a few mysteries to life and to myself. I don’t think I always felt that way, but I do now." The new album's 10 tracks feature an eclectic mix of rock and soul, from the soaring "Set Me Free" to the deeply personal "Drink” and the upbeat "4 Ur Life," which pulls inspiration from classic Motown as well as Sly and the Family Stone, in this we find the Cotton coming to terms with her newfound happiness.The song’s carpe-diem message also makes it a call to arms for the younger generation in our current political climate, she adds. “I just feel like we need that right now. It's saying something that needs to be heard, but not in a way where you're like ‘goddamn.’ It's not throwing it in your face, but it's also like ‘this is it, the moment it changes.’ Right now, what we do now with everything that's going on, it will change everything. It will change how we are here now and possibly the future.”It’s a strikingly optimistic message, one that Cotton’s arrived at after enduring some incredibly difficult times—where she dropped into an abominable low. But The Mystery of Me sees the singer/songwriter rising from the ashes of that tumultuous period and finding a new healthier perspective. "This is sort of the album that's coming up to the other side," she says. "There was an EP released before it that was sort of the beginning of the emergence. I was just coming up for the first bit of air. This is me standing more solidly on the ground...It was just writing in a better headspace, mentally and physically."

Cotton believes The Mystery of Me accomplishes what she only hinted at with previous albums Small White Town and Rare Child, crediting her recent dedication to the piano with taking her to new creative heights.

"It gave me more vocabulary," she says. "And instead of coloring with seven colors, suddenly I had like 19 colors. My vocab expanded and woo, I was off to the races...It just opens up the door and there's a new way to say hello. It's like learning a new language and all of a sudden you can just say things completely different and the inflections are different. It's awesome."

It's telling that after so many years, the Hopewell, N.J. native—who first picked up a guitar at age 12, released her debut album in 2005 and has opened for the likes of Buddy Guy, Derek Trucks and Bon Jovi—is still looking for fresh ways to say hello to audiences. Though she's constantly evolving as an artist, Cotton's quick to point out that she's always managed to remain herself.

"I still stayed true to myself because to me, I had to keep redefining success along the way and decide what it is I truly wanted," she says. "Did I want adoration or did I want a certain level of artistry and acknowledgement from my peers versus fans? And I keep redefining and answering that question over and over again. I believe I’ve stayed true to who I was in the process, so that's a deep thing. I went the long route, but I wouldn't do it any other way. My first entertainment lawyer, Jaimie Roberts, always said 'if it comes quick, it doesn’t last.' If it’s a slow build, you’ll get there and you are much more likely to have longevity."

She's still here, and she's got no plans to leave.more

07^th September 2019 | 8:00 pm

Classic Cinema Sunday: His Girl Friday

One Day Only! Sunday, September 8th

One of the fastest, funniest, and most quotable films ever made, His Girl Friday stars Rosalind Russell as reporter Hildy Johnson, a standout among cinema’s powerful women. Hildy is matched in force only by her conniving but charismatic editor and ex-husband, Walter Burns (played by the peerless Cary Grant), who dangles the chance for her to scoop her fellow news writers with the story of an impending execution in order to keep her from hopping the train that’s supposed to take her to Albany and a new life as a housewife. When adapting Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur’s smash hit play The Front Page, director Howard Hawks had the inspired idea of turning star reporter Hildy Johnson into a woman, and the result is an immortal mix of hard-boiled newsroom setting with ebullient remarriage comedy.

Directed by Howard Hawks
Runtime: 92 mins
Rating: NRmore

08^th September 2019 | 4:30 pm

Art & Mind

One Night Only! Tuesday, September 10

Art & Mind explores the relationship between art and madness. The theme of madness inspired some of the most incredible painters in history, but mad people often experienced an unstoppable urge to create art too. Art & Mind also investigates how visionary and avant-garde artists sought to explore their unconscious mind as an inspiration for their art.

The theme of madness inspired artists since the Middle-Ages to create truly magnificent paintings: the “Stone of Madness” by Hieronymus Bosch and the Flemish Masters, the apocalyptic visions of Pieter Bruegel, compelling depictions of asylums by Goya and countless portraits of madness including Edvard Munch’s The Scream and Vincent Van Gogh’s Self Portrait with Bandaged Ear.

Art & Mind traces the advances in the understanding of the human mind and its influences on art. The emergence of the unconscious inspired Romantic artists to explore the hidden realms of dreams and visions in their art. Emerging psychology theories of Sigmund Freud and his contemporaries later became a major source of inspiration for the Surrealists.

The border between visionary creation and madness is sometimes tenuous, and many artists experienced bouts of madness. Van Gogh cut his own ear while confined in a psychiatric hospital, William Blake had conversations with dead poets, Goya was hearing voices and Munch was convinced of being condemned into madness since birth. The Surrealists Leonora Carrington, Unica Zürn and Antonin Artaud also spent time confined in asylums and captured their experiences of madness in their art.

Stories of outsider artists are just as inspiring, ranging from the 45-volumes magnum opus of Adolf Wölfli to the compelling portraits of schizophrenia by Bryan Charnley. Art & Mind unveils the history of Art Brut, from its foundations in the dark corners of Victorian asylums to being exhibited in the world’s finest galleries, museums and private collections.

This film is a part of Hopewell Theater's ongoing series, The Art of Living Well, featuring inspiring films, speakers and interactive discussions exploring ways of cultivating serenity, meaning and a deeper connection to one’s self and the world.

Directed by Amélie Ravalec
Runtime: 70 mins
Rating: NRmore

10^th September 2019 | 7:00 pm

What's Playing

Explore HT

Belong Here: Membership

History

Patron Reviews

Wonderful performance tonight by Lucy Kaplansky

Joel Stein
8/16/2019

Really fun time bringing in the New Year!

Dawn Cargiulo Berman
1/01/2019

A fantastic venue, great staff, and wonderful guests. Couldn't be hap... read more read less

Billy Yank
5/26/2018
My new favorite venue (next to my own)! Beautiful theater, superb sou... read more read less

Linda Cacciatore Bolton
9/28/2017

Hopewell Theater - Tom Rush concert A very comfortable venue, with seemingly great viewing from every seat... read more read less

Wastedontheway
7/23/2019

Perfect Music Venue Situated in a quaint little town of Hopewell, NJ with tree lined stree... read more read less

Carrie S
5/28/2019
Excellent venue. Nice snack stand. Good acoustics.

Thomas Reed
11/17/2017

Great local venue. No matter what type of show you catch here you will... read more read less

Dirk Devlin
10/15/2018

An awesome venue! Looking forward to making it one of my new Hopewell ... read more read less

Raymond A. Segarra
10/25/2017
Awesome Theater A great theater for music! An awesome atmosphere, great sound and awes... read more read less

aplisk0
8/06/2019

A Hidden Gem Saw Carbon Leaf here last night, and what a pleasant surprise. Our fi... read more read less

vps42
6/07/2019

amazing venue, not a bad seat in the house

Matthew Budd
12/21/2018
Great intimate theatre with nice food establishments nearby. BYOB

Robert Arnold
4/01/2019

Sugar Ray and the Bluetones Great show from Sugar Ray Norcia in a first-rate venue. The turn-out ... read more read less

Odyssey66022277735
8/23/2019

Great, small venue with eclectic shows Movies, music, comedy, in a very small setting, great service, all tru... read more read less

Jack G
6/16/2019
A Gem! Awesomely restored old theater with all of the modern creature comfort... read more read less

paul d
8/14/2019

My Favorite Place I love the quality of the musicians that come to play here. The sound ... read more read less

madmiz
4/19/2019

I'm so glad to have discovered this sweet little spot. Lovely staff as... read more read less

Felicia Villiers
4/27/2018
Great place! Loved the staff who were kind and helpful. Will definit... read more read less

Debra J. Markland
3/20/2019

SUPER VENUE What fun! A friendly, comfortable, relaxing place to take in an indie... read more read less

Roadddmom
8/24/2019

Such a beautiful theatre to perform in! And for you audience members n... read more read less

Dwayne Dunlevy
4/07/2019
We had an awesome time there last night. Will definitely return!

Annie Saunders Mingle
2/25/2018

If you haven’t had the privilege of attending an event at Hopewell The... read more read less

Anita Muentener Bennison
4/13/2019

A beautiful little gem in Central New Jersey We had the great opportunity to go see one of our very favorite perfor... read more read less

David S
7/11/2019
First Time Patron We recently attended the Max Weinberg Jukebox concert and loved everyt... read more read less

Thomas D
5/01/2019

Wonderful Hopewell Theater is a unique venue. Its amazing historical and archit... read more read less

Alma C
8/09/2019

Just what we needed in our area! Fabulous acoustics!!

Lisa Bengivenga Meisenbacher
1/27/2018
Great food and atmosphere! Super cool venue!

Amy Elizabeth
12/29/2018

Very nice venue. Great restaurants within easy walking distance. Saw interesting docume... read more read less

Navigator738196
6/14/2019

Love this little theater! Lucky to finally visit our local theater. What a gem! Saw Max Weinbe... read more read less

Delchel
5/01/2019
Terrifically thought out venue. Have heard live music here and seen a ... read more read less

Lisa Goetz
12/30/2017

felice brothers terrific venue for music; great sound; stressless atmosphere; byob; ea... read more read less

Camper458265
5/18/2019

Variety of entertainment in unique venue Excellent and varied forms of entertainment from live music and comics... read more read less

SusanBraunhut
7/26/2019
The comedy show was great.

I really feel that if you advertise more, ... read more read less

Christine Resende Ciempola
6/29/2019

Nice folks and excellent acoustics! ❤️🎶

Patrick Martin
3/31/2019

Went to Sold Out Willie Nile show and was so impressed by this Lovely ... read more read less

Teena Murphy
1/29/2018
This is an excellent gem of a room. Would love to play there one day!!

Eddie Kamenitzer
5/23/2019

A gem of theater We attended two concerts at the Hopewell Theater this summer-- Damien ... read more read less

jemjones47
8/22/2019

Great Venue Great location, The events and offerings are very diverse and every g... read more read less

Wander33771126497
6/13/2019
Great sound, comfy seats...not a bad one in the house.. Bravi !

Christopher Darrah
7/29/2019

Hopewell Theater, Hopewell NJ My husband and I, have been to 4 concerts and 1 movie review. Each tim... read more read less

Navigator66636657866
4/18/2019

Lovely, small venue for intimate performances. Also shows curated spec... read more read less

Robin Margolin
10/21/2018
Desperately needed venue in Princeton area Compelling events, great music. Wonderful restaurants nearby. My onl... read more read less

Jeff D
8/23/2019

Thank you! Hopewell theater is a great venue for movies and concerts. It is an in... read more read less

kcsellers2
8/22/2019

Fantastic sound system and the best place for entertainment in the are... read more read less

Beth Brody
1/03/2019
First time This was our first time visiting the Hopewell Theatre. Small, intimate... read more read less

Jimfromannandale
7/05/2019

Beautiful space. Sound is excellent. Parking is a bit small. Not sure ... read more read less

Richard Carter
6/19/2019

We love Hopewell Theater! It's a new theater and very clean. They hav... read more read less

Jackie Marie
12/22/2018
great place for wonderful entertainment and a local night out

Henry Joseph
1/06/2019

Visited for the first time last night. FANTASTIC venue. Great place to... read more read less

Buffy Leach
7/22/2018

excellent programs This local theater is a hidden gem. The theater is newly refurbished ... read more read less

Joan M
6/04/2019
First time there but will definitely go back

Diane Keller
3/20/2019

Went to see Love, Gilda. Great atmosphere, the space is well designed.... read more read less

Michael Pirozzi
9/22/2018

Took my wife and 6 y/o son to see Ghostbusters this past Saturday. Th... read more read less

Tom Sroka
10/28/2018
Excellent venue, warm brand new field… Very inviting and great sound q... read more read less

David Koch
11/17/2018

Beautiful Theater A beautiful theater with a great line up of movies and concerts. Staff... read more read less

Jet724248
7/29/2019

Went last night for first time and love the venue

Mary Michaele Knops-Powers
7/22/2018
Best kept secret in Central NJ! I've been to the Hopewell Theater several times for live music events ... read more read less

ScorpioWordsmith
5/16/2019

Documentary film I had no idea that the Hopewell Theater was anything more than a movie... read more read less

redhutch68
4/15/2019

Hopewell Theater: Substance and Style I"ve visited the Hopewell Theater multiple times in the past year... read more read less

Nomad28213297617
6/12/2019
Great intimate venue Saw Max Weinberg’s Jukebox tour in a very nice setting, allowing one t... read more read less

Len J
5/07/2019

Tom Rush show A really great place to see an intimate show... in this case , 4 peop... read more read less

Departure09085461897
7/08/2019

Such a warm cozy perfect place no bad seats will be back for many more

Jon Hallowell
12/09/2018
Table seating, BYOB, decent snacks and remarkable interior.

Michael Competielle
11/19/2017

Great little theatre Wish I had known to BYOB! However, the atmosphere was wonderful and th... read more read less

Road17606895205
4/25/2019

just saw our first concert in the new venue. Besides enjoying the real... read more read less

Katja Proessdorf Lewis
11/03/2017
Great music venue. Great jazz, and a brunch!

Charles Legg
3/10/2019

We had a great time at the Mike Tramp and John Corabi show last nite!!... read more read less

Joel Walter
3/15/2019

Mick Moloney and the Green Fields of America - fabulous night of music... read more read less

Debbie Goodkin
3/17/2019
Really beautiful, clean venue with super friendly service!

Kalo Kalt Maloney
11/17/2018

The Hopewell theater is an entertainment gem. We are so fortunate to ... read more read less

Jim Angelus
4/19/2018

A Gem! Awesomely restored old theater with all of the modern creature comfort... read more read less

paul d
8/14/2019
Fantastic sound system and the best place for entertainment in the are... read more read less

Beth Brody
1/03/2019
This is an excellent gem of a room. Would love to play there one day!!

Eddie Kamenitzer
5/23/2019
Very nice venue. Great restaurants within easy walking distance. Saw interesting docume... read more read less

Navigator738196
6/14/2019
Excellent venue. Nice snack stand. Good acoustics.

Thomas Reed
11/17/2017
A fantastic venue, great staff, and wonderful guests. Couldn't be hap... read more read less

Billy Yank
5/26/2018
Excellent venue, warm brand new field… Very inviting and great sound q... read more read less

David Koch
11/17/2018
amazing venue, not a bad seat in the house

Matthew Budd
12/21/2018
Documentary film I had no idea that the Hopewell Theater was anything more than a movie... read more read less

redhutch68
4/15/2019
First Time Patron We recently attended the Max Weinberg Jukebox concert and loved everyt... read more read less

Thomas D
5/01/2019
Awesome Theater A great theater for music! An awesome atmosphere, great sound and awes... read more read less

aplisk0
8/06/2019
The Hopewell theater is an entertainment gem. We are so fortunate to ... read more read less

Jim Angelus
4/19/2018
Great sound, comfy seats...not a bad one in the house.. Bravi !

Christopher Darrah
7/29/2019
Wonderful performance tonight by Lucy Kaplansky

Joel Stein
8/16/2019
Really fun time bringing in the New Year!

Dawn Cargiulo Berman
1/01/2019
We had an awesome time there last night. Will definitely return!

Annie Saunders Mingle
2/25/2018
Lovely, small venue for intimate performances. Also shows curated spec... read more read less

Robin Margolin
10/21/2018
Such a warm cozy perfect place no bad seats will be back for many more

Jon Hallowell
12/09/2018
excellent programs This local theater is a hidden gem. The theater is newly refurbished ... read more read less

Joan M
6/04/2019
A beautiful little gem in Central New Jersey We had the great opportunity to go see one of our very favorite perfor... read more read less

David S
7/11/2019
First time This was our first time visiting the Hopewell Theatre. Small, intimate... read more read less

Jimfromannandale
7/05/2019
Wonderful Hopewell Theater is a unique venue. Its amazing historical and archit... read more read less

Alma C
8/09/2019
Mick Moloney and the Green Fields of America - fabulous night of music... read more read less

Debbie Goodkin
3/17/2019
My Favorite Place I love the quality of the musicians that come to play here. The sound ... read more read less

madmiz
4/19/2019
Great little theatre Wish I had known to BYOB! However, the atmosphere was wonderful and th... read more read less

Road17606895205
4/25/2019
Terrifically thought out venue. Have heard live music here and seen a ... read more read less

Lisa Goetz
12/30/2017
Just what we needed in our area! Fabulous acoustics!!

Lisa Bengivenga Meisenbacher
1/27/2018
Went to see Love, Gilda. Great atmosphere, the space is well designed.... read more read less

Michael Pirozzi
9/22/2018
Such a beautiful theatre to perform in! And for you audience members n... read more read less

Dwayne Dunlevy
4/07/2019
Thank you! Hopewell theater is a great venue for movies and concerts. It is an in... read more read less

kcsellers2
8/22/2019
just saw our first concert in the new venue. Besides enjoying the real... read more read less

Katja Proessdorf Lewis
11/03/2017
My new favorite venue (next to my own)! Beautiful theater, superb sou... read more read less

Linda Cacciatore Bolton
9/28/2017
Really beautiful, clean venue with super friendly service!

Kalo Kalt Maloney
11/17/2018
Beautiful Theater A beautiful theater with a great line up of movies and concerts. Staff... read more read less

Jet724248
7/29/2019
If you haven’t had the privilege of attending an event at Hopewell The... read more read less

Anita Muentener Bennison
4/13/2019
Love this little theater! Lucky to finally visit our local theater. What a gem! Saw Max Weinbe... read more read less

Delchel
5/01/2019
Took my wife and 6 y/o son to see Ghostbusters this past Saturday. Th... read more read less

Tom Sroka
10/28/2018
Great Venue Great location, The events and offerings are very diverse and every g... read more read less

Wander33771126497
6/13/2019
Sugar Ray and the Bluetones Great show from Sugar Ray Norcia in a first-rate venue. The turn-out ... read more read less

Odyssey66022277735
8/23/2019
Desperately needed venue in Princeton area Compelling events, great music. Wonderful restaurants nearby. My onl... read more read less

Jeff D
8/23/2019
Went to Sold Out Willie Nile show and was so impressed by this Lovely ... read more read less

Teena Murphy
1/29/2018
great place for wonderful entertainment and a local night out

Henry Joseph
1/06/2019
An awesome venue! Looking forward to making it one of my new Hopewell ... read more read less

Raymond A. Segarra
10/25/2017
Went last night for first time and love the venue

Mary Michaele Knops-Powers
7/22/2018
Hopewell Theater, Hopewell NJ My husband and I, have been to 4 concerts and 1 movie review. Each tim... read more read less

Navigator66636657866
4/18/2019
We had a great time at the Mike Tramp and John Corabi show last nite!!... read more read less

Joel Walter
3/15/2019
Best kept secret in Central NJ! I've been to the Hopewell Theater several times for live music events ... read more read less

ScorpioWordsmith
5/16/2019
Perfect Music Venue Situated in a quaint little town of Hopewell, NJ with tree lined stree... read more read less

Carrie S
5/28/2019
Great music venue. Great jazz, and a brunch!

Charles Legg
3/10/2019
A Hidden Gem Saw Carbon Leaf here last night, and what a pleasant surprise. Our fi... read more read less

vps42
6/07/2019

Latest News from HT

Live Acts, Comedy, Theatre, & Community Talks at Hopewell This Fall

Reasons to attend:

An eclectic array of performances this fall include a juggling travelogue act, one-woman show, and children’s stage play highlights the variety of programming this fall at HT.
Funny never gets old and with our monthly comedy performances,

Thursday August 22^nd, 2019

On Our Screen and Stage – Week of August 19, 2019

This week at Hopewell Theater:

Last chance to catch THE CAT RESCUERS before it closes on Thursday!
See the hit classic, DIRTY DANCING, Wednesday night with an optional BBQ dinner from Entrata.
On Thursday, experience the original WOODSTOCK festival in the famous,

Tuesday August 20^th, 2019

HT’s End of Summer Sale is here!

The dog days of summer are winding down which means our “End of Summer” Sale has begun!

Enjoy Buy One Get One Free for all movie tickets!

Plus, we’re waiving ticketing fees on all live music shows.

As an added bonus,

Thursday August 15^th, 2019

homepage

End of Summer Sale!