HLT Announces 2015-16 Season

The Hanover Little Theatre (HLT) has scheduled three plays and one musical for the 2015-16 season, beginning in September. This marks the 67th season for Hanover’s only all-volunteer community theatre, based at 360 Blooming Grove Road, Hanover.

The shows look at difficulty in relationships, from a bored husband to a two-timing taxi driver, from a carnivorous plant that comes between a couple to a weekend getaway that turns into a generational battle. The quartet of comedies are entertaining and, at times, insightful.

The Neil Simon comedy Last of the Red Hot Lovers will open the season, followed by the British farce Run for Your Wife. In April 2016, the popular musical Little Shop of Horrors will come to Hanover with Weekend Comedy wrapping up the season in July.

For the second straight season, the theatre will use each production to raise funds for a local nonprofit partner organization. HLT will donate $2 for each ticket sold to the first Saturday performance to the organization chosen for the show. The theatre has raised almost $1,100 for local charities this season.

Each show will have seven performances over two weekends, including two Sunday matinees.

Ticket prices will remain the same for the fourth year – $12 for plays and $14 for musicals with discounts available for seniors, students and groups of 10 or more. Theatre memberships, which include ticket vouchers, are also available.

Last of the Red Hot Lovers, directed by Beau Bowden
8 p.m., Sept. 11-12 and 17-19 and 2 p.m. Sept. 13 and 20

As the 1960s come to a close, Barney Cashman goes about his life in New York with one thought –”Will the sexual revolution pass me by?” This Neil Simon comedy follows a middle-aged married man’s attempts at seduction. Overworked and overweight, this restaurant owner falls flat in each attempt and realizes in the end that he would prefer a romantic afternoon with his wife, Thelma.

Run For Your Wife, directed by Mark Franceschini
8 p.m., Nov. 13-14 and 19-21 and 2 p.m. Nov. 15 and 22

Because of his odd working hours, taxi driver John Smith manages to live two lives, with a different wife in each one. After he is knocked unconscious during a mugging, a police investigation begins to unravel his double life. This quick-paced Ray Cooney farce features misunderstandings, slamming doors and an unmistakable charm.

Little Shop of Horrors, directed by Jeremy Slagle
8 p.m., April 8-9 and 14-16 and 2 p.m. April 10 and 17, 2016

Get ready to welcome Audrey II as Broadway’s most-famous plant comes to Hanover in this classic musical. The story of mild-mannered floral shop assistant Seymour Krelborn and his carnivorous plant will thrill and chill. “Little Shop” features a fun and familiar soundtrack, including “Somewhere That’s Green” and “Suddenly Seymour.”

Weekend Comedy, directed by Sally Chase
8 p.m., July 8-9 and 14-16 and 2 p.m., July 10 and 17, 2016

Plans for a relaxing weekend go out the window in this comedy when two couples – one middle aged and the other in their 20s – reserve the same one-bedroom, one-bathroom cottage for the same weekend. The two couples decide to give it a go and the generation gap leads to friction. In the end, the cramped quarters teaches each couple some lessons about their relationships.