Some places really come alive in the offseason.
Such is true for Hampton Theatre Company (125 Jessup Ave., 631-653-8955) in Quogue which, for 40 years, has filled a uniquely rich role for the East End’s live performing arts.
The regional theater troupe’s makeup includes professional thespians, seasoned producers and directors, plus a slew of behind-the-scenes crew members churning out an impressive number of shows. Since its debut, the company, which operates from September through June each year at Quogue Community Hall, has produced about 60 classic and contemporary plays.
HTC originated as the brainchild of three Westhampton Beach residents in 1984. Today, though, “We are now compared favorably to a Broadway production,” says Andrew Botsford, Quogue resident, secretary for the theater’s board of directors and a veteran member of the company.
The theater company is a blend of community theater and Equity theater, the latter in which actors pay dues to be members of a union. While HTC uses Equity members, they also hold open auditions for up to three roles in each of their productions to non-Equity residents of the East End.
“We started out as a community theater,” says Botsford, “and a lot of us had other jobs, jobs we were actually making our money at, but we quickly realized that among our group we had people with serious professional training. We’re able to partially cast from the community. And a lot of our local community members have some serious theater chops.”
The first performance premiered at Westhampton Beach Middle School in the early ’80s, with a production of The Diary of Anne Frank. The troupe moved to its present 180-seat home over 35 years ago. In the summer, the theater is occupied by the Quogue Junior Theater Troupe.
For this holiday season, HTC will present its live radio play of A Christmas Carol for the second year in a row. Adapted for the stage by Joe Landry with music by Kevin Connors, the cherished 19th-century novella by Charles Dickens is performed as a live radio broadcast set in the 1940s.
For those not in the know, a radio play is a theatrical performance that is almost completely auditory, depending heavily on dramatized dialogue, with very few visual components. Major reliance rests on the actors’ acoustic vocal performances, along with carefully crafted sound effects that help bring the story to life.
For HTC’s interpretation, the actors will, according to Botsford, up the ante slightly by dressing in ‘40s-style garb and assuming multiple roles, as the show includes vintage commercials promoting products from the period. Sound effects were created by HTC actor and board member George Loizides, with help from the house sound table. Landry’s radio play comes with a score crafted by Connors, along with transitional music between acts.
Botsford says performing the Dickens classic again this year was an “experiment.” (HTC did Miracle on 34th Street in 2022.) With a simple set made to look like the inside of a radio station circa 1946, Botsford says the play is “a lot of fun for us because we get to play a lot of different characters. It really takes you back.”
Hampton Theatre Company’s live radio play of A Christmas Carol debuts Friday, Dec. 13, at 7 p.m. with performances continuing Saturday, Dec. 14, and Sunday, Dec. 15, at 2:30 p.m. Tickets, $18, are available at hamptontheatre.org.
