The France-Merrick Performing Arts Center, home of Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre, just had its busiest day ever on Saturday, drawing 4,900 patrons in 12 hours.
“Today was the busiest day” in the center’s history, president Ron Legler said in a post on social media on Saturday. “We welcomed 4,400 patrons to two sold-out performances of “Peter Pan” and had 500 guests for the University of Maryland School of Medicine Diversity Dinner.”
The Hippodrome at 12 N. Eutaw St. just marked the 20th anniversary of its reopening after a $63 million restoration and renovation that put it in position to welcome touring Broadway shows and other events. The reopening date was Feb. 10, 2004, for “The Producers,” and it was the first time in more than 50 years that the 1914 theater had a live performance.
What made it even busier on Saturday was the opening last fall of a second performance and events space, the $20 million M&T Bank Exchange, inside the former renovated Eutaw Savings Bank building next to the Hippodrome. The Exchange was designed with a separate lobby and entrance at 401 W. Fayette St. so it could host an event at the same time as the Hippodrome, and Saturday was one of the first times it did that.
The next touring production at the Hippodrome will be “The Book of Mormon,” March 19 to 24. Other shows scheduled for the Hippodrome include the Tedeschi Trucks Band on March 9; Celtic Woman on March 15; “Mamma Mia,” April 16 to 21; “Stomp,” April 26 and 27; the London Film Music Orchestra, May 3; “Clue the Musical,” May 7 to 12; Amy Grant, May 19; and “Beetlejuice — The Musical,” June 25 to 30.
Just started attending theater post covid and not having lived here for too long. It took 2 visits to learn about “handicapped” entrance. Very poorly publicized. Also, there’s a high curb to get over to enter the building at that entrance. Removing a portion of the curb, i.e. having a cut out, would make a huge difference in making the entrance handicapped accessible.