THEY began, appropriately, with the musical revue Starting Here, Starting Now. In the 25 years since, owners Bob and Julie Thick have staged more than 200 shows, and served countless pieces of cake to audiences at Off-Broadstreet Theatre in Hopewell.

   You’d think the Thicks would take some time off to celebrate the silver anniversary of their pink venue, but there’s work to be done. The Thicks (along with some help from current stage manager Kristin Hill) do everything at Off-Broadstreet, from selecting shows, to directing, choosing desserts, seating the audience and cleaning up. They even perform on occasion, Mr. Thick more often than Ms. Thick.

   So instead of enjoying a recent spring day made for playing hooky, the Thicks were getting ready for the evening’s performance of the thriller Wait Until Dark. They’ve also just started rehearsals for their next show, Soup du Jour, a musical comedy that will open June 5.

   Soup du Jour sounds like a perfect fit for Off-Broadstreet. Set in 1939, the show is about a struggling newspaper in New York.

   ”In their efforts to try to save the newspaper, they send a young lady reporter undercover to try to get the scoop on the soup for this famous recipe at a restaurant,” Ms. Thick says. “And it turns out, the recipe has been lost.” Things get complicated when the reporter, Katharine Hawk, falls in love with the restaurant’s new owner, who also happens to be engaged.

   Mr. and Ms. Thick say the show is a tribute to the 1930s and ‘40s. “The banter back and forth is sort of Tracy-Hepburn-eqsue,” Mr. Thick says. “It can be. If we get it up to speed it will be.”

   The show’s songs were written by Gregg Opelka, who wrote the music for Hotel d’Amore, which Off-Broadstreet staged a few years ago. Mr. Opelka lives in the Chicago area, and has been in contact with the Thicks about the production. The composer plans on attending a performance of the run, which marks Soup du Jour’s East Coast premiere. It’s the latest show in Off-Broadstreet’s non-stop year of theater. Other stages go dark for a while, but the Thicks stage shows throughout the year.

   The couple met in 1981 during a fundraiser performance of The Music Man at Temple Beth El in Somerset. Mr. Thick played Harold Hill, Ms. Thick handled the choreography (“I had to teach him a soft shoe,” she says). They married in April of 1984, and decided to open a dinner theater.

   The Gallup family offered the couple a space on South Greenwood Avenue (conveniently located off Broad Street) but it lacked the facilities for cooking meals. Mr. Thick suggested a brown box theater (instead of a black box) and serving appetizers. “But I like dessert so, we did dessert and we made it pink, and we went from there,” Ms. Thick says. They opened the theater June 29, 1984.

   Farces and musical comedies are audience favorites at Off-Broadstreet, but Shakespeare, Moliere and Arthur Miller have taken their places on the Hopewell stage as well. “The eclectic mix that we come up with is something I think the audience looks forward to,” Mr. Thick says. “They know they’re not going to come here and see ‘Chorus Line,’ they know they’re not going to come here and see ‘Music Man.’ But the other thing that’s happened with the audience is the number of people that come in the door on a given night, subscribers particularly, who say, ‘Gee what are we seeing tonight?’

   ”They subscribe and then forget what they’re going to see. Not because it’s secondary but they think of the theater as a place to gather that is just nice. You have a chance to meet and greet your friends and you know you’re going to get a decent piece of cake, and see a show. It becomes an all-encompassing package.”

   One author he wants to delve into but hasn’t is David Mamet, whose language and themes aren’t a match for the theater’s audience. The couple agrees that Ms. Thick is more business-like in her approach, while Mr. Thick is a bigger risk-taker. They add that it’s a mix that works.

   Mr. Thick: “The selections of shows would be far different if I ran it alone.”

   Ms. Thick: “But we wouldn’t have a theater.”

   Mr. Thick (agreeing): “But we wouldn’t have a theater.”

   When asked to name some favorite shows, Ms. Thick notes Chicago, which Off-Broadstreet produced before the New York revival that has lasted nearly 12 years.

   ”It gave me the opportunity to work with a larger cast,” she says. “And I was able to not just have a singer who dances but to have dancers who sing. For me that was a great one. Bob did a really clever set... and we were able to hire a few more musicians.”

   When asked if he has any favorites, Mr. Thick immediately says no, but over the course of the interview he mentions his stagings of Godspell, Death of a Salesman (which he says was “top notch”) and The Importance of Being Earnest, a “huge hit” for the theater according to Mr. Thick.

   Another element to Off-Broadstreet’s success is its children’s shows. Geared to kids ages 2-and-a-half to 7, the shows feature Mr. Thick’s interpretations of tales like Cinderella and Rumpelstiltskin. The Thicks have seen some of the kids in those audiences grow up to work at the theater. “They’ll come and want to work at the tables,” Mr. Thick says. “Their first exposure to the theater was when they were 5 years old, sitting on the carpet watching me cavort in my long underwear doing the Grinch.” Tappany Hochman, who has a role in Soup du Jour, grew up watching the children ‘s shows. Her father, Arthur, has also performed on Off-Broadstreet’s stage.

   Like other businesses, Off-Broadstreet is dealing with the effects of a troubling economy. Mr. and Ms. Thick say their subscriber base is steady but walk-ins are vital to their theater’s success. They make it clear they want to see more people at their tables.

   ”The audience, at the end of every show they applaud our actors,” Mr. Thick says. “But Julie and I stand back and say, ‘Gee that’s nice to hear.’ When there’s a small house, and there are more small houses right now than we would like to have, it’s like giving a party and nobody coming.”

   They’ve been throwing their parties since Ronald Reagan was president and plan on going well into the Obama era. More than once, Mr. Thick calls his and his wife’s work a labor of love.

   ”It’s interesting,” he says. “It’s a crazy way to make a living... It’s been for 25 years, and we hope to last a few more beyond that. It’s what we are.”

Soup du Jour will be at Off-Broadstreet Theatre, 5 S. Greenwood Ave., Hopewell, June 5-July 11. Performances: Fri.-Sat. 8 p.m. (dessert served at 7 p.m.), Sun. 2:30 p.m. (dessert served at 1:30 p.m.) Tickets cost $27.50-$29.50; 609-466-2766; www.off-broadstreet.com