Live Jazz Events November 27-29 in New Brunswick
|
|
Wednesday, November 25, 2020
MST presents a multi-cultural It's a Wonderful Life, streams begin on Thanksgiving
It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play
WHERE: Streaming
TICKETS: $25 and are available at: https://www.milesquaretheatre.org/shows-events/its-a-wonderful-life/. Once purchased, audience members will be emailed a link through which the stream may be accessed. Link is valid until used.
It’s a Wonderful Life: a live radio play brings the audience into a 1940’s radio studio to witness a live performance of the classic film’s screenplay. Joe Landry’s adaptation invites the audience to experience the story as ‘theatre of the mind,’ as we watch the versatile actors play multiple roles, enhanced by sound effects performed by a foley artist. This filmed performance will bring the experience up close to the MST audience and will certainly be a delightful addition to any home’s winter holiday watch list.
MST and Director Kevin R. Free assembled an extraordinary cast. We welcome the return of John Keller (MST’s Dracula, Twelfth Night) who will reprise the role of George Bailey. Also in the multi-cultural cast are Blaire Brooks (MST’s Rikki Tikki Tavi), Danny Johnson (Netflix’s Daredevil), Nandita Shenoy (Washer/Dryer at Ma-Yi Theater), and Gabriel Hernandez (Bottle of Doom at Two River Theater). Kevin R. Free (MST’s Pipeline) directs with costumes by Natalie Loveland, sound by Matt Bittner (School of Rock on Broadway), and art direction by Jen Price Fick. The work will be shot and edited by Branding Shorts.
“This will be the 5th time MST has produced Joe Landry’s clever adaptation of the classic film, and of course, there’s a bit of a twist with this year’s production,” says MST’s Artistic Director Chris O’Connor. “With the theatre closed due to COVID, we’ve had to redefine and reimagine what we do. We have essentially turned the play into a movie, and MST’s space has functioned as a sound stage. We adhered to strict health protocols, so the actors were filmed one at a time, then the work has been composited in the editing room. The wonderful Kevin R. Free (MST’s Pipeline) is directing, and our good friends at Branding Shorts filmed and edited the piece.”
Mile Square Theatre is supported by the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation and is a member of the New Jersey Theatre Alliance.
MST Season Sponsors: Advance Realty, Aecom/Tishman, Bijou Properties, Haven Savings Bank, Jet.com, Kearny Bank, The Rockefeller Group.
This program is made possible in part by funds from the New Jersey Council on the Arts/Department of State, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts; and by funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, administered by the Hudson County Office of Cultural & Heritage Affairs, Thomas A. Degise, County Executive, and the Board of Chosen Freeholders.
For more information on Mile Square Theatre, please visit www.milesquaretheatre.org.
Exciting Benefit Concert for Vanguard Theater Company THIS Friday Night with Broadway Stars!
GRATEFUL FOR THE DREAM
Theater lovers should set aside Friday night, from 7-9PM, for
a very special free concert.
This Friday night at 7PM, these luminaries join Hamilton’s
George Washington, Tamar Greene, Hadestown’s Jewelle Blackman and
Kimberly Marable, and Lindsay Roberts from Carmen Jones, in concert.
Running about two hours, the concert will stream live on YouTube and is free.
Here’s the link to reserve your seat for the YouTube livestream: https://gratefulvtc.funraise.org
Dreier is co-hosting and producing the concert with Victoria
Ludwig, who recently performed in Vanguard Theater Company’s production of Spring
Awakening, in January 2020.
Says Dreier:
Vanguard
welcomed me into their diverse community 3 ½ years ago, and I’ve seen
first-hand how their work reaches beyond their own youth and teen theater
programs, working to shape theater as a whole. And theater shapes our
perceptions of the world.
Ludwig, who performed opposite Dreier in several Glen Ridge
High School shows, adds:
Though
Spring Awakening was my first show with Vanguard, I learned values that have
left a lasting impact on me. Through the cast I learned passion, activism, and
pure love for our craft. It was incredible to see so many people of so many backgrounds
come together and create art that’s so powerful, and watch each of us grow
because of it. Vanguard has harnessed a safe space in the theater community and
that is so important for young performers. I couldn’t be more excited to have
the opportunity to work with them again.
Dreier and Ludwig decided to organize the concert because
they believe in Vanguard’s mission, and have seen it in action.
On
March 1, 2020, the theater company, a not for profit with a mission to change
the narrative through theater dedicated to DREAM: Diversity, Reciprocity,
Education, Activism and Mentorship, signed a lease on the first space of
its own in Montclair. This was a critical step toward creating a
community-cultural hub in a highly diverse region. Unfortunately, the
timing coincided with the onset of the pandemic, halting renovation plans, and
leaving the space empty for months, while earned income stalled and bills
accumulated. At a time when the arts are struggling to stay alive and
viable, Dreier and Ludwig wanted to support Vanguard’s mission by organizing
this special concert.
More information about the livestream can be found through this link:
https://gratefulvtc.funraise.org/
Founded in 2015 by
veteran actors and educators Janeece Freeman Clark and Daryl Stewart, Vanguard Theater Company is a unique
501(c)(3) committed to changing the narrative through theater dedicated to
DREAM: Diversity, Reciprocity, Education, Activism & Mentorship.
Please contact us at vanguard@dreamvtc.org, and www.vanguardtheatercompany.org
D&R Greenway Thankful: 10th Anniversary: Preservation of St. Michaels Farm
In autumn, 2005,
D&R Greenway President and CEO Linda Mead received a call from the attorney
for the Catholic Diocese of Trenton: “He told me that D&R Greenway would
have the last chance to preserve the orphanage property. Dedicated as a
‘special overlay zone,’ it could otherwise hold 1,050 houses, alongside a
30,000-square-foot shopping center. The Diocese offered to sell it to us for
$11 million dollars.”
The very process
of joining to save this land created strong community ties, not only in
Hopewell’s Borough and Township but throughout the region. St. Michaels Farm
Preserve, in the subsequent decade, has required another million dollars, and
significant staff time to maintain and improve the preserve with the trails and
features enjoyed today.
An early project
was the construction of the Charles Evans Overlook, off Aunt Molly Road, with
its sweeping views of the town’s historic landscape. That very first summer,
June, 2010, the preserve was opened to the public with a community run and a
plein-air art exhibit, with music by the Hopewell Chorus and lowing of [fenced]
farm animals. Community events on the land included a barn-raising celebration,
a public walk to commemorate the new bridge with a ribbon-cutting,
and the preserve hosted the 250th Anniversary celebration of
Hopewell borough. In breeding season, the purple martin, American kestrel and
bluebird houses keep the air alive with wings and song. The new TravelStorys
audio tour teaches local history, at every stop, via visitors’ Smart Phones.
Funds from the land trust’s spring gala have allowed Marchand Meadow to be
seeded with wildflowers in memory of legendary Princeton Mayor Phyllis
Marchand. The meadow fills the ‘footprint’ of the vanished Orphanage.
On Halloween, D&R Greenway provided an alternative to trick-or-treating with a drive-through parade on the farmland. Surrounded by peak foliage, ten ‘floats’ were created by local organizations, giving meaning to the theme, “I Love LAND because….” Victory Gardeners created a scarecrow garden. One hundred seventy cars brought families and friends of all ages to be delighted as they paraded.
Just before the pandemic began, Josephine Allen gave a packed-house presentation in D&R Greenway’s 1900 barn, the Johnson Education Center. The youngest orphan at St. Michaels, she was also the last to leave the Orphanage. Nature on that land was literally a life-saver for that child. As Cheryl Makin’s article in the Bridgewater Courier News attests, “Life has left Josephine ‘Jo’ Allen with many battle scars, but she found healing in the land which once held turmoil for her.” The audience laughed, cried and went away with a story they’ll not soon forget. ‘Jo’ is now a volunteer at D&R Greenway, having found St. Michaels at a bonfire celebration, eager always to expound upon the benefits of preserved land.
In all seasons, walkers, with or without dogs, bikes and strollers, enjoy St. Michael’s trails, some of which follow the old farm roads, leading into rich woodlands. In this time of COVID restrictions, visitors faithfully respect social distancing needs—wearing their masks, providing wide berth in passing. Autumn’s birders raise binoculars to follow the pair of northern harriers, swoop-hunting St. Michael’s open fields. All delight in the increasing return of grassland birds to the Preserve. Cameras are an everyday accessory. Artists set up easels; Poets create new works inspired by this special land. Long views of inspiring sunsets, in this 10th anniversary year, add to the spiritual effects on yoga classes led by Fyrefly Yoga. Expansiveness and peace are the Preserve’s natural gifts.
St.
Michaels Farm Preserve has become a community resource, cared for and
increasingly expanded over its first decade, thanks to D&R Greenway and its
generous donors. Day-to-day management of the preserve and the Victory Gardens
benefits from the passion that Bill Flemer brings to his job as preserve
manager. D&R Greenway’s stewardship team, under the leadership of Tina
Notas, ensures informative signage, attractive entrances and habitat
improvements. It takes a village—of staff, volunteers, and donors—to ensure
that this land remains a welcoming place for the many people that love it.
Naturalists delight in four plant communities upon this preserve: agricultural, shrub/scrub, hedgerows and forest. Several patches of forest rise at its southernmost end and along the eastern side. Nearly 35 acres of forest delight preserve hikers east of Aunt Molly Road. This larger array of trees is an extremely high-quality forest, including a shale barren reminiscent of a Midwestern savanna with several widely-spaced white oaks. Ornithologists and consummate birders regularly inventory birds on the St. Michaels land. Almost one hundred species have been tallied. The list includes eleven species of warbler, vivid Indigo bunting, and spring’s dazzling rose-breasted grosbeak and scarlet tanager. A pair of harriers cruise these fields in quest of voles and mice. American kestrels live in boxes tailored to their needs and installed by D&R Greenway, as do purple martins and bluebirds. Near the vintage barn, both a great blue and a little green heron have been seen along its nearby creek.
Visitors
are reminded to make use of D&R Greenway’s TravelStorys audio tour.
Downloaded to the smartphone, histories of this land are triggered upon passing
points of interest. Stories tell of the Orphanage and its shrine, natural
features of the preserved land, and the people and community who ensured this
land would be here for all generations.
As we end a challenging year and look to enjoy the peace of the holidays, D&R Greenway invites the public to visit their St. Michaels Farm Preserve to enjoy its treasures. They welcome contributions from those who walk and enjoy the preserve as people contemplate end-of-year charitable giving. Gifts can be made at www.drgreenway.org.
It takes many people and generous resources to keep this beautiful open space open. After ten years, it has been proven that this land transforms lives and provides solace; it is indeed worth every penny.
Don't Miss Virtual Artist-in-Residence Lecture at Hunterdon Art Museum
|
In conjunction with the fall 2020 exhibition, From the Ground Up: Peters Valley School of Craft, Hunterdon
Art Museum is holding free virtual artist lectures featuring each of the
resident artists who are in our 1st-floor galleries October through December. The artists will discuss their connection with the renowned
craft institution and their work, followed by an in-depth dialogue with HAM’s
Curator of Special Projects Jason Vartikar. Lauren Eckert is
a multimedia object maker, illustrator, and art conservator from New Jersey.
Her work has been exhibited in venues such as Museum Arnhem, Amsterdam, NL;
Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Gatlinburg, TN; Form & Concept
Gallery, Santa Fe, NM; New York City Jewelry Week; and Peters Valley School
of Craft, Layton, NJ. In 2018, she curated the show “The Virtual Hand” for
Temple University. Artist Statement
I view myself first and foremost as a craftsperson. However, I
love working in fields such as digital fabrication, video, audio, and
robotics and then bringing my research back to my creative home in the crafts
disciplines. The machine can be evidenced in my work through my material
choices and my processes. My wearable objects are heavily influenced by the
form languages of current technology and science fiction. I have taken
inspiration from interstellar spaceships, medical imaging equipment, early
smartphone designs, and video game controllers. I am interested in these
forms because metal and other industrial infrastructure has a strong visual
presence in the aesthetics of both utopian and dystopian imagery, allowing me
to access a wealth of associations about the changing present and speculative
futures. Industry is so dissimilar from flesh, yet it functions in our imagination
to constrain, advance, and augment the flesh through digital and mechanical
means. Similarly, I use the tools and materials of industry – metal,
computers, screens, 3D printing, and code – as a means to witness the
machine’s collaborative relationship with people and thought. This results in
objects and digital works that can come from, look towards, and suggest my
visions for anticipated versions of the future. |
EXPLORE OUR NATION'S PAST WITH C-SPAN3
Discover the people and events that help document the American story.
Tune in this holiday weekend for four days of American History TV—starting at
8 am ET on Thanksgiving Day. We hope you enjoy these extra days of
American History TV, and we thank you for watching all year long!
|
|
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)