| Somerset Valley Players |
Thursday, October 18, 2018
“WAIT UNTIL DARK” OPENS THIS FRIDAY IN HILLSBOROUGH
WAIT UNTIL DARK
Fall Festivities Just For You in Morris County Parks
LOVELY LEAVES
WHEN: October 21
Autumn is in the air! Create a leaf rubbing with leaves found on the farm, or design a beautiful marbled paper leaf. Click here for more info.
AMERICAN EDEN: DAVID HOSACK, BOTANY, AND MEDICINE IN THE GARDEN OF THE EARLY REPUBLIC
WHEN: October 21
Join this lecture on Victoria Johnson’s latest book, American Eden, a biography of the doctor at the Hamilton-Burr duel, David Hosack. I want to learn more.
SCARECROW SCAVENGER HUNT
WHEN: October 20 - November 18
Receive a map at the Haggerty Education Center, and explore the gardens looking for original scarecrow creations created by families, schools, scouts, organizations, and more. Search for 'Gary the Gardener,’ the silly Lampshade Sisters, and more! For more info, click here.
THANKSGIVING HARVEST HOME & ARMISTICE OBSERVANCE
WHEN: November 11
Experience a historic farm-style Thanksgiving holiday at Fosterfields! Help prep dinner at the farmer’s house, enjoy a leisurely wagon ride, visit the friendly farm animals, and more. Check it out here.
Spotlight On:
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HALLOWEEN FUN GALORE!
THIS WEEK @ THE PRINCETON UNIVERSITY ART MUSUEM
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MUSIC THIS WEEKEND IN SUCCASUNNA!
WE MAY BE RIGHT—A BILLY JOEL TRIBUTE
WHEN: Saturday, October 20th, at 7:30pm
WHERE: Investors Bank Theater at the Horseshoe Lake Complex, 72 Eyland Ave, Succasunna
TICKETS: RAA Members - $20 online* in advance and $25 at the door; Gen. Admission - $25 online* in advance and $30 at the door
*Online ticket sales close the day before the event
We May Be Right pays tribute to the music of Billy Joel by performing faithful reproductions of songs in his catalog. A tight, professional team of NJ/PA musicians who happen to love Billy’s music, We May Be Right takes great care to reproduce every nuance, every riff, every note of the songs we play.
Learn more about the band at wemayberight.com
"You may be right, I may be crazy. But it just may be a lunatic you're looking for."
Riverside Rhythm & Rhyme Welcomes Margo Hennebach & Mark Saunders WHEN: October 21st at 4pm *Online ticket sales close the day before the event Margo Hennebach and Mark Saunders combine award winning songs, highly evolved musicianship and a playful but commanding presence on stage to make them a favorite of critics and audiences alike. While their music is prayer-like at times, Margo and Mark are also true entertainers, having performed for years in venues all over the country including the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, the acclaimed Philadelphia Folk Festival, the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville, TN, and a long list of concert halls and coffeehouses and tiny house concerts. Local songstress Kathy Moser to open! An award-winning songwriter, engaging performer and passionate environmentalist, Kathy is dedicated to bringing positive change to the world through music both on and off stage. |
THIS WEEKEND @ UCPAC IN RAHWAY
LIFE AFTER TWELVE STEPS: STARRING D.C. WALTERS WHEN: Oct 18, 2018 - Oct 21, 2018 D.C. Walters has been making people laugh and cry in private, anonymous settings for over fifteen years. His life story, told raw and uncut, is the stuff of the spirit! You will laugh, get angry, maybe even cry. From foster care to family man, this is a journey you won’t want to miss! So come and join D.C. Walters on a roller coaster ride of emotion as he bares all in: LIFE AFTER TWELVE STEPS D.C. WALTERS is an accomplished public speaker. A poet and writer. His ability to be in touch with other’s emotions is what allows him to connect with his audiences so completely. He lives with his life partner Vanessa and their two dogs in western New Jersey.
ICON 2018: ELIMINATION ROUND 6 WHEN: Thu Oct 18, 2018 8:00 PM Back for a fifth season ICON 2018 is a singing competition much like "American Idol" meshed with "The Voice" but in the genre of musical theater. 90 contestants will sing at one of the six ELIMINATION ROUNDS. Each round will be judged by three industry professionals whose scoring will advance one out of each group of 15 artists. The audience will also get a chance to vote on their favorite, advancing a SECOND artist directly to the SEMIFINALS on November 25th. The Semifinals will narrow the pool down to the FINAL FIVE, where an industry panel stocked with agents, press, recording artists and instructors will deem one lucky artist the distinction of ICON 2018. The grand prize is $5000 CASH and well as a myriad of other prizes including UCPAC producing and casting the winner in their DREAM ROLE in the show of their choosing.
JOAN JETT AND THE BLACKHEARTS WHEN: Fri Oct 26, 2018 8:00 PM This show is in a little over a week, and we're nearing a sell-out! Buy now, or risk not getting tickets! Joan Jett is an originator, an innovator, and a visionary. As the leader of the hard- rocking Blackhearts, with whom she has become a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, she's had eight platinum and gold albums and nine Top 40 singles, including the classics "Bad Reputation," "I Love Rock 'N' Roll," "I Hate Myself For Loving You," and "Crimson and Clover." Her independent record label, Blackheart Records, was founded in 1980 after she was rejected by no less than 23 labels. Blackheart is one of the longest running indie labels and continues to give voice to new bands. Jett has acted in movies and television, including 1987's Light Of Day, and in a Tony-nominated Broadway musical, The Rocky Horror Show. Opener: Jackknife Stiletto, an all-female rock n’ roll band. Think Rancid meets Black Sabbath. As always, there are no added fees no matter how you choose to purchase your tickets. The UCPAC has a NO REFUNDS and NO EXCHANGES policy that applies to all ticket sales. Discount codes cannot be combined and cannot be applied to past purchases. Box Office hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 11 AM-5 PM, with extended hours of 11 AM-8 PM on Thursdays. The Box Office is also open starting 1 hour before Hamilton Stage events, and 2 hours before Main Stage events. Box Office: (732) 499-8226 |
Phyllis Blanford Quartet @ Shanghai Jazz Restaurant & Bar on Sunday
WHERE: Shanghai Jazz Restaurant, 24 Main St., Madison
973.822.2899
Open, Click and Try Not to Dance to Cuban Music in Branchburg
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN to Tu Conga Bach (Conga—Inspired by the C Minor Fugue, The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1)
WHEN: Friday, October 19 at 12 & 8PM
WHERE: RVCC Theatre, 118 Lamington Rd., Branchburg
TICKETS: 12PM/$10, 8PM/$15 & $25
TICKETS
Come celebrate Cuban-style! Tiempo Libre celebrates the release of their new recording, Lo Que Te Toca with a performance at The Theatre at RVCC in Branchburg, NJ!
As teenagers in Cuba, Tiempo Libre's members studied classical music by day at Havana's rigorous Russian-style conservatory La ENA. At night they met up to play the traditional music of their island. During a time in Cuba when listening to American music was forbidden, the boys crowded around a homemade radio and listened to the beats of Michael Jackson, Chaka Khan, and Earth, Wind, and Fire.
After emigrating to the United States, the men formed Tiempo Libre, a band that has become known around the world for its sophisticated, dance-inducing concerts of a Cuban style of music called timba - a joyful combination of Latin jazz, traditional Cuban "son" and other musical elements. Since their inception, they have garnered three Grammy nominations, the most recent for their album Bach in Havana, which melds classical tunes by Johann Sebastian Bach with the soul-stirring rhythms of salsa, merengue, and cha-cha.
The group has toured and performed extensively, including a performance at the Playboy Jazz Festival and appearances on The Tonight Show, Dancing with the Stars, Mega TV and Telemundo. Tiempo Libre is the picture of musical innovation.
Be warned: their sound is infectious, their exuberance contagious and their beat will hijack your body from the waist down.
Tiempo Libre will perform high energy, dance-inducing timba music featuring songs from My Secret Radio, as well as selections from their new Universal Music Group recording and their three previously Grammy-nominated timba albums Bach in Havana, Lo Que Esperabas and Arroz Con Mango.
THE TRENTON PUNK ROCK FLEA MARKET RETURNS THIS WEEKEND FOR ANNUAL HALLOWEEN SHOPPING EXTRAVAGANZA!
THE TPRFM ANNUAL HALLOWEEN EXTRAVAGANZA!
WHEN: October 20-21, 10 AM-5 PM each day
WHERE: Historic Roebling Wire Works, 675 S. Clinton Ave., Trenton
Featuring more than 200+ unique vendors each day from up to 21 different states and more than a dozen different food trucks per day!
- Meet and Greet Weird NJ's Mark & Mark!
- Costume Contest (BOTH DAYS!) for amazing prizes!
- Live Music (Sponsored by Russo Music)
- Get a $50 custom flash tattoo by Brand New Tattoo & Gallery!
- Official After Party at Championship Bar featuring Lost Love (Montreal), Guerilla Poubelle (France), Molly Rhythm and Coach's Son!
CLICK HERE TO RSVP ON FACEBOOK
We never stop moving here at the Trenton Punk Rock Flea Market and we've got dates set up throughout the year! See below for dates of our upcoming 2018 markets!
- December 8, 2018 (Neshaminy Creek Brewing Company)
Wednesday, October 17, 2018
PAPER MILL PLAYHOUSE SUPPORTS “SPIRIT DAY 2018”
SPIRIT DAY 2018
WHEN: Thursday, October 18
Paper Mill Playhouse and the company of The Color Purple support “Spirit Day 2018” in the video clip below. This year’s Spirit Day is a means of speaking out against LGBTQ bullying and standing with LGBTQ youth, who disproportionately face bullying and harassment because of their identities. Pledging to "go purple" on Spirit Day is a way for everyone to visibly show solidarity with LGBTQ youth and to take part in the largest, most visible anti-bullying campaign in the world.
Paper Mill Playhouse, recipient of the Regional Theatre Tony Award in 2016, is currently showing The Color Purple, directed by Tony Award winner John Doyle. The Color Purple is a Tony Award-winning revival based upon the novel written by Alice Walker and the Warner Bros./Amblin Entertainment motion picture with a book by Marsha Norman and music and lyrics by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis, and Stephen Bray.
Cast members from the 2015 Broadway revival lead the Paper Mill Playhouse company, including Adrianna Hicks (Aladdin, Sister Act - Germany) as Celie, Carla R. Stewart (Ghost - National Tour, Rent - Regional) as Shug Avery and Carrie Compere (Holler If You Hear Me, Shrek the Musical - National Tour) as Sofia.
The Color Purple runs through October 21, 2018.
Tickets available at www.PaperMill.org.
REVIEW: ACERBIC SECRET-PROBING DRAMA SEARS STAGE @ CHATHAM PLAYERS
by Ruth Ross
To (badly) paraphrase Tolstoy, “Happy families keep secrets. Unhappy families keep secrets so shocking that their divulgence could ruin images, reputations, relationships and—even worse—the way we view ourselves.”
One such family, the Wyeths, is the focus of Jon Robin Baitz’s modern drawing room drama now onstage at the Chatham Players, whose carefully curated lives are about to blown apart. Daughter Brooke has returned to her parents’ home in Palm Springs, California, after a six-year absence to celebrate Christmas with her brother and her aunt. The problem? Brooke has brought with her a draft of what turns out to be a memoir dredging up a pivotal and tragic event in the family's history—a wound they don't want reopened: the suicide of her late brother Henry, who had been involved with the radical underground subculture in Venice, CA and a horrific incident resulting from their advocacy. In effect, Brooke draws a line in the sand and dares them all to cross it. (Above L-R: Lynn Langone, Adriana Spizuoco, David Romankov, Terri Sturdevant, Scott Tyler)
Under Jonathan Wierzbicki’s taut direction, the layers of secrecy are peeled away bit by bit until a stunning confession is made in the play’s final scenes. For one thing, Polly and Lyman Wyeth are Reagan Republicans so fervent that photos of Nancy Reagan, Frank Sinatra and Barry Goldwater share the fireplace mantel with those of family. That their oldest child was involved in the bombing of a military recruitment center that killed a custodian rocked their world, so much so that many of their friends abandoned them. In addition, Brooke’s crippling depression and own suicide attempt, not to mention a failed marriage, have led her to believe that writing such a memoir is vital to her recovery and her family, whether they approve of it or not. Too, Polly’s Jewish background has been hushed up, and her sister Silda Graumart (Sturdevant, above, with Tyler) is a liberal alcoholic recently released from rehab who has helped Brooke write her book. The only family member who appears to have no secrets is son Trip, the creator and producer of a successful reality courtroom television show; trying to remain cheerful in the face of disaster, he attempts to broker peace between Brooke and her parents.
The quintet of actors assembled by Wierzbicki is more than up to tackling Baitz’s riveting script. In what I believe is one of her finest performances, Lynn Langone (left, with David Romankov; Terri Sturdevant in background) is disapproving and cruel as the brittle Polly, determined to retain her place in Republican society. She maintains this demeanor until the final scenes, when she finally throws away pretense to reveal a woman who has suffered mightily and continues to do so. David Romankov’s Lyman is more loving toward his offspring, his sadness at losing a son more evident early in the play. GOP chair and former film actor (cowboys, police procedurals, much in the vein of Ronald Reagan), he sustains an almost noble stoicism in the face of adversity.
Scott Tyler (right) as Trip bounces around the Roy Pancirov’s sleek set like a tennis ball, trying to deflect the conversation from dangerous subjects. He clearly loves his sister and his parents, even though the latter (especially his mother) think he’s wasting his time and talent on a reality television show. And Terri Sturdevant has a grand time playing Silda, drunkenly careening around the living room, spouting Yiddish terms just to annoy Polly and sticking up for her beleaguered niece. Beneath her wisecracks is a woman at odds with her sister’s political views, sad that their one-time writing partnership dissolved over diverging ideals yet a bit gleeful to use Brooke to get back a bit of her own.
Adriana Spizuoco (left, with Romankov) is wonderful as Brooke, the central character around whom the conflict swirls. Her angst is convincing, her sparring with her sibling natural and her reactions to her mother very believable. The loss of Henry, her best friend, is the root of her depression; in her dogged desperation to learn the truth, she’s unmindful of the others’ feelings, pushing them until the secret is revealed. She’s an actor to watch.
In his Director’s Notes, Wierzbicki notes that Baitz’s conflicted characters are “lovingly cruel, depressingly hopeful, happily woeful,” and I second that observation. The actors onstage feel like a real family. When the lights go down, we have confidence that, once the truth is out, they’ll come to terms with their grief and be more understanding of each other.
Winner of the 2012 Pulitzer Prize, Other Desert Cities is a worthy addition to the more cutting edge plays the Chatham Players have presented over the past 20 years. This community theater once again proves that there are dramatic “gems” in the suburbs of New Jersey. Attracting superb actors, they remind us that we don’t have to pay hefty tolls and parking fees to enjoy top-quality theater. Don’t miss this production.
Other Desert Cities will be performed at the Chatham Playhouse, 23 N. Passaic Ave., Chatham, through October 20. For information and tickets, call the box office at 973.763.7363 or visit www.chathamplayers.org online.
Photos by Howard Fischer.