McCarter Theatre Center will renew its annual tradition in December of 2016 with a reimagined version of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. As part of this new theatrical endeavor, McCarter is looking for a new group of young actors ages 5 to 13 to form this year’s Young Ensemble.
Sign-Ups for A Christmas Carol Young Ensemble Auditions will be held at McCarter Theatre Center on Wednesday, September 14 from 3 to 6 p.m. more
MUSIC AND MIRTH AT KELSEY THEATRE: Virginia Repertory Theatre presents “The Princess and the Pea” at Mercer County Community College’s Kelsey Theatre on Saturday, October 1 at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. Tickets are $12 for adults and $10 for seniors, students, and children. To purchase, call the Box Office at (609) 570-3333 or visit www.kelseytheatre.net.
Love will always find a way. It’s never been more true than in “The Princess and The Pea,” to be presented by Virginia Repertory Theatre at Mercer County Community College’s (MCCC’s) Kelsey Theatre on Saturday, October 1 at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. Kelsey Theatre is located on the college’s West Windsor Campus at 1200 Old Trenton Road. more
Suspend disbelief this September and be entertained by hundreds of performers at the 17th Annual Village Renaissance Faire at the Middletown Grange Fairgrounds, 576 Penns Park Road in Wrightstown, Pa on September 17 and 18 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Visitors of all ages will enjoy performances of jousting, falconry, fire breathing, human chess, archery, puppetry, juggling, dancing, petting zoo, and more. Admission is $10 for adults and $5 for students. Parking is free.
PRINCETON FRENCH THEATER FESTIVAL: Antoine Mathieu and Marie Desgranges in “Ceux qui restent (The Ones Who Remain),” which will be presented on September 30 and October 1 as part of the Princeton French Theater Festival. Most performances will be in French, some with English supertitles, and are free and open to the public. Performances will be held at venues across Princeton University. (Photo Credit: Raynaud de Lage)
Princeton University’s Lewis Center for the Arts, Department of French and Italian, and L’Avant-Scène will present the fifth annual Seuls en Scène, French Theater Festival, which will take place from September 22 through October 6 at venues across the University’s campus. Most performances will be in French, some with English supertitles, and are free and open to the public. more
Lawrence Township resident and 2015 Princeton University alumna Katie Welsh (Lawrence High School Salutatorian, 2011) will perform at Trinity Church’s One Table Café on Friday, September 16 at 6:30 p.m. Welsh specializes in musical theater and recently made her debut in the New York cabaret scene. One Table Café provides three-course meals and entertainment on a “pay as you can” basis. Dress is casual and reservations are required by calling (609) 216-7770. Proceeds benefit the Trinity Church Hunger Fund.
The Peter and Will Anderson Quintet will be amongst the talented performers at this year’s JazzFeast celebration in downtown Princeton on Sunday, September 18 from noon to 6 p.m. The “feast” side of the event features flavors from around the world and the chance to enjoy paella, Korean tacos, crepes, and much more. Musical performances are free to attend and food vendors will charge accordingly. This is a rain or shine event. Learn more at www.palmersquare.com.
The New Jersey-based classical music ensemble Trio Cordialis will open the 27th season of the Greater Princeton Steinway Society on Sunday, September 11. The concert will take place at 3 p.m. in the Recital Hall at Jacobs Music, 2540 Brunswick Pike (U.S. Route 1), Lawrenceville. A social hour with refreshments and conversation with the musicians will follow their performance. more
Dubbed “The Voice of Broadway,” actress and singer Betty Buckley will perform at NJPAC in Newark on Saturday, September 17 at 6 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Buckley won the 1983 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a musical for her role as Grizabella in “Cats.” She also starred as Martha Washington in “1776” and Norma Desmond in “Sunset Boulevard,” for which she received an Olivier Award nomination. Buckley will perform new material and favorites from her solo album “Ghostlight.” To purchase tickets, call (888) GO-NJPAC or visit www.njpac.org.
The Princeton Senior Resource Center will host a performance by The Capitol Steps on Friday, September 30 at 7:30 p.m. at Princeton University’s Richardson Auditorium. The fundraiser will also feature a VIP reception with cast members following the performance. General seating reserved tickets can be purchased through the University ticket office at https://tickets.princeton.edu. more
“Negro American style” is defined by novelist Ralph Ellison as “the sudden turns, shocks, and swift changes of pace (all jazz-shaped) that serve to remind us that the world is ever unexplored and that while a complete mastery of life is mere illusion, the real secret of the game is to make life swing.”
For anyone looking to make life swing in this hot, heavy summer I recommend the elixir of Christian and Gray. While the joy and energy may be coming from long ago and far away, the message delivered by the electric guitar of Charlie Christian and the tenor sax of Wardell Gray is that the music of life plays on in spite of deranged demagogues, poverty and misery, mass shootings, and terrorist attacks. more
Dr. Elyane Robinson Grossman, music director at Sharim v’Sharot, is now holding auditions for all voice parts for the upcoming 2016-17 season. Weekly rehearsals are on Tuesday evenings from September through June in Ewing. The choir will perform at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia this November. The theme for the year-end concert in May 2017 is “Songs to Inspire Peace: Shalom, Saalam.” Sharim v’Sharot performs Jewish music of many era and styles at synagogues, concert halls, museums, and community centers throughout the year. Learn more at www.sharimvsharot.org and call (609) 222-4647 to schedule an audition.
Violinist Daniel Rowland
On Thursday, September 15 at 8 p.m., the Princeton Symphony Orchestra (PSO) presents The Seasons, Antonio Vivaldi’s popular The Four Seasons interwoven with Astor Piazzolla’s The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires, arranged by Leonid Desyatnikov. The concert at Richardson Auditorium features Daniel Rowland as violinist and conductor, leading the PSO through Vivaldi’s vividly depicted scenery and Piazzolla’s soulful homage infused with passionate melodies and tango rhythms. more
From the Beacon Theatre in Manhattan to the Top of the Standard in Los Angeles to Lola’s Trailer Park in Fort Worth, Tex., musicians are banding together for The Concert Across America to End Gun Violence on Sunday, September 25th. At Trinity United Methodist Church in Ewing there will be a full day of music, food, speakers, art, and peace, as part of this national effort. more
So Percussion will offer the first of two free performances in Princeton as part of their Edward T. Cone Residency at Princeton University. On Friday, September 16, 2016 at 7:30 p.m. in Richardson Auditorium at Alexander Hall, the community has the opportunity to engage in a striking range of music — from John Cage’s Living Room Music transforming household items into instruments, to the world premiere of Emeritus Professor Paul Lansky’s Springs. more
Anne Carrere returns to McCarter Theatre on October 17 at 7:30 p.m. to pay homage to French singer Edith Piaf. Join “the Sparrow” on a journey through the streets of Montmartre during the halcyon Paris cabaret days of the 1940s and 50s. For tickets, visit www.mccarter.org or call (609) 258-2787.
BATTLEGROUND OF PASSION: Eddie (Matthew Seely) and May (Olivia Nice) can’t live without each other, but they know they can never live together in Sam Shepard’s conflict-fraught drama, “Fool for Love,” Princeton Summer Theater’s final show of the season at the Hamilton Murray Theater and plays for one more weekend. (Photo by Noel Valero)
The Princeton University Summer Concerts series has thrived on presenting instrumental chamber ensembles and, to close this summer’s season, added to its offerings by bringing a refined and polished vocal ensemble to Princeton. The German vocal quintet Calmus performed a program based on the works of William Shakespeare last Wednesday night at Richardson Auditorium to one of the best houses the series has seen this summer. more
The Board of Trustees of McCarter Theatre Center recently welcomed Leslie Vought Kuenne as its new president. Ms. Kuenne, who lives in Princeton, has been a McCarter trustee since the 2012-13 season. She has served on the boards of the Arts Council of Princeton and Stony Brook Garden Club. Brian McDonald, right, was board president since 2012 and will remain as the immediate past president.
Princeton Summer Theater closes its 47th season with Sam Shepard’s “Fool for Love,” which opens on Thursday, August 4 and runs through Sunday, August 14. Winner of multiple Obie Awards, the play unfolds in a motel room in the Mojave Desert where two lovers (pictured: Olivia Nice and Matthew Seely) unravel their tangled relationship. A dark exploration into love and family, “Fool for Love” shows us how our pasts surely come back to haunt us. Performances are at the Hamilton Murray Theater located on Princeton University’s campus. To order tickets, call the PST Box Office at (732) 997-0205. (Photo by: Ogemdi Ude)
On Saturday, September 10 at 1:30 p.m., the actor Peyton Dixon will portray the Honorable James Adams as he reminisces on his life in Congress, role in the Treaty of Paris, time as vice president, and relationship with George Washington. The program will take place at Rockingham’s historic Dutch Barn, located at 84 Laurel Avenue/Kingston-Rocky Hill Road in Franklin Township, one mile north of Route 27 in Kingston. Dixon is an actor-historian with over 15 years of experience portraying John Adams. The performance is free, but advance reservations are required by calling (609) 683-7132. To learn more, visit www.rockingham.net.
Recycling company TerraCycle is hosting the 11th annual Jersey Fresh Jam, New Jersey’s biggest showcase of hip hop art and culture on Saturday, August 6. In partnership with Trenton based graffiti artists, Leon Rainbow and Vicious Styles Crew, TerraCycle is providing their headquarters as a canvas for talent around the country to express their artistic freedom. more
Open call auditions for The Pennington Players’ October show, In the Heights, will take place at Kelsey Theatre at Mercer County Community College (MCCC) on Saturday, July 30 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Sunday, August 7 from 2 to 6 p.m. All roles are open and will remain so until the end of auditions. This is a non-equity and non-paying production. more
For the past three years, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra has teamed up with Princeton University to present a week-long Composition Institute sponsored by the Edward T. Cone Foundation. Last week, four emerging composers, selected from an international applicant pool of university composition students and composers in the early stages of their careers, worked on the details and refinements of their pieces, aided by the players of the NJSO, Institute conductor David Robertson, and Institute Director and composer Steven Mackey. The week culminated in a performance by the NJSO Saturday night in Richardson Auditorium. more
THIS ONE’S FOR THE GIRLS: See 14-time Grammy nominated country star Martina McBride perform at the State Theatre of NJ in New Brunswick on Thursday, August 25 at 8 p.m. McBride is well-known for her soprano singing range and country pop materials. Her greatest hits include “Independence Day,” “A Broken Wing,” “Wild Angels,” and “This One’s for the Girls.”
