ED SHEERAN
Here is a roundup of major arts events taking place around New Jersey, through Oct. 2.
MUSIC
• Ed Sheeran, Goo Goo Dolls, Shaboozey, Alex Warren and Lola Young will perform at the 12th annual “We Can Survive” concert, organized by the Audacy company as a benefit for mental health initiatives, Sept. 26 at 7 p.m. at The Prudential Center in Newark.
Sept. 26 also happens to be the day that Sheeran puts tickets on sale to two September 2026 concerts at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford.
In its first nine years, “We Can Survive” was presented at The Hollywood Bowl. It then moved to the Prudential Center. Among those in the 2023 10th anniversary lineup were Maroon 5, OneRepublic and Kelly Clarkson. Justin Timberlake, New Kids on the Block, Tate McRae and others performed last year.
Audacy, which was created by CBS Radio and known as Radio.com before a 2021 rebranding, is a network for more than 220 radio stations and thousands of podcasts.
• Broadway stars Laura Benanti and Norm Lewis will be performers at this year’s edition of the annual “Spotlight Gala” fundraiser presented at NJPAC in Newark, Sept. 27, with cocktails at 5:30 p.m., dinner at 6:45 p.m., the concert and awards ceremony at 8 p.m., and a dessert-and-dancing after-party at 9:30 p.m. Concert-and-after-party tickets are available, as well as tickets for the entire gala.
The Spotlight Gala is presented by the Women@NJPAC organization to support NJPAC’s work in arts education, community engagement and arts and well-being.
From left, G.E. Smith, Larry Campbell and Jim Weider.
• Three great guitarists — G.E. Smith, Larry Campbell and Jim Weider — will perform together, under the name Masters of the Telecaster, Sept. 26 at 7:30 p.m. at The South Orange Performing Arts Center. Smith has played with Hall & Oates, Bob Dylan, Roger Waters and the “Saturday Night Live” band. Campbell has performed with Dylan and Levon Helm, and toured and recorded extensively with his wife, singer Teresa Williams. Jim Weider is best known as a member of The Band and now performs The Band songs and more with the group The Weight Band.
• Yes will perform its 1971 album Fragile — featuring songs such as “Roundabout,” “Long Distance Runaround” and “Heart of the Sunrise” — at The Mayo Performing Arts Center in Morristown, Oct. 2 at 7:30 p.m.; and The Hard Rock Live at Etess Arena at The Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, Oct. 4 at 8 p.m.
The band currently includes Steve Howe on guitar, Geoff Downes on keyboards, Jon Davison on vocals and guitar, Billy Sherwood on bass, and Jay Schellen on drums. Only Howe was a member of the band at the time of Fragile, which was the band’s fourth album, and its first to yield a Top 20 hit: “Roundabout.”
• New Jersey Festival Orchestra will kick off its 2025-26 season with concerts titled “The Gypsy Spirit,” Sept. 27 at 7 p.m. at Westfield Presbyterian Church, and Sept. 28 at 2:30 p.m. at The Sieminski Theater in Basking Ridge. The program will include Leoš Janáček’s Sinfonietta; Max Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1; and Manuel de Falla Three-Cornered Hat Suites, 1 & 2. Xiao Wang will be featured on the Violin Concerto. And, in Westfield only, Imperial Brass will also perform.
There will also be pre-concert lectures one hour before showtime, by Yifei Xu.
Click HERE to read a new interview with NJFO music director and conductor David Wroe.
CATHERINE RUSSELL
• Catherine Russell, a three-time nominee in the Grammy Awards’ Jazz Vocal Album category, will kick off this fall’s Jazz Room Series at The Shea Center for Performing Arts at William Paterson University in Wayne, with a show at 3 p.m. Sept. 28. There will also be a “meet the artist” session with her at 2 p.m., open to all ticket-holders.
• Trombonist and composer Jesús “Aguaje” Ramos, a former member of the Buena Vista Social Club band, will lead The Buena Vista Orchestra — featuring other Buena Vista Social Club alumni as well — in an evening of classic Cuban music, Oct. 2 at 7 p.m. at BergenPAC in Englewood, and Oct. 4 at 8 p.m. at The State Theatre in New Brunswick.
Buena Vista Social Club music was brought to the world via a hit self-titled 1997 album, followed by an Oscar-nominated 1999 documentary. A stage adaptation, also called “Buena Vista Social Club,” is currently running on Broadway, and has won five Tonys.
FESTIVALS
• The third annual Middlesex County Jazz Festival will offer free shows in four different cities from Sept. 24 to Sept. 28. Here is the schedule:
Sept. 24, 7 p.m.: Elizabeth Bougerol (of The Hot Sardines), Brass Queens, Woodbridge High School Jazz Choir at Acacia Youth Center, Woodbridge (moved from Parker Press Park because of the threat of bad weather).
Sept. 26, 7 p.m.: Lezlie Harrison at URSB Carteret Performing Arts Center.
Sept. 27, 5:30 p.m.: Sherrie Maricle & the DIVA Jazz Orchestra, AAPI Jazz Collective led by Peter Lin, Metuchen High School music ensembles and performers from Metuchen Dance Center at Metuchen High School.
Sept. 28, 1 p.m.: Conrad Herwig’s Latin Side All Stars, Antoinette Montague, Mike Noordzy & the Rutgers Alumni Jazz Orchestra at Livington Avenue, New Brunswick.
Ronny Chieng and Hasan Minhaj.
COMEDY
• Hasan Minhaj and Ronnie Chieng, who will tour together from early October to late November, are also presenting three little-publicized shows together — they are calling them “Secret Shows” — at The New Brunswick Performing Arts Center, Sept. 26 and 28 at 7:30 p.m., as well as Sept. 28 at 4 p.m.
The October-to-December tour is being called “Hasan Hates Ronny: A Debate to the Death,” and is described on the hasanhatesronny.com website this way: “During these divided times, many people believe that open dialogue and discourse are the only tools to mend a divided nation. Comedians Hasan Minhaj and Ronny Chieng believe the opposite: hatred is the answer.
“For one night only — in 19 cities — Hasan and Ronny will face off in a no-holds-barred live debate where they will take each other to task personally and professionally. If hate is your love language, don’t miss out.”
DANCE
• Camille A. Brown & Dancers will present a show titled “I Am” at The McCarter Theatre Center in Princeton, Sept. 26 at 7:30 p.m. According to a press release, in this piece “Brown imagines new possibilities for self-actualization, Black joy, and cultural liberation. Drawing inspiration from HBO’s Lovecraft Country and the pulse of Drumline, she interweaves African diasporic dance forms with live music and reimagined ’90s R&B hits, creating a performance that is energetic, immersive, and universal in its celebration of humanity.”
Noche Flamenca will present “Searching for Goya” in Rahway, Sept. 28.
• Soledad Barrio and her Noche Flamenca company will presented a show titled “Searching for Goya,” featuring about a dozen vignettes inspired by paintings by the great Spanish artist Francisco de Goya (1746-1828), Sept. 28 at 5 p.m. at The Union County Performing Arts Center in Rahway.
Noche Flamenca artistic director and co-founder Martín Santangelo directs the show, which he co-choreographed with Barrio. Mark MacDonald, curator at The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Goya expert, served as an artistic consultant.
THEATER
• “Bull Durham,” a musical based on the 1988 movie, will open the 2025-26 season at The Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, with its first preview on Oct. 2, its official opening night on Oct. 12, and its last show on Nov. 2.
Ron Shelton, who wrote and directed the film — which co-starred Kevin Costner and Tim Robbins as minor-league baseball players, and Susan Sarandon as a woman who is romantically interested in both of them — also wrote the book for the musical, which features music and lyrics by singer-songwriter Susan Werner. It premiered in 2014 at The Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, but there were reportedly significant changes before its 2024 run at The Reynolds Industries Theater at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina.
FAMILY ENTERTAINMENT
• Tanglewood Marionettes will explore mythology through puppets in its “Perseus and Medusa” show, to be presented at The F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre at Drew University in Madison, Sept. 27 at 11 a.m.. The show is described as appropriate for grades 1-8 and best for grades 3-8.
The cover of Kate McKinnon’s book, “The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science: Secrets of the Purple Pearl.”
BOOKS
• Former “Saturday Night Live” cast member Kate McKinnon published a novel for young adults, “The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science,” last year, with a sequel, “The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science: Secrets of the Purple Pearl,” due out Sept. 30. She will sign copies of it, Sept. 28 at noon at Books & Greetings in Northvale.
OTHER
• As part of the New Jersey International Film Festival at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, Steven C. Schechter, a film industry attorney, will present a workshop titled “The Film Business: Basic Legal and Business Aspects of Motion Picture Production and Distribution,” Sept. 28 at 1 p.m., at Rutgers’ Voorhees Hall.
There is no admission charge, though advance registration is required; email njmac12@gmail.com.
REVIEWS
“Romeo & Juliet,” presented by Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey at F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre at Drew University, Madison. (Through Oct. 5)
“Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Links” at Two River Theater, Red Bank. (Through Oct. 5)
“Can’t Run, Can’t Dance” at New Jersey Repertory Company, Long Branch. (Through Oct. 5)
“Léni Paquet-Morante: Extract/Abstract,” presented by Princeton University Art Museum at Art@Bainbridge. (Through Nov. 2)
“Indigenous Identities: Here, Now & Always” at Zimmerli Art Museum, New Brunswick. (Through Dec. 21)
“Tom Nussbaum: But Wait, There’s More!” at Montclair Art Museum. (Through Jan. 4)
“Morven Revealed: Untold Stories From New Jersey’s Most Historic Home” at Morven Museum & Garden, Princeton. (Through March 1)
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