JOHN PIZZARELLI
Here is a roundup of major arts events taking place around New Jersey, through April 2.
MUSIC
• Jazz singer and guitarist John Pizzarelli released, early this month, a Tony Bennett tribute album, Dear Mr. Bennett, and Pizzarelli’s trio, also featuring pianist Isaiah J. Thompson and bassist Mike Karn, will play songs from it at The Shea Center for Performing Arts at William Paterson University in Wayne, March 29 at 3 p.m. (There will also be a “Sittin’ In” meet-the-artist session with Pizzarelli, offered to ticket holders at no extra charge, at 2 p.m.)
Pizzarelli’s late father, guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli, performed often with Bennett, and appeared on Bennett albums such as To My Wonderful One (1960) and I’ve Gotta Be Me (1969). John Pizzarelli backed Bennett as well, and a napkin portrait of him, created by Bennett during a show at Feinstein’s in New York, is featured on the cover of Dear Mr. Bennett.
This year marks the 100th anniversary of Bennett’s birth, on Aug. 3, 1926.
Check out Pizzarelli’s version of “The Best Is Yet to Come,” from Dear Mr. Bennett, below.
• The tribute show “The Soul of Burt Bacharach,” which I reviewed in November at Kean University in Hillside, will be presented again at The South Orange Performing Arts Center, March 27 at 7:30 p.m.
Produced by bassist and bandleader Mike Griot, the November show featured three vocalists and a 16-piece band on songs co-written by Bacharach and associated with Dionne Warwick (“Walk on By,” “Anyone Who Had a Heart,” “Do You Know the Way to San Jose,” “I Say a Little Prayer”), Luther Vandross (“A House Is Not a Home”), B.J. Thomas (“Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head”), The Carpenters (“Close to You”), Christopher Cross (“Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do)”), Patti LaBelle & Michael McDonald (“On My Own”), Elvis Costello (“God Give Me Strength”) and others, plus biographical narration by Dave Popkin.
EBRU YILDIZ
RHIANNON GIDDENS
• The Silkroad Ensemble, created by Yo-Yo Ma in 2000, is collective of Eurasian musicians named after the overland silk trade routes that connected Asia, Southern Europe and Northeast Africa for nearly 1600 years before the development of more useful maritime routes in the 1400s rendered them obsolete. The group, now led by Rhiannon Giddens, will perform at The McCarter Theatre Center in Princeton, March 28 at 7:30 p.m.
The show is titled “Sanctuary: The Power of Resonance and Ritual” and, according to the McCarter website, will explore “how we can all experience music to help understand our world, comfort people, help people to process loss and a changing environment, and rebuild community based on our own humanity.”
• The Singer-Songwriter Cape May conference and showcase — which has been on hiatus since being cancelled in the early days of the pandemic, in March 2020 — will return on March 27 and 28, with keynote speeches by Pete Mroz and Maya de Vitry; panel discussions and workshops (on subjects such as “Recording and Releasing New Music in 2026,” “Story to Strategy: Marketing & Branding for Independent Artists” and “Harnessing AI for Music Creation: A Legal Perspective”) and performances at many Cape May venues that are free to the general public.
• On No King’s Day (March 28) at 7:30 p.m., The 503 Social Club in Hoboken will present a benefit for families affected by ICE with the theme of “Songs of Freedom.” Performers will include Abbe Rivers, Bill McGarvey, Ed Fogarty, Ed Seifert, Elena & Boo (of The Demolition String Band), Jon & Deena (of The Cucumbers), Karyn Kuhl and poets Danny Shot and Eliot Katz.
EILEN JEWELL
• Eilen Jewell recently released a cover of Woody Guthrie’s more-timely-than-ever protest song “Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos)” (listen below) and has also announced that starting in 2027, she will take an extended break from touring.
“After 2026, touring and I will part ways for a year, maybe two, maybe fifty … it’s hard to say at this point,” she wrote, in a statement. “I do hope to keep performing in some capacity. Maybe come see me on a weeknight in some Boise dive, playing for potatoes? Or strumming the guitar for a handful of fellow meditators as we contemplate the Dharma and the temporary nature of all things. I need some time for a new exploration, to try to be the kind of mother I want to be, and to stop moving long enough ‘to let my soul catch up with me,’ as my grandma Jeanne used to say. Who knows what will come of that? Maybe on some jingle-jangle morning I’ll come following the next great dream, rested and ready to go anywhere. But until then, suffice it to say … thank you. Thank you, thank you to everyone who carried me forward all this way and in all your different ways.”
Her only currently scheduled New Jersey show will take place at The Avenel Performing Arts Center, April 2 at 7:30 p.m.
• Keyboardist Rick Wakeman was an on-again, off-again member of the progressive-rock group Yes from 1971 to 2004, and contributed to some of the band’s greatest albums, including Fragile and Going for the One. His son Oliver also played keyboards in the band from 2009 to 2011. Both have been members of the band Strawbs, as well.
Now, for the first time, they are touring together, in a show titled “Rick Wakeman and Son.” They will perform at BergenPAC in Englewood, March 25 at 7 p.m.; and The Vogel at The Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank, March 29 at 7 p.m.
JUAN ESTEBAN MARTINEZ
• New Jersey Symphony, conducted by music director Xian Zhang, will perform Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6, “Pastoral,” at Prudential Hall at NJPAC in Newark, March 27-28 at 7:30 p.m.; and The Mayo Performing Arts Center in Morristown, March 29 at 2 p.m. The program will also include Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto (featuring Juan Esteban Martinez) and Mozart’s Divertimento in D Major, K. 136.
The March 27 concert will open with a performance by the New Jersey Symphony Youth Orchestra’s Academy Orchestra, and free “Classical Conversation” talks with Symphony musicians will be offered at 6:30 p.m. March 28, and at 1 p.m March 29.
THEATER
• John Adams, Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Hancock and other founding fathers will be portrayed, onstage, at The Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, from April 1 to May 2, in a production of the 1969 musical “1776,” timed to coincide with this year’s celebration of the 250th anniversary of our country.
The musical’s songs were written by Sherman Edwards, who grew up in Newark and was a longtime Parsippany resident. Edwards worked mainly, throughout his career, as a pop, jazz and rock songwriter, with credits including “Wonderful! Wonderful!” (recorded by Johnny Mathis), “Flaming Star” (recorded by Elvis Presley) and “Broken Hearted Melody” (recorded by Sarah Vaughan).
• “Stereophonic” — which won five Tonys, including Best Play, during its 2024-25 Broadway run — can be seen at The State Theatre in New Brunswick, March 28 at 2 and 8 p.m and March 29 at 1 and 6:30 p.m. The play, about a 1970s rock band going through a rough time while recording an album, is not a musical, per se, but does feature some music, written by Will Butler of the band Arcade Fire.
• The innovative play “What the Constitution Means to Me” combines playwright Heidi Schreck’s memories of being a 15-year-old who gave speeches on the Constitution; her thoughts, as an adult, on the Constitution; excerpts from historical recordings; a debate on whether the Constitution should be abolished; and a question-and-answer session. It ran on Broadway in 2019 and was nominated for a Tony in the Best Play category. It also was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
The Vanguard Theater Company in Montclair will present the play from March 27 to April 12.
• “Lady Luck & the Golden Age of Broadway” — a gala fundraiser for Summit Chorale, taking place at The Cranford Social, March 28 at 7:30 p.m. — will feature chorale members performing songs from “Guys & Dolls” and other classic musicals, both solo, and as a group.
JAY LENO
COMEDY
• Former TV talk show hosts Jay Leno and Arsenio Hall will team up for a show at Caesars in Atlantic City, March 27 at 9 p.m.
FILM
• Ella Lambiase’s visualization of Bruce Springsteen’s “Thunder Road” (watch below), containing scenes shot in Asbury Park, will be screened at Asbury Lanes, March 29 at noon, as part of this year’s Garden State Film Festival.
The festival will also offer scores of other screenings and workshops, in both Asbury Park and Cranford, March 26-29 For a complete list, visit gsff.org.
• The West Orange Classic Film Festival will screen “Politics Schmolitics” (featuring comedy shorts, trailers and cartoons from the ’30s and ’40s), March 29 at 2 p.m. at The AMC Dine-In Theater in West Orange.
OTHER
• The Chill Out Autograph Expo — taking place at The Hanover Marriott Hotel in Whippany, April 2-4 — will offer opportunities to meet dozens of celebrities, including Brooke Shields, Boy George, Dolph Lundgren, Debby Boone, Carmen Electra, Michael Paré, Heather Thomas, Catherine Bach, Dominic Chianese, Gerry Cooney and Michael Spinks.
REVIEWS
“Richard III,” presented by The Curtain at Nimbus Arts Center, Jersey City. (Through March 29)
“Art (Official) Intelligence” at Gallery 14C at Project 14C, Jersey City. (Through April 2)
“Allan Rohan Crite: Neighborhood” at Zimmerli Art Museum, New Brunswick. (Through July 31)
“Salvador Jiménez-Flores: Raíces & Resistencias” at Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton. (Through Aug. 1, 2027)
_____________________________
CONTRIBUTE TO NJARTS.NET
Since launching in September 2014, NJArts.net, a 501(c)(3) organization, has become one of the most important media outlets for the Garden State arts scene. And it has always offered its content without a subscription fee, or a paywall. Its continued existence depends on support from members of that scene, and the state’s arts lovers. Please consider making a contribution of any amount to NJArts.net via PayPal, or by sending a check made out to NJArts.net to 11 Skytop Terrace, Montclair, NJ 07043.
