AC/DC (from left, Stevie Young, Brian Johnson, Matt Laug, Angus Young and Chris Chaney) will perform at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, Oct. 2.
Here is a roundup of major arts events taking place around New Jersey, through Oct. 8.
MUSIC
• This month marks the 50th anniversary of the release of AC/DC‘s album Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, whose title track became the Australian band’s first major United States hit. The band will bring its Power Up Tour, which is named after its most recent album, to MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, Oct. 2 at 7 p.m., with Foo Fighters opening. (This show was postponed from Sept. 25 because of bad weather, with Foo Fighters replacing the original opening act, The Pretty Reckless.)
AC/DC’s current lineup features co-founder Angus Young on lead guitar and Brian Johnson (who joined in 1980, replacing the late Bon Scott) on lead vocals, plus Stevie Young (Angus’ nephew) on rhythm guitar, Chris Chaney (formerly of Jane’s Addiction and other groups) on bass, and Matt Laug (who has played with Alice Cooper, Alanis Morissette and others) on drums.
MULTIMEDIA
• Don Flemons of the group Carolina Chocolate Drops will present his “Bronze Buckaroo Film & Songster Show” at ArtYard in Frenchtown, Oct. 2 at 7:30 p.m. The first part of the show will feature songs from his Grammy-nominated 2018 album Black Cowboys (which was inspired by the role that African-Americans played in settling the American West), interwoven with footage from the 1939 western, “The Bronze Buckaroo,” which had an all-Black cast. The second half will feature country music associated with Black artists, and Flemons’ original songs.
Salena Qureshi, left, and Tara Venkataraman will play Mary and Preeti, respectively, in “A Beat of Our Own.”
THEATER
• The McCarter Theatre Center in Princeton will present “A Beat of Our Own” — a new musical about the world of competitive bhangra dancing — from Oct. 7 to Oct. 25. (see video preview below) Stafford Arima, an Olivier Award nominee for “Ragtime,” directs, and Jesse Robb, a Tony nominee for “Water for Elephants,” is the choreographer.
This is the plot, according to a press release: “After leading their college team to victory at the Michigan State Championships, teammates Mary and Preeti find themselves bound for Nationals.
“But when they clash over Mary’s plan to fuse multiple Indian styles into their routine, Mary breaks off and forms her own squad. There’s only one problem: aside from her chaotic roommate Sunita, none of the new recruits have ever danced before. Armed with a new sense of purpose — and a little help from a former Bollywood star — Mary sets out to mold a ragtag group of lovable misfits into title-worthy contenders. But do they stand a chance against Preeti and her team of bhangra all-stars?”
• As its title implies, the one-man play “I’m Not a Comedian … I’m Lenny Bruce” it is not just about Bruce’s controversial standup routines, but also depicts the tragedy of his life, which ended with his 1966 death by overdose, at the age of 40. Ronnie Marmo wrote and will star in this play, which is directed by Joe Mantegna, at The Union County Performing Arts Center in Rahway, Oct. 2 at 7 p.m.
Reviewing this play in 2024 at The New Brunswick Performing Arts Center, I wrote that “Marmo convincingly portrays all the different Bruces: the smooth-talking playboy, the casually foul-mouthed stage performer, the obsessive lover and, ultimately, the addict whose life unravels in every possible way.”
ESTATE OF JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT
Jean-Michel Basquiat’s “Blue Ribbon II.”
VISUAL ARTS
• An exhibition of works by Jean-Michel Basquiat, “Basquiat, the Blue Ribbon Paintings, and the Art of Reproduction,” will open at The Princeton University Art Museum on Oct. 4 and run through Jan. 31. According to the museum’s website, “this exhibition platforms one of his essential but less-known series — the Blue Ribbon paintings — and his incorporation of reproductive media to understand him in a new and compelling light … (the works are) dense with layered imagery, including anatomical diagrams, film logos, crowned figures, and textual fragments.”
DANCE
• The Wellmont Arts Plaza will host this year’s Montclair Dance Festival, Oct. 4 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., with more than 30 dance organizations — including mainstays of the New Jersey dance scene such as Nimbus Dance, Carolyn Dorfman Dance, Freespace Dance and The Alborada Spanish Dance Theatre — presenting pieces.
The festival — which was postponed from Sept. 27 because of bad weather — is free, though tickets for VIP seating are being sold.
FILM
• Barry Bostwick, who co-starred as hapless, naive Brad in “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” will talk about his experiences making it following screenings of the enduringly popular comedy/horror musical, Oct. 3 at 7:30 p.m. at The State Theatre in New Brunswick, and Oct. 4 at 8 p.m. The Scottish Rite Auditorium in Collingswood.
Bisa Butler will give a talk at Express Newark, Oct. 7.
FESTIVALS
• The Newark Arts Festival will take place from Oct. 7 to Oct. 11 with visual arts, poetry, comedy and more, including a free, family-friendly festival at Branch Brook Park, Oct. 10.
At 6:30 p.m. on the festival’s opening night, fiber artist Bisa Butler, whose “Bisa Butler Presents” exhibition will open at Newark ArtSpace on Oct. 9, and writer and Rutgers professor Salamishah Tillet will engage in a conversation titled “Bisa Butler on Purpose” at Express Newark. The talk will be followed by a performance by jazz vibraphonist and composer Stefon Harris with his band Blackout, featuring singer Alexis Morrast.
• More than 150 venues, all over Jersey City, will participate in the Oct. 1-4 JCAST (Jersey City Art and Studio Tour), with music, poetry and film also offered, in addition to the art displays.
The theme of this edition of the annual event is “Unbounded Nature,” with artists invited “to explore the relationship between humanity and the natural world — raw, limitless, and free.”
TALKS
• Eddie Brigati of The Rascals, who was inducted into The New Jersey Hall of Fame last week, will do an open-to-the-public interview with podcaster Evan Toth at Toth’s Paramus record store The Sharp Notes, Oct. 1 at 6 p.m. There will be no admission charge.
• Allan Pepper, who co-owned the famed nightclub The Bottom Line, will talk about his 2025 book “Positively Fourth and Mercer: The Inside Story of New York’s Iconic Music Club, The Bottom Line,” Oct. 2 at 7 p.m. at The Marquee Club at BergenPAC in Englewood. Co-author Billy Altman will also participate in the event, veteran radio DJ Jerry Treacy will moderate, and longtime club photographer Peter Cunningham will show some of his photos.
The Bottom Line was a staple of the Downtown New York music scene from 1974 to 2004, and hosted legendary shows by Bruce Springsteen, Lou Reed, Laura Nyro, David Johansen, Harry Chapin, Flo & Eddie and others.
ALI STROKER
• Ali Stroker, who became the first actor in a wheelchair to perform on Broadway (starring in “Spring Awakening” in 2015) and won a Tony in 2019 in the Featured Actress in a Musical category, for “Oklahoma!,” will appear in the “Community Conversation” series at The Vogel at Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank, Oct. 6 at 7 p.m.
Her talk will be about “mental health, wellness, and the role of the arts in healing, connection, and self-expression,” according to the Basie website.
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REVIEWS
“The Piano Lesson” at Two River Theater, Red Bank. (Through Oct. 4)
“Rent” at Art House Productions, Jersey City. (Through Oct. 18)
“Scott Harbison: Recent Sightings” at Galerie Lucida, Red Bank. (Through Oct. 18)
“Hank Willis Thomas: LOVERULES — From the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation” at Zimmerli Art Museum, New Brunswick. (Through Dec. 20)
“Hank Willis Thomas Selects: NJ Arts Annual” at Zimmerli Art Museum, New Brunswick. (Through Dec. 20)
“Salvador Jiménez-Flores: Raíces & Resistencias” at Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton. (Through Aug. 1)
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