The Paper Mill Playhouse will present “Come From Away” from Feb. 4 to March 1.
Here is a roundup of major arts events taking place around New Jersey, through Feb. 6.
THEATER
• Immediately following the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, thousands of travelers were stranded at Gander International Airport in Northeast Canada, due to the closing of United States airspace. “Come From Away” — a musical about some of those travelers, and some of the people who lived in the city of Gander — premiered in 2015 and ran on Broadway from 2017 to 2022, receiving Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards for Best Musical, and also receiving seven Tony nominations.
“Come From Away” will begin previews at The Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, Feb. 4, with the official opening night on Feb. 8 and the last show on March 1. This is “reimagined” production, with actors playing instruments live, onstage; it is directed and choreographed by Richard J. Hinds, who was the associate choreographer of the Broadway production.
A question-and-answer session with “The Real Come From Aways” — some of the people on whom “Come From Away” was based — will follow the Feb. 7 matinee performance.
MESHELL NDEGEOCELLO
MUSIC
• Meshell Ndegeocello will present a show titled “No More Water: The Gospel of James Baldwin,” Feb. 5 at 7:30 p.m. at The South Orange Performing Arts Center. No More Water: The Gospel of James Baldwin is also the title of Ndegeocello’s 2024 album, featuring songs inspired by Baldwin’s writings, and spoken word segments by poet Staceyann Chin and writer Hilton Als.
“When I was commissioned by the arts organization Harlem Stage to create a musical tribute to Harlem’s favorite son, James Baldwin’s prophetic literature ‘The Fire Next Time’ was at the forefront of my mind,” Ndegeocello has said. “I’d been reading it a lot, carrying it around in my pocket. It became like my religious text. Baldwin speaks about things that are very familiar within the human condition, and the most revolutionary music to me — the music that changed my life — is the songs about the inner struggle, the commonality of being human.”
• Actor Alan Cumming will present his cabaret show “Uncut” at The Mayo Performing Arts Center in Morristown, Feb. 5 at 7:30 p.m. Cumming has said of this show that it “is slightly different to my other cabaret shows in that it’s only myself and my musical director Henry Koperski onstage. I wanted to pare everything down for this show and try something new. I really wanted the audience … to not clap until the very end, in order to make the whole piece seem like one big thought or journey. The themes for the show are what it means to be an outsider and to live your authentic life.”
• The South Orange Performing Arts Center will present the third annual South Orange International Blues Festival (Winter Edition), Feb. 6 at 7:30 p.m., with King Solomon Hicks, Blues People (featuring festival curator Mike Griot on bass), Eliza Neals, and New Moon Acoustic Blues.
MOMIX will present “Alice” at The McCarter Theatre Center in Princeton.
DANCE
• The Connecticut-based dance company MOMIX will present “Alice,” based on Lewis Carroll’s classic story “Alice in Wonderland” and choreographed by MOMIX artistic director Moses Pendleton, Jan. 31 at 7:30 p.m. at The McCarter Theatre Center in Princeton.
According to a press release, “Alice” blends “illusion, acrobatics, magic, and whimsy.” Pendleton says: “I don’t intend to retell the whole Alice story, but to use it as a taking off point for invention.” (see video below)
• The Jersey City Theater Center will present Carolyn Dorfman Dance‘s “Where Deep Waters Cross,” featuring choreography by Dorfman and poetry by Rashad Wright, Feb. 1 at 4 p.m. at Jersey City’s White Eagle Hall.
According to a press release, the work “weaves together African American and Jewish histories — stories marked by exile, resilience, survival, and rebirth. Drawing from the Middle Passage and the Holocaust, the work honors two communities shaped by profound trauma and extraordinary strength.”
• Nimbus Dance will premiere “ANIMA,” choreographed by its artistic Samuel Pott and featuring music by Qasim Naqvi, Jan. 30-31 and Feb. 6-7 at 8 p.m. and Feb. 8 at 3 p.m. at The Nimbus Arts Center in Jersey City.
According to Nimbus’ website, the work, which has been in development for 10 years, “confronts our most primal and precarious bond: humankind’s relationship with the natural world. The tumult of environmental crises, human impact on the planet’s cycles, and, most intrinsically, the disorientation and disconnect from nature, are the themes that drive this powerful and epic trilogy of dances. By turns, achingly evocative and visually astounding, ANIMA offers audiences an immersive, visceral experience that questions and reimagines our place in the natural world.”
A poster for the 2006 film “Clerks II.”
FILM
• Writer-director-actor Kevin Smith and actor Brian O’Halloran will celebrate the 20th anniversary of their movie “Clerks II” by providing live commentary at a screening of it at Smith’s SModcastle Cinemas in Atlantic Highlands, Feb. 1 at 3 p.m. According to the theater’s website, Smith “will pause the movie to tell stories about every scene.”
The theater also notes: “Every Smodcastle show at which Kevin appears runs very, very long. The night usually starts 15 to 30 minutes late, then kicks off with a fundraising auction to support the theater (which includes rare one-of-a-kind props, mementos and signed items). Post-auction, there’s an intro to begin the main program, followed by a Q&A/Group Discussion after the movie ends. We suggest you plan your night accordingly.”
(In a separate event, Smith has curated a two-hour program of Saturday morning cartoons from the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s and will host it, Feb. 1 at 8 p.m. at Smodcastle Cinemas. Smith will discuss the cartoons and premiere a new one of his own.)
• The West Orange Classic Film Festival was scheduled to begin on Jan. 25 with “Cinema Paradiso,” but that was called off because of a snowstorm, and so it will now start, Feb. 1 at 2 p.m. at AMC Dine-In Theater in West Orange, with John Sayles’ 1984 low-budget sci-fi comedy, “The Brother From Another Planet.”
“Cinema Paradiso” will now screen on March 8.
OTHER
• The Cultural Arts Series at Van Vleck House and Gardens in Montclair will present “When Film Gets Intimate,” a panel discussion on how intimacy is portrayed on screen, and the role of professional intimacy coordinators, Jan. 31 at 8 p.m. Panelists will include actors Patrick Wilson and Dagmara Domińczyk (who are married to each other) and producer-director-writer Alex Hall. Claudine Ohayon, who has worked as an intimacy coordinator as well as in other capacities in the film industry, will moderate.
REVIEWS
“Morven Revealed: Untold Stories From New Jersey’s Most Historic Home” at Morven Museum & Garden, Princeton. (Through March 1)
“Contemporary Volumes” at Morris Museum, Morris Township. Works by Brian Dettmer, Colette Fu, Samuelle Greene, Cheryl Gross, Amanda Love, Sarah Matthews, Cheryl R. Riley, Susan Rostow, Diana Schmertz. (Through March 8)
“Salvador Jiménez-Flores: Raíces & Resistencias” at Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton. (Through Aug. 1, 2027)
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