OJ SLAUGHTER
HILARY HAHN
Here is a roundup of arts events taking place around the state, through Feb. 3.
MUSIC
• Three-time Grammy winner Hilary Hahn will perform Jean Sibelius’ Violin Concerto with the New Jersey Symphony, Jan. 28 at 8 p.m. at the Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank; and Jan. 29 at 3 p.m. at Prudential Hall at NJPAC in Newark. NJS music director Xian Zhang will conduct, and the program will also include Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Ballade in A Minor; and Sergei Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5.
One of Hahn’s Grammy wins was in 2009, as the featured soloist on the Schoenberg/Sibelius: Violin Concertos album released by the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen.
• The Troubadour Acoustic Concert Series will present its annual Valentine’s Day Extravaganza for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic, Feb. 3 at 7:30 p.m. at the Morristown Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, with a variety of Folk Project members performing songs about love, some with backing by a house band.
MARK EVANS
• Mark Evans — a singer and actor whose Broadway credits include “Mrs. Doubtfire,” “Waitress” and “The Play That Goes Wrong” — will present a cabaret show titled “Hide & Seek” at the Cabaret in the Loft series at the South Orange Performing Arts Center, Jan. 29 at 7 p.m.
A West Orange resident, Evans appeared in the musical “The Last Supper” at SOPAC, last summer.
THEATER
• Lynn Nottage’s “Clyde’s,” which ran on Broadway in late 2021 and early 2022 and earned five Tony nominations, including one for Best Play — will be presented by George Street Playhouse at the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center. It begins previews on Jan. 31, with the official opening on Feb. 3 and the last show on Feb. 19.
“Clyde’s” is about ex-cons who work together in a diner. Nottage has said it is “a dramedy about creativity, resilience, mindfulness, community, and the healing power of delicious food.”
• The Two River Theater in Red Bank will begin previews of “Living and Breathing” on Jan. 28, with the official opening on Feb. 23 and the last show on Feb. 26. Written by Mando Alvarado and developed as part of the 2019 Two River Theater Crossing Borders (Cruzando Fronteras) Festival, “Living and Breathing” will make its world premiere with this production.
In the play, according to a press release, “The impulsive purchase of some provocative art — a living Latino man who is paid to behave as a statue — shatters a multi-ethnic friend group by sparking questions of commodification, stereotypes, and complacency.”
• The sketch comedy troupe The 1491s — whose members are best known for their contributions to the Hulu TV series, “Reservation Dogs” — will present its “Between Two Knees” at the McCarter Theatre Center in Princeton, with previews beginning Jan. 31, the official opening on Feb. 4, and the last show on Feb. 12.
According to the McCarter website, the play is a “tale of familial love, loss, and connection (that) fractures traditional narratives of the United States through the lens of the Native American experience. Smashing through where most textbooks stop teaching Native history — the 1890 massacre at Wounded Knee — ‘Between Two Knees’ take us from the forced re-education at Indian boarding schools, through World War II, the Civil Rights Movement, Vietnam, the 1973 takeover at Wounded Knee, and maybe even breaks time itself.”
SARA CONTRERAS
COMEDY
• Ladies of Laughter, an organization that has been promoting female comedians since 1989, presents a show at BergenPAC in Englewood, Feb. 3 at 8 p.m., with Sara Contreras, Erin Maguire, Liz Glazer, Maureen Langan and Marion Grodin, plus Dena Blizzard serving as host.
FAMILY ENTERTAINMENT
• Rock and Roll Playhouse, which specializes in playing classic-rock songs for children, will perform the songs of Bruce Springsteen at White Eagle Hall in Jersey City, Jan. 29 at noon. Children younger than 1 will be admitted for free, and all children must be accompanied by an adult.
FILM
• Over the next two weeks, The Barrymore Film Center in Fort Lee will present series devoted to the classic films of Billy Wilder (“Some Like It Hot,” Jan. 27 at 7:30 p.m.; “Double Indemnity,” Jan. 28 at 2:45 p.m.; “Sunset Boulevard,” Jan. 28 at 7 p.m.; “The Apartment,” Jan. 29 at 1:30 p.m. and “The Lost Weekend,” Jan. 29 at 4 p.m.) and Alfred Hitchcock (“The Birds,” Feb. 1 at 7:15 p.m.; “North by Northwest,” Feb. 3 at 7:30 p.m.; “The Man Who Knew Too Much,” Feb. 4 at 1:15 p.m.; “To Catch a Thief,” Feb. 4 at 3:45 p.m. and “Vertigo,” Feb. 4 at 7:15 p.m.).
OTHER
• “Langston & Beethoven: Black & Proud” — taking place at the Union County Performing Arts Center in Rahway, Jan. 31 at 7 p.m. — pairs poetry by Langston Hughes with music by Beethoven, Gershwin and others. It is curated and narrated by WQXR host Terrance McKnight and is free, though advance registration is required at ucnj.org/black-history-month. Joining McKnight at the show will be pianist Kyle Walker, oboe player David Norville and singer Chauncey Packer.
REVIEWS
“RetroBlakesberg: Captured on Film, 1978-2008,” works by rock photographer Jay Blakesberg at Morris Museum, Morris Township. (Through Feb. 5)
“Popcorn Falls” at New Jersey Repertory Company, Long Branch. (Through Feb. 12)
“Derrick Belcham: The You Voice” at MANA Contemporary, Jersey City. (Through Feb. 12)
“Michael Dal Cerro: The Infinite City” at Monmouth Museum, Lincroft. (Through Feb. 12)
“New Jersey Arts Annual: Reemergence” at State Museum, Trenton. (Through April 30)
“Ladies and Gentlemen … The Beatles!” at Grammy Museum Experience Prudential Center, Newark. (Through June 25)
“George Inness: Visionary Landscapes” at Montclair Art Museum. (Through June 30, 2024)
We need your help!
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.
