Top 10 NJ Arts Events of the Week: The Jonas Brothers, Tom Jones, NJ Ballet, more

by JAY LUSTIG
Jonas Brothers Hard Rock preview

From left, Joe, Nick and Kevin Jonas of The Jonas Brothers.

Here is a roundup of arts events taking place around the state, through May 24.

MUSIC

• The Jonas Brothers — who released a new album, titled The Album, on May 12 — will perform at the Hard Rock Live at Etess Arena at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, May 23 at 8 p.m. From August to October, the band will be on a tour on which they have promised to play every song from five of their albums — Jonas Brothers (2007), A Little Bit Longer (2008), Lines, Vines and Trying Times (2009), Happiness Begins (2019) and The Album — every night, combining some songs together in medley. But that will not apply to this show.

The five-album tour begins Aug. 12-13 at Yankee Stadium.

• Tom Jones, who is 82 and still singing as well as he ever has, will bring his Ages & Stages Tour to the Event Center at Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa in Atlantic City, May 20 at 8 p.m.; and the State Theatre in New Brunswick, May 22 at 7:30 p.m. Jones’ 2021 album Surrounded by Time included an extremely eclectic batch of songs such as Bob Dylan’s “One More Cup of Coffee,” the Mike Scott-written Waterboys song “This Is the Sea,” Todd Snider’s satiric “Talking Reality Television Blues” and the pop standard “The Windmills of Your Mind.” Jones’ shows typically combine some of his recently recorded material as well as hits such as “It’s Not Unusual,” “What’s New Pussycat?” and “Delilah.”

The Lakehouse Music Academy in Asbury Park will celebrate its 10th anniversary with a Block Party, May 21 from noon to 7 p.m. Performers will include Alexander Simone & Whodat?, deSoL, Des & The Swagmatics, Sonic Blume, Kevian Kraemer, 8dayzstr8, Hooper, Daughter Vision, Quincy Mumford, Chill Smith and Jake Thistle, and the Block Party also will feature vendors, food trucks and a beer garden. Proceeds will benefit the Asbury Park Music Foundation. (The event was moved from May 20 to May 21 because of the threat of inclement weather.)

LAURA ANGLADE

Born in France, raised in Connecticut and currently based in Toronto, jazz singer Laura Anglade performs material from the Great American Songbook as well as classics by French songwriters such as Michel Legrand and Charles Trenet. She will be backed by keyboardist Ben Rosenblum, bassist Marty Jaffe and drummer Ben Zweig at her concert at the Bickford Theatre at the Morris Museum in Morris Township, May 19 at 7:30 p.m.

Anglade’s second album — Venez Donc Chez Moi, which teamed her with guitarist Sam Kirmayer — was nominated for a Juno (the Canadian equivalent of a Grammy) this year, in the Vocal Jazz Album category.

Asian American and Pacific Islander musicians will participate in the AAPI Jazz Fest, taking place May 20 from noon to 10 p.m. at Express Newark. The Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutgers-Newark is co-producing the event, which will feature performances, on two stages, by musicians such as the AAPI Jazz Collective (led by Peter Lin), the Takuya Kuroda Quintet, the Eri Yamamoto Trio, the Jordan VanHemert Quintet, the Tim Lin Quartet, the Rez Abbasi Quartet, the Christine Correa Quintet, Friendship, mitamu and Julius Tolentino & Chameleon Big Band, and panel discussions on subjects such as “Asian Perspectives in Jazz Education,” “Asian Women Voices in Jazz” and “Asian and Black Intersectionality in Music.”

The Morris Choral Society, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, will perform Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana at the Morristown United Methodist Church on the Green, May 20 at 7 p.m. Michael Shane Wittenburg will conduct, and the 60-voice chorus will be joined by the Young People’s Chorus of New York City; soprano Manami Aoki, tenor Justin Gonzalez and baritone Jonathan Green; pianists Jennifer Yang and Julie Suh; and percussionists Adrienne Ostrander, Mark Bencivengo, Jon Berger, John Ferrari and Wes Ostrander.

Orff’s original 1937 score was for a large orchestra, but Morris Choral Society will perform Wilherm Killmayer’s 1956 adaptation.

AIDAN GRANT

Liam Robinson and Jean Rohe.

The Folk Project will celebrate its 50th anniversary with two concerts, May 19-20 at 7:30 p.m. at the Morristown Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, featuring The Robinson & Rohe Band (headlining May 19), Frank Vignola with Vinnie Raniolo (headlining May 20), Grover Kemble, Mike Agranoff, Dave Kleiner & Liz Pagan, Roger Deitz, Frank & Hank, Andrew Dunn, Ken Galipeau, Christine DeLeon and many other Folk Project regulars. The shows will be part of a two-day celebration that also will include hors d’oeuvres and mocktails with background music by the Folk Project Jazz Quartet, May 19 at 6:30 p.m.; sing-alongs, a story slam and workshops, May 20 at 1:30 p.m.; and a sit-down dinner, May 20 at 6 p.m.

The May 19 concert will also be livestreamed; visit aftontickets.com/Jubilee-Friday-Concert-05-19-23.

FAMILY

The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center will present an interactive program for children — titled “Exploring Dvořák” and hosted by musician, composer and educator Rami Vamos — May 20 at 1 and 3 p.m. at the Lee Rehearsal Room at the Lewis Arts Complex at Princeton University.

WORDS

In 2018, Vanessa Schneider published a book, in French, “My Cousin Maria Schneider” — about the late actress, who was best known for co-starring in “Last Tango in Paris” in the ’70s — and the actress Molly Ringwald recently translated it into English. Scheider and Ringwald will talk about the book, with actress Dagmara Dominczyk (currently appearing in the HBO series “Succession”) moderating, and answer questions by audience members, May 24 at 7:30 p.m. at the Clairidge Theater in Montclair.

New Jersey Ballet dancers in “Sleeping Beauty.”

DANCE

• New Jersey Ballet will end its 2022-23 with two very different shows, May 20-21 at the Mayo Performing Arts Center in Morristown.

May 20 at 7:30 p.m., a program titled “Spring Forward” will feature Christopher Wheeldon’s “This Bitter Earth,” George Balanchine’s “Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux” and Harrison Ball’s “Purcell Suite,” plus a work new to New Jersey Ballet: Lauren Lovette’s “Not Our Fate,” described in a press release as a “bold, contemporary gender-fluid ensemble work for 10 dancers.”

” ‘Not Our Fate’ is my call to progress,” Lovette has said. “I wanted the dancers to dance ‘real life’ issues that we struggle with today, for the queer men to dance together in a way that was beautiful and romantic without being forbidden, vulgar, or mistaken for just friends. I hope that every person in the audience can find something to relate to in the work and that after the show their eyes feel bathed in beauty and their hearts uplifted to keep carrying out whatever personal change they hope to see in the world.”

May 21 at 1:30 and 4:30 p.m., New Jersey Ballet will present a family-friendly show: “Princess Aurora’s Wedding,” an abridged version of “The Sleeping Beauty” with an added storytelling component.

REVIEWS

“Tales From the Guttenberg Bible,” presented by George Street Playhouse at New Brunswick Performing Arts Center. (Through May 21)

“Balloonacy” at Mile Square Theatre, Hoboken. (Through May 21)

“Shelley” at Hudson Theatre Works, Weehawken. (Through May 21)

“Traces” at The Gallery Space, Rahway. (Through May 21)

“Our Shrinking, Shrinking World” at New Jersey Repertory Company, Long Branch. (Through May 27)

“Blues for an Alabama Sky” at Berlind Theater at McCarter Theatre Center, Princeton. (Through May 28)

“Jairo Alfonso: Objectscapes” at Visual Arts Center of New Jersey, Summit. (Through June 4)

“vanessa german: … please imagine all the things i cannot say …” at Montclair Art Museum. (Through June 25)

“Ladies and Gentlemen … The Beatles!” at Grammy Museum Experience Prudential Center, Newark. (Through June 25)

“Komar and Melamid: A Lesson in History” at Zimmerli Art Museum, New Brunswick. (Through July 16)

“Each One Teach One: Preserving Legacy in Perpetuity” at Morris Museum, Morris Township. (Through Aug. 27)

“Spiral Q: The Parade” at Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton. (Through Jan. 7)

“Local Voices: Memories, Stories and Portraits” at Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton. (Through Jan. 7)

“George Inness: Visionary Landscapes” at Montclair Art Museum. (Through June 30, 2024)

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