Pantera (from left, Rex Brown, Charlie Benante, Philip H. Anselmo and Zakk Wylde).
Here is a roundup of major arts events taking place around New Jersey, through July 31.
MUSIC
• Guitarist Dimebag Darrell and drummer Vinnie Paul — original members of the ferocious hard-rock band Pantera — died in 2004 and 2018, respectively. But the band’s singer, Philip H. Anselmo, and bassist, Rex Brown, have been performing under that name again since 2022, with guitarist Zakk Wylde (Black Label Society, Ozzy Osbourne) and drummer Charlie Benante (Anthrax).
Anselmo, 57, said in a recent interview: “It’s Pantera, man, so it’s still going to war. I’ll be honest, that’s some young-man shit to sing, so you’ve got to throw everything into it. It’s a beating, very physical. But when I see the crowd reaction, I love it. I don’t care. That’s the payoff right there. And yet funnily enough, it’s also cathartic. When I get into the zone, it blocks out all the noise and the bullshit and it’s mellow.”
Pantera will perform at The PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, July 31 at 7 p.m., with Amon Amarth and King Parrot opening. (UPDATE: This show has been postponed to Sept. 8, due to the death of Ozzy Osbourne.)
• Pat Guadagno & the Lonesome Cowboys (featuring Norman Seldin, P.K. Lavengood, Pam McCoy, Table Top Joe and Gary Oleyar) will present a tribute to the greatest country singer-songwriter ever, Hank Williams (“Your Cheatin’ Heart,” “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry,” “Lovesick Blues,” “I Saw the Light,” “Hey, Good Lookin’,” etc.), July 27 at 7:30 p.m., at the free Country Sundays series at Woodbridge High School.
MICHAEL WEINTROB
Adrian Belew, left, and Jerry Harrison.
• Talking Heads member Jerry Harrison and Adrian Belew, who played with the band in 1980 and 1981, will bring their Remain in Light 2025 Tour — named after the great 1980 Talking Heads album — to The Newton Theatre, July 30 at 8 p.m. The show will feature songs from the album — such as “Once in a Lifetime,” “Born Under Punches,” “Crosseyed and Painless,” “The Great Curve” and “Houses in Motion” — and more. Psymon Spine will open.
“When we were doing those tours,” said Harrison, in an NJArts.net interview, of the Talking Heads tours that followed Remain in Light, “it was hard for people to compete with us because there was such joy and excitement coming off the stage.”
• The Troubadour Concert Series at The Morristown Unitarian Universalist Fellowship will present a 50th Birthday Show, July 25 at 7:30 p.m. According to the series’ website, “Dozens of musicians and singers from our membership will perform. One month ago, all the members who wished to be in the show put their names into a common pool and were combined into randomly selected duos and trios. Each of those groups has worked up and will present one song on stage for the show. It’s a celebration not only of our first show, but of our members, and our creed that everyone’s music is of value.”
• Elliot Lurie, who wrote and sang lead on the 1972 Looking Glass hit “Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl),” will perform with the Yacht Rock Gold band at their free Twilight Concert Series show at Jack Curtis Stadium at Cooper River Park in Pennsauken, July 31 at 8 p.m.
CIMAFUNK
• Cimafunk — the Cuba-born, New Orleans-based singer-songwriter whose album El Alimento was nominated in the Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album category of the Grammys in 2023 — will perform in the free Sounds of the City series, in front of NJPAC in Newark, July 31 at 5 p.m. Primera Linea, a youth band from Havana that Cimafunk mentors, will open.
MUSIC/THEATER
• Crossing Borders (Cruzando Fronteras) — the annual festival featuring readings of new plays by Latine playwrights, and Latine music — will take place at Two River Theater in Red Bank, July 31 and Aug. 1-3, with no admission charge for any event.
Here is the schedule. All events are inside the theater except for the Kick-Off Celebration.
July 31, 5 p.m.: Community Kick-Off Celebration, with music and food on the plaza.
July 31, 7 p.m.: “The Myth of the Two Marcos,” written by Tony Meneses, directed by José Zayas.
Aug. 1, 5:30 p.m.: “Stories From the Heart” (poems, stories and more by Red Bank middle school students).
Aug. 1, 7 p.m.: “Miss America Pretty,” written by Iraisa Ann Reilly, directed by José Zayas.
Aug. 2, 2 p.m.: “Disaster Preparedness,” written by Eliana Pipes, directed by Taylor Reynolds.
Aug. 2, 8 p.m.: Music by Latin rock band Xol Azul.
Aug. 3, 2 p.m.: “Vidas Privadas,” written by Christina Pumariega (inspired by Noël Coward’s “Private Lives”), directed by Eddie Torres.
Since “Crossing Borders (Cruzando Fronteras)” began in 2011, seven of its plays have gone on to be fully produced by Two River Theater.
CHARLOTTE d’AMBOISE
THEATER
• Tony nominees Charlotte d’Amboise and Nancy Opel and fellow Broadway veterans Amy Spanger and Kathy Fitzgerald will co-star in “Steel Magnolias” at The Bell Theater at Bell Works in Holmdel, July 25 to Aug. 10. Robert Harling’s 1987 play, about a group of friends and relatives in a small Southern town, was made into a 1989 film co-starring Julia Roberts, Sally Field, Shirley MacLlaine and others.
• The Plays-in-the-Park series at The Stephen J. Capestro Theater at Roosevelt Park in Edison will present its third and final musical of the summer — the nostalgic 1971 show about the ’50s, “Grease” — July 30-31 and Aug. 1-2 and 4-9 at 8 p.m.
• Two River Theater in Red Bank will celebrate the 10th anniversary of the world premiere of the musical “Be More Chill” with concerts, July 24 at 8 p.m. and July 25 at 4 and 8 p.m., featuring many of its cast members, including Will Connolly, George Salazar, Eric William Morris, Gerard Canonico, Katlyn Carlson, Lauren Marcus, Will Roland and Jason SweetTooth Williams.
“Be More Chill,” featuring music and lyrics by Joe Iconis and a book by Joe Tracz, was commissioned by Two River Theater. After its 2015 premiere there, it ran on Broadway in 2019, receiving a Tony nomination for Best Original Score. It is a high-school comedy with a sci-fi twist, as a misfit teen stumbles upon a new kind of pill that magically solves some of his problems, but also creates other ones. Check out my 2015 review HERE.
In addition to the concerts, the theater will host a free conversation with Iconis and some of the actors, hosted by Two River artistic director Justin Waldman, July 23 at 8 p.m.
Matthew McConaughey in “Dazed and Confused.”
FILM
• Montclair Film will present a free screening of “Dazed and Confused” — the Richard Linklater-directed and -written 1993 high school comedy whose large cast included Ben Affleck, Milla Jovovich, Parker Posey, Matthew McConaughey, Joey Lauren Adams and Anthony Rapp — at Anderson Park in Montclair, July 27 at sunset.
Kahane Corn Cooperman — a Montclair resident who directed and co-produced “Making Dazed,” the 2005 documentary about the making of the film — will introduce the film.
OTHER
• The East Freehold Showgrounds in Freehold will host the Monmouth County Fair, July 23-27, with attractions including rides; food vendors; professional wresting; racing pigs; the “Mutts Gone Nuts” dog-stunt show; 4-H shows and exhibits; fireworks and more, plus music by Yasgur’s Farm, July 23 at 8:15 and 9:30 p.m.; The Mission Dance Band, July 24 at 8:30 p.m.; Nicole Atkins, July 25 at 8:30 p.m.; Yellow Brick Road (Elton John tribute), July 26 at 8:30 p.m.; Rockit Academy, July 27 at 2 p.m.; and Jackson Pines, July 27 at 4:15 p.m.
REVIEWS
“The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) [revised] [again]” at F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre at Drew University, Madison. (Through Aug. 3)
“The Mallard,” presented by Premiere Stages at The Bauer Boucher Theatre Center at Kean University, Union. (Through Aug. 3)
“How My Grandparents Fell in Love: A Musical” at New Jersey Repertory Company, Long Branch. (Through Aug. 10)
“Andrea Chung: The Ocean Doesn’t Recognize Tears” at Project for Empty Space, Newark. (Through Aug. 17)
“Pulp: The Fluid and The Concrete” at Hunterdon Art Museum, Clinton. Paper-making works. (Through Aug. 31)
“Indigenous Identities: Here, Now & Always” at Zimmerli Art Museum, New Brunswick. (Through Dec. 21)
“Morven Revealed: Untold Stories From New Jersey’s Most Historic Home” at Morven Museum & Garden, Princeton. (Through March 1)
_____________________________
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.
