The band String Cheese Incident will perform at NJPAC in Newark, June 17, as part of this year’s Prudential North to Shore Festival.
New Jersey’s third annual Prudential North to Shore Festival — featuring events in the fields of music, comedy, film, technology, visual arts and more, and taking place in Newark, Asbury Park, Atlantic City, Red Bank and Montclair — begins this week. It will last until June 29, but here are some of the early events (i.e., taking place through June 19):
June 14, noon-5 p.m.: Orange Loop Block Party at The Garden at Cardinal AC, Atlantic City. With community art projects, crafts vendors, and music by the Atlantic City-based DJ collective, Weekday Underground.
June 14, 8 p.m.: Eggy at Wonder Bar, Asbury Park.
June 15, 1-5 p.m.: “Global Grooves” at O’Donnell Memorial Park, Atlantic City. With music by Mums the Word, Joyas de Honduras, Magdaliz & her Latin Ensemble CRISOL and DJ Jose; dance instruction by Arlin’s Dance Spot; vendors; international food; and children’s activities.
June 15, 7 p.m.: LA LOM (Los Angeles League of Musicians) at Wonder Bar, Asbury Park.
June 16, 7 p.m.: The Foes of Fern, Blush, American Girlfriend, The Extensions at Wonder Bar, Asbury Park.
June 17, 7:15 p.m.: The String Cheese Incident at Prudential Hall at NJPAC, Newark.
June 18, 7 p.m.: Motion City Soundtrack at Stone Pony, Asbury Park.
June 18, 7 p.m.: New Jersey Symphony at Marine Park, Red Bank.
June 18-20: Black Creative Economy Summit at Newark Symphony Hall.
June 19, 3-5 p.m.: “Sense of Belonging: An Immersive Sensory Experience for All” at Asbury Park Carousel.
June 19, 5 p.m.: “Springwood Avenue Sounds: Past, Present and Future – A Legacy” at Blackbird Community Commons, Asbury Park. Featuring Gregg “Toogie” Bouie & Friends and RockIt Live Foundation musicians.
June 19, 6 p.m.: Delicate Steve, Barney Cortez at Wonder Bar, Asbury Park.
June 19, 7 p.m.: Steel Pulse, Over the Bridge at Stone Pony, Asbury Park.
June 19, 7 p.m.: “She’s NorMale – A Transgender Odyssey” featuring Geenetica (Dr. Geena Buono) at House of Independents, Asbury Park.
June 19, 8 p.m.: Natalia Lafourcade at Prudential Hall at NJPAC, Newark.
Here is a roundup of other major arts events taking place around New Jersey, through June 19.
JELLY ROLL
MUSIC
• New Jersey’s biggest country music event of the year — the fifth annual Barefoot County Music Fest — will take place on the beach in Wildwood, from June 19 to June 22. The co-headliners will be Rascal Flatts (June 19), Lainey Wilson (June 20), Jason Aldean (June 21) and Jelly Roll (June 22), with other performers including Chris Janson, Boyz II Men, Warren Zeiders, Megan Moroney, Colt Ford, Jordan Davis, Ella Langley, Chris Cagle, Lanco, Sam Barber and Chayce Beckham.
• As you have probably heard by now, Brian Wilson died this week, at the age of 82. He was, of course, no longer touring, but the current road version of The Beach Boys (led by his cousin, Beach Boys co-founder Mike Love) will sing and play the songs that made him immortal, June 14 at 7:30 p.m. at The PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, and June 23-24 at 6 and 8:30 p.m. at The Ocean City Music Pier.
• As part of this year’s edition of its annual Princeton Festival, The Princeton Symphony Orchestra will present Giacomo Puccini’s 1900 opera “Tosca,” June 13 at 7 p.m., June 15 at 4 p.m. and June 17 at 7 p.m. at the Performance Pavilion at Morven Museum & Garden in Princeton. Rossen Milanov will conduct, and cast members will include Toni Marie Palmertree as Tosca, Victor Starsky as Cavaradossi, and Luis Ledesma as Scarpia.
Also, Margaret Cusack (chair of the Department of Performance Studies at Westminster Choir College in Lawrenceville) and “Tosca” stage director Eve Summer will give a free talk on the opera and this production, and answer questions, June 15 at 2:15 p.m. at Morven’s Stockton Education Center.
KEVIN W. CONDON
The Balourdet Quartet (from left, Justin DeFilippis, Russell Houston, Angela Bae and Benjamin Zannoni).
• The Morris Museum in Morris Township will present The Balourdet Quartet — featuring Morris County native Justin DeFilippis on violin along with Angela Bae on violin, Benjamin Zannoni on viola and Russell Houston on cello — in its outdoor Back Deck series, June 14 at 7:30 p.m. The program will include Nicky Sohn’s 2024 composition Galaxy Back to You along with Haydn’s Quartet in D Major, Op. 64 No. 5, “Lark”; Amy Beach’s One Movement for String Quartet; and Smetana’s String Quartet No. 1, “From My Life.”
• The veteran Mexican-American roots-rock band Los Lobos and the all-female mariachi-inspired band Flor de Toloache will perform at The Hispanic Culture & Heritage Celebration, a free event being presented by The Garden State Arts Foundation at The PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, June 19 at 7:30 p.m.
• The Asbury Jukes horn section (saxophonist John Isley, trumpeter Chris Anderson and trombonist Neal Pawley) will reunite to play with Jukes guitarist Glenn Alexander and Alexander’s Shadowland band, June 13 at 9 p.m. at Triumph Brewery in Red Bank. Jukes leader Southside Johnny retired from touring last year.
• On another Jukes-related note … The Early Elton Trio — featuring longtime Jukes keyboardist Jeff Kazee and longtime Jukes bassist John Conte, along with drummer Rich Pagano — will perform at BergenPAC in Englewood, June 19 at 7 p.m. The group plays music from Elton John’s trio tours of the early ’70s, when he performed with bassist Dee Murray and drummer Nigel Olsson.
• Jennie Harney-Fleming — whose Broadway credits include “Hamilton,” “The Color Purple” and, most recently, “A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical” — will perform in the Broadway at the Barn series, presented by Holmdel Theater Company at The Duncan Smith Theater in Holmdel, June 13 at 8 p.m.
Remember Jones as Hedwig.
THEATER
• Singer-songwriter Remember Jones is also an actor, and will co-direct and star in the musical “Hedwig and the Angry Inch,” which will be produced at The Bell Theater at Bell Works in Holmdel, June 13-15, 19-22 and 26-29, in collaboration with The Asbury Park Theater Company. In a press release, Axelrod Performing Arts Center executive artistic director Andrew DePrisco (who produces shows and concerts at Bell Theater) described “Hedwig” as “a wild piece of interactive theater that celebrates pride, diversity and rock ‘n roll.”
The musical, written by John Cameron Mitchell (book) and Stephen Trask (music, lyrics), debuted off-Broadway in 1998 and was produced on Broadway in 2014 and 2015, winning a Tony for Best Revival of a Musical.
• Middlesex County will open its 2025 Plays-in-in-the-Park series at The Stephen J. Capestro Theater at Roosevelt Park in Edison, June 18-21 and 23-28 with “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical.” All shows are at 8 p.m.
This jukebox musical debuted in San Francisco in 2013 and ran on Broadway from 2014 to 2016. It features songs written or co-written by King (including “Will You Love Me Tomorrow,” “Up on the Roof,” “So Far Away” and “It’s Too Late”) and other songwriters from the late ’50s to the early ’70s — and chronicles her life and career during that time period, when she gained success, first, as a behind-the-scenes songwriter, and then as a recording artist in her own right.
• East Lynne Theater Co. will present Ken Ludwig’s “Dear Jack/Dear Louise” — which I liked very much when I saw the George Street Playhouse production of it in New Brunswick in 2021 — at Cape May Presbyterian Church, June 18-21 and 25-28 and July 2-5 and 9-12. In it, Ludwig tells the story of his parents’ courtship during World War II, mainly through letters he imagines they wrote to each other. Jack was an army doctor and Louise was an aspiring actress and dancer, and they didn’t meet each other in person until after the war.
DANCE
• As part of The Princeton Festival, American Repertory Ballet will present “An Evening of Pas de Deux” at The Moven Museum & Garden, June 14 at 7 p.m., with The Princeton Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Rossen Milanov, providing the music. The program will include excerpts from “Swan Lake” and “Don Quixote” as well as “Delibes Duet” by ARB artist-in-residence Ethan Stiefel.
Jennifer Hudson in “Dreamgirls.”
FILM/MUSIC
• The Union County Performing Arts Center in Rahway will present a Motown/R&B Dance Party on its stage, following its 7 p.m. June 19 screening of the 2006 film “Dreamgirls.” Inspired by the 1981 Broadway musical (which was, in turn, inspired by the real-life story of Diana Ross & the Supremes, “Dreamgirls” co-stars Jennifer Hudson (who won the Best Supporting Actress for her performance), Beyoncé, Jamie Foxx and Eddie Murphy.
COMEDY
• Randy Rainbow specializes in cheerfully irreverent, politically oriented song parodies (check out his latest, below), so he should have plenty to sing about when he performs at The Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank, June 12 at 7:30 p.m.; and Harrah’s Resort in Atlantic City, June 20 at 9 p.m.
REVIEWS
“Tatyana Kazakova: In Spite of Our Fears” at Grover House Gallery, Caldwell. (Through June 27)
“Disney’s The Little Mermaid” at Paper Mill Playhouse, Millburn. (Through June 29)
“Nanette Carter: A Question of Balance” at Montclair Art Museum. (Through July 6)
“Andrea Chung: The Ocean Doesn’t Recognize Tears” at Project for Empty Space, Newark. (Through Aug. 17)
“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)
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