Sarah Brightman will perform in New Brunswick and Atlantic City.
Here is a roundup of major arts events taking place around New Jersey, through Dec. 4.
MUSIC
• Sarah Brightman — who released her first and, to date, only holiday album, A Winter Symphony, in 2008 — will bring her A Winter Symphony Tour to The Event Center at Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa in Atlantic City, Nov. 28 at 8 p.m.; and The State Theatre in New Brunswick, Nov. 30 at 7:30 p.m.
Brightman had actually never done a Christmas show of her own until 2020, when, because of the pandemic, she did one as a livestream from a London church. It went so well that she has continued to present Christmas shows in concert venues, every year, since then.
“It crosses through from religious pieces, holiday pieces, and some of my hits that can come into the seasonal time as well,” she has said. “And also from my Christmas album that I did, which my fans know about. … There are some operatic pieces, as well, that aren’t necessarily Christmas pieces. For people who like the more classical side of art and go to the opera to see ‘The Magic Flute,’ for example, I’ve bought a couple of those in. People will understand that they’re the kind of classical operas that you would go to at that time of year. I know I do. And it’s the same with musicals. There are certain musicals that people will always want to go and see at Christmas time or around that time of year. There’s definitely a wonderful seasonal thread through the whole piece.”
Annie Haslam and Jim McCarty of Renaissance.
• Annie Haslam and Jim McCarty of the progressive-rock band Renaissance will participate in a show titled “The History of Renaissance” at The Newton Theatre, Nov. 28 at 8 p.m. According to a press release, they will “share an intimate discussion and visual presentation of the band’s extraordinary history followed by a Renaissance performance featuring, for the first time, members of both eras of the band performing their classic songs together.”
McCarty, who has played drums for The Yardbirds throughout that band’s history, co-founded Renaissance in 1969 but was active in it only for its first two albums. Haslam, who has fronted Renaissance throughout most of its history, joined in 1971.
Joining Haslam, on lead vocals, and McCarty, on acoustic guitar and lead vocals, in Newton, will be Rave Tesar (keyboards), Mark Lambert (guitars, vocals), Geoffrey Langley (keyboards, vocals), John Galgano (bass, vocals) and Frank Pagano (drums, percussion, vocals).
• The original members of Status Green — singer Lou Montesano, guitarist Chris Marino, bassist Russell Tolas and drummer Mike Montalto — will reunite to celebrate the band’s 20th anniversary at The Stone Pony in Asbury Park, Nov. 28 at 7:30 p.m., with Church and State TM and Yawn Mower opening.
Church and State TM’s members include singer-songwriter Rick Barry, with Jon Stewart (yes, that Jon Stewart, of “The Daily Show”) playing drums.
PAQUITO D’RIVERA
• “Giants of Jazz,” an annual tribute series at The South Orange Performing Arts Center, will honor, this year, saxophonist, clarinetist and composer Paquito D’Rivera, Nov. 29 at 7:30 p.m.
Veteran bassist and producer John Lee, who organizes these shows, has put together a large cast of musicians — including jazz luminaries such as Don Braden, Edmar Castañeda, Cyrus Chestnut, Anat Cohen, Winard Harper, Freddie Hendrix, Karl Latham, Nilson Matta, Rufus Reid, Dave Stryker and others — to pay tribute to the five-time Grammy winner and National Medal of Arts recipient.
• The fourth annual New Jersey Cabaret Festival — featuring artists who were born in New Jersey, currently live in the state, or perform exclusively in it — will take place at Chu Family Hall at The Morristown Unitarian Fellowship, Nov. 30 at 4 p.m., with performers including Wendy Lane Bailey, Ami Brabson, Jeff Foote, Eric Yves Garcia, James Horan, Rosemary Loar, Matthew Luminello, Carolyn Montgomery, Nicole Spano, Susan Speidel, Those Girls (Eve Eaton, Rachel Hanser, Karen Mack and Wendy Russell), Laurie Vega, Lisa Viggiano and Lisa Yaeger.
Corinna Sowers Adler and Stearns Matthews will co-host, with Tracy Stark serving as music director.
From left, Mark McGrath, Kevin Griffin and Emerson Hart.
• The supergroup Ezra Ray Hart — featuring the frontmen of rock bands Sugar Ray (Mark McGrath), Better Than Ezra (Kevin Griffin) and Tonic (Emerson Hart) — is doing a tour called ’90s Hits and Xmas Riffs. It will include a show at BergenPAC in Englewood, Dec. 3 at 7 p.m.
DANCE
• American Repertory Ballet will kick off its annual holiday-season presentations of “The Nutcracker” — featuring company members along with students from ARB’s Princeton Ballet School — at The McCarter Theatre in Princeton, Nov. 28 at 2 and 7 p.m., Nov. 29 at 1 and 6 p.m., and Nov. 30 at 1 p.m. Shows will also follow at Two River Theater in Red Bank, Dec. 6-7; and The State Theatre in New Brunswick (with orchestra and choir), Dec. 18-21.
American Repertory Ballet, a founding resident company of The New Brunswick Performing Arts Center, has been presenting “The Nutcracker” for 60 years, making this one of the longest continuously running productions of it in the country.
• Carolyn Dorfman Dance will present a show titled “Dances of Hope” — featuring its popular “Waves” and other works, including work-in-progress “The Hero Within: Max Heller, Mary Mills and Miracles” — Dec. 7 at 3 p.m. at The Bickford Theatre at The Morris Museum in Morris Township. “The Hero Within” is part of Dorfman’s Legacy Project, in which the choreographer, who is the daughter of of Holocaust survivors, explores her heritage through dance. (Max Heller was a young Austrian who managed to get to The United States in the late 1930s, with the help of an American named Mary Mills.)
Also, Carolyn Dorfman Dance will offer an open-to-the-public rehearsal and a talk with Dorfman, Dec. 2 at 11:30 a.m.; a free movement class on Dec. 6 at 1 p.m.; and a student matinee performance of “Dances of Hope,” Dec. 8 at 10 a.m
The Hard Rock in Atlantic City will host a “Jersey Shore Roast” on Dec. 1.
COMEDY
• The Sound Waves concert venue at The Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City will host a “Jersey Shore Roast,” Dec. 1 at 8 p.m., featuring cast members of the hit 2009-2012 MTV reality series, comedian Chris Distefano and others.
According to the Hard Rock’s website, participating cast members will include Snooki, Pauly D, The Situation, JWoww, Vinny, Sammi, Deena, Ronnie and Angelina.
The show will be taped for possible use on MTV’s “Jersey Shore: Family Vacation,” the reunion/sequel series that has actually run for a longer period of time than the original show did. It has been on the air since 2018.
THEATER
• George Street Playhouse will present “Ebenezer Scrooge’s Big Jersey Christmas Show!” — a comedic, Jersey-set play inspired by Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” — at The New Brunswick Performing Arts Center, Dec. 2-7, 10-14 and 17-21. Keven Pariseau, who was seen on Broadway last year in “The Heart of Rock and Roll,” will star as Scrooge.
“Expect all the traditional ghosts — Past, Present, and Future— along with plenty of Garden State spirit, unexpected laughs, and a dash of holiday magic,” says George Street Playhouse on its website
• The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey will present a radio play version of “It’s a Wonderful Life” — the enduringly popular 1946 Frank Capra film — at its F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre at Drew University in Madison, with old-fashioned radio-show sound effects, Dec. 3-7, 9-14, 16-23 and 26-28.
• The Vanguard Theater Company in Montclair will present “Into the Woods” — the Grimm Brothers-inspired 1986 musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by James Lapine — Dec. 4-7, 11-14 and 18-21. The musical intertwines characters and elements of various well-known fairy tales, including “Little Red Riding Hood,” “Jack and the Beanstalk”, “Rapunzel” and “Cinderella.”
NEIL deGRASSE TYSON
OTHER
• Neil deGrasse Tyson will give a presentation titled “An Astrophysicist Goes to the Movies, Part II,” at Prudential Hall at NJPAC in Newark, Nov. 30 at 3 p.m. According to NJPAC’s website he will “break down the science that your favorite films got wrong, and some of the stuff they got right,” with the films to be examined including classics such as “The Wizard of Oz,” “Mary Poppins” and “2001: A Space Odyssey.”
• Opera and theater director Peter Sellers will discuss “Mourning Through Music,” Dec. 3 at 7:30 p.m. at The Richardson Auditorium at Princeton University, as part of Princeton University Concerts‘ Music & Healing series. Ara Guzelimian — artistic and executive director of the Ojai Music Festival and former dean and provost of The Juilliard School — will moderate, and the music will be played live by violinist Keir GoGwilt.
• The Latinos of Montclair organization and Montclair State University’s English department will present Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Junot Díaz (“The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao”) in a “fireside conversation” at Montclair State’s University Hall Conference Center, Dec. 4 at 6:30 p.m. At the event, which is part of Latinos of Montclair’s VOCES series, audience members will be invited “to reflect on identity, community & our collective futuro in the context of today’s political and social climate.”
REVIEWS
“Gail M. Boykewich: Illuminations” at Gallery491, Montclair. (Through Dec. 12)
“Indigenous Identities: Here, Now & Always” at Zimmerli Art Museum, New Brunswick. (Through Dec. 21)
“Tom Nussbaum: But Wait, There’s More!” at Montclair Art Museum. (Through Jan. 4)
“Morven Revealed: Untold Stories From New Jersey’s Most Historic Home” at Morven Museum & Garden, Princeton. (Through March 1)
“Salvador Jiménez-Flores: Raíces & Resistencias” at Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton. (Through Aug. 1, 2027)
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