TRISHA YEARWOOD
Here is a roundup of major arts events taking place around New Jersey, through Dec. 11.
MUSIC
• Country star Trisha Yearwood released her third Christmas album — Christmastime, on which she is backed by a symphony orchestra — in September, and will bring her 12 Days of Christmas Tour, also featuring her with an orchestra, to Prudential Hall at NJPAC in Newark, Dec. 5 at 8 p.m.
You can listen to her version of Vince Guaraldi’s “Christmas Time Is Here,” from the album, below.
• Richie “LaBamba” Rosenberg’s annual “Holiday Hurrah” concert will take place for the second straight year at The Vogel at The Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank, with a show scheduled for Dec. 6 at the early starting time of 4 p.m. The trombonist and singer will lead a big band in high-energy versions of holiday songs and other material, with guests including LaBamba’s fellow Asbury Jukes alumni Bobby Bandiera, Mark “The Luvman” Pender and Billy Walton, as well as Layonne Holmes and Bobby Mahoney.
• Foreigner‘s original lead singer, Lou Gramm, is no longer a full-time member. But he is joining the band on its current tour, featuring songs from their 1981 album 4 as well as other material. The tour comes to The Wellmont Theater in Montclair, Dec. 11-12 at 8 p.m., with Constantine Maroulis opening.
4 yielded three huge hits: “Waiting for a Girl Like You,” “Urgent” and “Juke Box Hero.”
For their non-4 hit “I Want to Know What Love Is,” the band will be joined by The Youth Chorale from Essex County, on Dec. 11, and the choir from The Cicely L. Tyson Community School of Performing and Fine Arts from East Orange, on Dec. 12.
• The Solidarity Singers of The New Jersey Industrial Union Council, a self-described “street chorus” that has appeared at countless rallies and picket lines over the last 30 years, will present a free “Holiday Anti-Fascist Sing-Along” at The Puffin Cultural Forum in Teaneck, Dec. 7 at 4 p.m.
THÉO OULD
• The classical accordionist — that’s right, there is such a thing as a classical accordionist — Théo Ould will present a program of works by Bach, Piazzolla, Bartók, Villa-Lobos, Rameau and others in a solo recital at The Richardson Auditorium at Princeton University, Dec. 10 at 6 and 9 p.m. This will follow a free performance by him of new works by Princeton University students, Dec. 9 at 8 p.m. at Princeton’s Taplin Auditorium.
Ould will also provide the music for a free live music meditation — guided by Matthew Weiner, associate dean in the Princeton University Office of Religious Life — Dec. 10 at noon at The Richardson Auditorium.
Ould — a native of Marseille, France — has released two albums. His latest, Balada para un loco, features music by Astor Piazzolla.
DANCE
• Now that it is December, “The Nutcracker” is dominating the dance schedule, with the following productions all planned for New Jersey stages in the coming week:
Dec. 5 at 4 and 8 p.m.: “Nutcracker! Magical Christmas Ballet” at Nash Theatre at Raritan Valley Community College, Branchburg.
Dec. 5 at 10 a.m. and Dec. 6-7 at 2 p.m.: “The Nutcracker,” presented by Roxey Ballet at Villa Victoria Theater, Ewing, with live streaming also available.
Dec. 6 at 1 and 6 p.m.: “Jersey Nutcracker,” presented by Nimbus Dance at Wilkins Theatre at Kean University, Union.
Dec. 6 at 3 and 7 p.m.: “The Nutcracker,” presented by Atlantic City Ballet at Levoy Theatre, Millville.
Dec. 6 at 1 and 6 p.m. and Dec. 7 at 1 p.m.: “The Nutcracker,” presented by American Repertory Ballet at Two River Theater, Red Bank.
Dec. 6-7 at 1 and 4:30 p.m.: “The Nutcracker,” presented by New Jersey Ballet at BergenPAC, Englewood.
• 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.
CONAN O’BRIEN
COMEDY
• Stephen Colbert — whose past Montclair Film fundraisers have included conversations with Meryl Streep, Martin Scorsese, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and others — will talk with his former fellow late-night talk show host Conan O’Brien at Prudential Hall at NJPAC in Newark, Dec. 7 at 7 p.m. The event is titled “An Evening With Conan O’Brien and Stephen Colbert.”
All proceeds will benefit Montclair Film, the nonprofit organization that presents the annual Montclair Film Festival, as well as other events, year-round. Colbert is on Montclair Film’s advisory board and his wife, Evelyn Colbert, is president of its board of trustees. They are longtime Montclair residents.
THEATER
• Radio plays — with the actors standing at their microphones, a visible sounds effects man or woman accomplishing their sonic miracles live, plus maybe even some corny, old-fashioned commercials, like in radio’s Golden Age — seem particularly popular in the holiday season, and there are many opportunities to see them in New Jersey, this year. Here is a calendar, with links.
Dec. 3-7, 9-14, 16-23 and 26-28: “It’s a Wonderful Life,” presented by Shakespeare Theater of New Jersey at F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre at Drew University, Madison. Joe Landry’s 1996 adaptation of the 1946 film (based on “The Greatest Gift,” the 1943 short story by Philip Van Doren Stern).
Dec. 5-7: “It’s a Wonderful Life,” presented by American Theater Group at Sieminski Theater, Basking Ridge. Joe Landry’s 1996 adaptation. (see video below)
Dec. 6-7 and 13-14: “A Christmas Carol” at Basie Center Cinema House, Red Bank. Joe Landry’s 2015 adaptation, based on Charles Dickens’ 1843 novella.
Dec. 11-14: “It’s a Wonderful Life,” presented by American Theater Group at Union Arts Center. Same production and cast as in Basking Ridge, Dec. 5-7.
Dec. 11-14 and 18-21: “A Christmas Carol” at Mile Square Theatre, Hoboken. Joe Landry’s 2015 adaptation.
Dec. 13-14 and 20: “It’s a Wonderful Life,” presented by Bergen County Players at Little Firehouse Theatre, Oradell. Adapted by Thomas Carey Gsell from the 1947 Lux Radio Theatre broadcast.
CAMERON KNIGHT
• The McCarter Theatre Center in Princeton will present its lavish annual production of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” from Dec. 9 to Dec. 28. Cameron Knight, who played Mr. Fezziwig in the 2024 production, will move into the main role, Ebenezer Scrooge, this year.
“A Christmas Carol” has been presented at The McCarter every year since 1980.
FILM
• Corey Feldman, Jerry O’Connell and Wil Wheaton — co-stars of the widely beloved 1986 drama “Stand by Me” — will talk about it after a screening at The Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank, Dec. 5 at 7:30 p.m.
• Macaulay Culkin will do the same following a screening of “Home Alone,” his monster-hit 1990 comedy, at Ovation Hall at Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City, Dec. 7 at 4 p.m.
FAMILY ENTERTAINMENT
• The URSB Carteret Performing Arts & Events Center will host a free Community Holidays Open House, Dec. 10 at 6 p.m., with a screening of the movie “Elf,” photo opportunities with Santa Claus, and a tree lighting ceremony presided over by Mayor Daniel J. Reiman.
JOHN CAMERON MITCHELL
OTHER/MULTIMEDIA
• ArtYard in Frenchtown will present “An Evening With John Cameron Mitchell,” Dec. 6 at 8 p.m. The event is described as “an exclusive evening of hilarious, poignant songs and stories.”
Mitchell is best known for writing, directing and starring in the rock musical “Hedwig and the Angry Inch,” though he has been involved in a wide range of other projects, onstage and onscreen, since the mid-’80s.
• The URSB Carteret Performing Arts & Events Center will present an event titled “Praise & Laughter,” Dec. 7 at 3 p.m. It will combine gospel music by Melvin Crispell III and Taqualla Lowman with comedy by Cleftus Kassady and Chris Clark, with “phenomenal women who inspire and empower communities” honored with the Joyce Douglas “Crown of Grace” Award, and GL Douglas of VH1, Liz Black of WBLS and comedian Big Momma co-hosting.
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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