Top 20 NJ Arts Events of Week: Exit Zero Jazz Festival, Hoboken Spring Arts & Music Festival, more

AMBE J. WILLIAMS

Samara Joy will perform at the May 16-18 Exit Zero Jazz Festival in Cape May.

Here is a roundup of major arts events taking place around New Jersey, through May 20.

MUSIC

• The spring edition of the biannual Exit Zero Jazz Festival will take place May 16-18, on stages at Convention Hall, the Convention Hall Deck, Carney’s Main Room, and Carney’s Other Room. As always, the music will not be confined to jazz, but also touch on blues, funk, R&B and more.

The Convention Hall headliners will be The Captain Black Big Band (led by pianist Orrin Evans and featuring singer Lisa Fischer), May 16 at 9 p.m.; trumpeter Terence Blanchard, May 17 at 9 p.m.; and singer Samara Joy (named Best New Artist at the 2023 Grammy) and her octet, May 18 at 3:10 p.m. Among the festival’s many other performers will be The Brandee Younger Trio, The American Patchwork Quartet, The Thomas Marriott Quintet, Luciane Dom, Paul Jost, Marel Hidalgo and Blues People.

• Johnny Mathis has announced that his sold-out 7 p.m. May 18 concert at BergenPAC in Englewood will be the last one of his long career. A message on social media in March cited “age and memory issues” as the reason for his decision.

Mathis, who will turn 90 in September, had his first hit in 1956, with “Wonderful! Wonderful!,” and reached the No. 1 position of the pop charts the next year with “Chances Are.”

• The summer concert season at The PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel will get underway with sonically groundbreaking bands Primus, Puscifer and A Perfect Circle, May 17 at 8 p.m. The show is part of the bands’ Sessanta V2.0 Tour. The first Sessanta Tour took place last year; “Sessanta,” an Italian word meaning “60” in English, referred to the 60th birthday, in April 2024, of Puscifer and A Perfect Circle frontman Maynard James Keenan.

The Sessanta shows have an unusual structure. Instead of three long sets by the bands, the musicians present a dozen or so mini-sets, playing together in various combinations.

MELISSA ERRICO

• Singer and Broadway actress Melissa Errico (Tony-nominated in 2003 for “Amour”) will present a show titled “Sondheim in the City” — focusing on the late songwriter’s “New York songs,” including “Everybody Says Don’t,” “Opening Doors,” “Good Thing Going,” “Broadway Baby” and “Being Alive” — May 17 at 6 p.m. at The Chase Room at NJPAC in Newark.

Errico released an album titled Sondheim in the City last year; listen to its “Another Hundred People,” below.

• In a similar vein, veteran singer and actress Donna McKechnie — a Tony winner for “A Chorus Line” and, from March of last year to March of this year, Madame Morrible in “Wicked” on Broadway — will present a show titled “Take Me to the World: The Songs of Stephen Sondheim,” May 16 at 7:30 p.m. at The Bell Theater at Bell Works in Holmdel.

According to the theater’s website, in addition to singing Sondheim’s songs, McKechnie “shares stories of her time working with him, revealing the great influence he had in her life professionally and personally.” McKechnie was in the original cast of Sondheim’s “Company” in 1970.

• Shakira will perform at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, May 15-16 at 7:30 p.m., with Pitbull opening on May 16 only. Shakira’s current Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran World Tour follows the release of her 2024 album of that name — which includes hits such as “Monotonía,” “Acróstico” and “Te Felicito,” and was named Best Latin Pop Album at this year’s Grammy Awards — and these are the tour’s only currently scheduled stops in New Jersey. These will also be the Colombian singer-songwriter’s first New Jersey shows since 2010, when she performed in Atlantic City.

In March, Billboard picked Shakira as No. 1 on its list of The Best 50 Female Latin Pop Artists of All Time, with Gloria Estefan, Selena, Celia Cruz and Karol G rounding out the Top 5.

(NOTE: Because of a strike, there may be no NJ Transit rail or bus service MetLife Stadium for these concerts. For transportation information, click HERE.)

BRENDA K. STARR

• Brenda K. Starr — best known for ’80s and early ’90s dance-pop hits such as “I Still Believe,” “What You See Is What You Get” and “No Matter What,” though she has concentrated on salsa music in recent years — will headline this year’s edition of the free Hoboken Spring Arts & Music Festival, which will take place on May 18 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Other performers will include Coro, Allison Strong, The Young Picassos, Dallas Connor, Allie Sandt, Alyx Astryx, 3 Dollars, and Finn Douglas & Friends.

The festival usually attracts more than 30,000 attendees, and offers arts and food vendors — on Hoboken’s main drag, Washington Street, from Observer Highway to Seventh Street — in addition to the music.

• The Vitamin String Quartet, which specializes in classical interpretations of pop hits, will present a show titled “The Music of Taylor Swift, Bridgerton and Beyond” at The Victoria Theater at NJPAC in Newark, May 17 at 8 p.m. The show will include “reimagined” versions of songs by BTS, The Weeknd, Daft Punk and others, as well.

Vitamin String Quartet music that has been featured in the Netflix series “Bridgerton” includes their versions of Nirvana’s “Stay Away” and Robyn’s “Dancing on My Own.” Among the Taylor Swift songs they have covered are “Safe & Sound,” “Look What You Made Me Do,” “Anti-Hero” and “Fortnight.”

• Lou Gramm (formerly of Foreigner), Steve Augeri (formerly of Journey) and John Payne (formerly of Asia) are teaming up for The ’80s Rock Tour, which comes to Ovation Hall at Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City, May 16 at 9 p.m.

CHRIS DRUKKER

DAVE STRYKER

• Ross Farm in Basking Ridge will present its first Ross Farm Jazz Fest, May 17 from 2 to 8 p.m., with guitarist Dave Stryker and his band (featuring saxophonist Troy Roberts), pianist Frankie Midnight’s Quartet (featuring trumpeter Carl Gerhard), and student groups from Rutgers, Montclair State and William Paterson universities and Ridge High School.

• The 503 Social Club in Hoboken will present “Celebrating Joan Baez: An Evening of Songs & Poetry,” May 17 at 7 p.m., with participants including Jaime Della Fave, Wendy Joyner, Rebecca Turner, Sylvana Joyce and Ereni Sevasti.

Baez, widely regarded as the Queen of Folk in the ’60s, released her first book of poetry, “When You See My Mother, Ask Her to Dance,” last year.

• New Jersey Symphony violinists Eric Wyrick and Francine Storck will be featured in Bach’s Double Concerto for Two Violins at Symphony concerts taking place at The Richardson Auditorium at Princeton University, May 16 at 8 p.m.; and Prudential Hall at NJPAC in Newark, May 17 at 8 p.m. and May 18 at 3 p.m. The Symphony’s music director, Xian Zhang, will conduct, and the program will also include Mozart’s Eine kleine Nachtmusik and Symphony No. 35, “Haffner”; and Michael Abels’ Delights and Dances.

Also, May 17 at 2 p.m. at NJPAC, the Symphony will also present a family-friendly “Discover Mozart & Bach” concert with Gregory D. McDaniel sharing the conducting with Zhang, Bill Barclay hosting, and the program shortened to 75 minutes and altered to includes excerpts from Eine kleine Nachtmusik and Camille Saint-Saëns’ Cello Concerto No. 1 (featuring Annamaria Witek), as well as the Double Concerto for Two Violins and the “Haffner” symphony.

Click HERE to read a new NJArts.net interview with Wyrick and Storck.

ANNE AKIKO MEYERS

• Grammy-winning violinist Anne Akiko Meyers will perform with The Orpheus Chamber Orchestra at The Bickford Theatre at The Morris Museum in Morris Township, May 16 at 8 p.m. The program will feature the world premiere of “The Pacific Has No Memory” — a new work by Eric Whitacre, commissioned by Meyers and dedicated to the victims of the California wildfires — as well as works by Beethoven, Haydn, Vaughan Williams and Caroline Shaw.

• Parlance Chamber Concerts will present “Late Night With Leonard Bernstein: A Multimedia Cabaret” at West Side Presbyterian Church in Ridgewood, May 18 at 4 p.m.

Bernstein’s daughter, Jamie Bernstein, will host what is described on the Parlance website as “an affectionately intimate portrait of the multifaceted titan of 20th-century American music.” Soprano Amy Burton and pianists John Musto and Michael Boriskin will perform music by Bernstein and others.

COMEDY

• Uncle Vinnie’s Comedy Club in Point Pleasant Beach will offer “An Evening of Dinner & Yankees Game with Vic DiBitetto,” May 20. The event will begin at 6:30 p.m., with the televised game against The Texas Rangers beginning at 7:05 p.m. DiBitetto, a well known figure on the New Jersey comedy club circuit, will offer commentary throughout the game, as well as during the pre- and post-show broadcasts.

THEATER

• George Street Playhouse has assembled a star-studded cast for its 2025 Gala Benefit, May 17. The event will begin with a champagne reception and dinner at the Stage Left/Catherine Lombardi restaurant at 4:30 p.m., with a cabaret and awards presentation at The New Brunswick Performing Arts Center following. Performers will include Ariana DeBose, André De Shields, Roger Bart, Tyne Daly and Bobby Conte, with Marlo Thomas and playwright Joe DiPietro also making appearances.

Former Gov. Thomas H. Kean and George Street Playhouse’s longtime artistic director David Saint, who will retire after the end of the current season, will be honored, along with George Street trustees Ronald Bleich and Norman Politziner.

ERIN DAVIE

• American Theater Group will offer an evening of music and storytelling, titled “Broadway Tales and Tunes,” May 17 at 7:30 p.m. and May 18 at 2:30 p.m. at The Sieminski Theater in Basking Ridge. Veteran theater critic Peter Filichia — whom I worked with for many years at The Star-Ledger — will tell stories about shows he has seen and theater-related experiences he has had, and Broadway actors Erin Davie (“Diana,” “Sunday in the Park With George,” “Side Show”) and Nehal Joshi (“The Cottage,” “Phantom of the Opera,” “Flying Over Sunset”) will perform, as will Aeja Barrows, a standout in American Theater Group’s recent production of “Purlie.” Michael Lavine, who appears regularly at the 54 Below cabaret in New York, will serve as music director.

• The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey will open its 2025 season with Oscar Wilde’s classic comedy “The Importance of Being Earnest,” featuring veteran STNJ actors such as Marion Adler (as Lady Bracknell) and Christian Frost (as Algernon). The shows will be at The F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre at Drew University in Madison, with the first preview on May 14, the official opening night on May 17, and the last show on June 1.

In a special “Food Drive Preview,” May 14 at 7:30 p.m., you can get admission for only $10 by donating two cans of food.

OTHER

LAURA BILLINGHAM

A scene from ArtYard’s 2022 “Hatch.”

• “The Hatch,” a free, biennial, family-friendly festival including costumes, music and a parade, will begin at 2 p.m. May 17 at ArtYard in Frenchtown with the “cracking” of a 14-foot, steel-welded egg. Following that, according to a press release, “Colorful flocks of human birds and giant bird puppets will emerge, and a marching band, mariachi, and 25-person Brazilian drum corps will lead the procession to Sunbeam Lenape Park and through the borough’s idyllic downtown, ending in a lively dance party back at ArtYard.”

“The Hatch is a moment to come together with friends, family, neighbors, and strangers alike to create art, be silly, and dream,” said ArtYard’s founder and executive director, Jill Kearney, in a press release. “All are invited to participate by dressing up as a bird, joining the procession, dancing to the music, and imagining the change you wish to hatch into the world.”

The hatching theme was inspired by ArtYard’s emphasis on incubating new works, as well as the location’s 20th century history as an egg hatchery.

Performers will include Day Day Juicy Couture (from the HBO Max voguing reality show “Legendary”); the brass band Orquesta La Sagrada Concepción; the Nuevo Amanecer mariachi band; the all-percussion samba reggae band Batala Philly; and singer Eric Mingus.

• The Hunterdon Art Museum in Clinton will celebrate the opening of two new group exhibitions — “Pulp: The Fluid and The Concrete” (devoted to hand paper-making) and “Selections from The Petrucci Family Foundation Collection of African American Art” — with a Block Party, May 18 from to 5 p.m. Free museum admission and curator talks will be offered, along with music by The Moon Dwellers, the Tia B’s Street Tacos food truck, and an “ArtBar.” Some of the artists whose work will be featured in the exhibition will be attending, as well.

REVIEWS

“The Shark Is Broken,” presented by George Street Playhouse at New Brunswick Performing Arts Center. (Through May 18)

“Primary Trust” at Berlind Theater at McCarter Theatre Center, Princeton. (Through May 25)

“James Prosek: At Work” at Morris Museum, Morris Township. (Through June 8)

“Tatyana Kazakova: In Spite of Our Fears” at Grover House Gallery, Caldwell. (Through June 27)

“Nanette Carter: A Question of Balance” at Montclair Art Museum. (Through July 6)

“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)

_______________________________