Gladys Knight, Chaka Khan, Patti LaBelle and Stephanie Mills are joining forces for a tour that will come to Newark and Atlantic City.
Here is a roundup of major arts events taking place around New Jersey, through Sept. 25.
MUSIC
• The “The Queens! 4 Legends. 1 Stage” tour — featuring separate sets by Gladys Knight, Patti LaBelle, Chaka Khan and Stephanie Mills — will come to The Prudential Center in Newark, Sept. 25 at 8 p.m., and Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, Oct. 4 at 8 p.m.
“We will come together in support of one another and in harmony at a time when love is most needed,” said Knight, in a press release.
“Our different styles unite in love, compassion and understanding and it’s important to come together now,” said Mills.
ELVIS COSTELLO
• Elvis Costello will bring his “Radio Soul! The Early Songs of Elvis Costello” tour to The Event Center at Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa in Atlantic City, Sept. 19 at 8 pm. He will be joined by his band The Imposters (keyboardist Steve Nieve, drummer Pete Thomas, bassist Davey Faragher) as well as guitarist Charlie Sexton. Nieve and Thomas were also members of Costello’s original band, The Attractions.
The tour is emphasizing songs from Costello’s first decade as a recording artist (i.e., the songs he recorded from his 1977 debut My Aim Is True to 1986’s Blood & Chocolate).
Costello said in a press release: “For any songwriter, it has to be a compliment if people want to hear songs written up to fifty years ago. … You can expect the unexpected and the faithful in equal measure. Don’t forget this show is ‘Performed by Elvis Costello & The Imposters,’ an ensemble which includes three people who first recorded this music and two more who bring something entirely new. They are nobody’s tribute band.
“The Imposters are a living, breathing, swooning, swinging, kicking and screaming rock and roll band who can turn their hands to a pretty ballad when the opportunity arises.”
• Steve Winwood — a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer as a member of Traffic, though he has also made major contributions to the genre as a member of Blind Faith and The Spencer Davis Group, and as a solo artist — will perform at The Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank, Sept. 19; The Mayo Performing Arts Center in Morristown, Sept. 24; and The Hard Rock Live at Etess Arena at The Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, Sept. 26. All shows are at 8 p.m.
ROSANNE CASH
• Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame member Rosanne Cash will perform with John Leventhal at The Outpost in the Burbs at The First Congregational Church in Montclair, Sept. 19 at 8 p.m. Leventhal, Cash’s husband, has worked with her as a co-songwriter, co-producer and multi-instrumentalist since 1993. The two recently formed their own record label, RumbleStrip Records, whose releases include a expanded and remastered edition of Cash’s 1993 album The Wheel, and an anthology, The Essential Collection.
• 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 at The South Orange Performing Arts Center, Sept. 19 at 7:30 p.m.
• The Takács Quartet (violinists Edward Dusinberre and Harumi Rhodes, violist Richard O’Neill and cellist András Fejér) will be joined by violist Jordan Bak to play Mozart’s Viola Quintet No. 3 in C Major, K. 515, and Viola Quintet No. 4 in G, Sept. 25 at 6 and 9 p.m. at Richardson Hall at Princeton University, as part of the Princeton University Concerts series.
• With baseball’s pennant race in full swing, it is a good time to see The Baseball Project on tour; the band will perform its songs about baseball history and lore (such as “Ted Fucking Williams,” “Harvey Haddix,” “Oh Oh Ohtani!” and “Monument Park”) at White Eagle Hall in Jersey City, Sept. 21 at 8 p.m.
Band members include Peter Buck and Mike Mills (both of R.E.M.), Steve Wynn (of The Dream Syndicate), Scott McCaughey (of Young Fresh Fellows) and Linda Pitmon. The Minus 5, led by McCaughey and also featuring Buck and Pitmon, will open.
SWINGADELIC
• Swingadelic, joined by singer Vanessa Perea, will pay tribute to “The Three Louies” (Armstrong, Jordan and Prima) at a show of that name at The Grunin Center for the Arts at Ocean County College, Toms River, Sept. 21 at 3 p.m.
• The Princeton Folk Music Society will present The Ebony Hillbillies at Christ Congregation Church in Princeton, Sept. 19 at 8 p.m., with live streaming also available on YouTube. The New York-based group plays a mixture of pop, country, bluegrass, folk and jazz, and has been described as “the last African-American String Band in America.”
• Fairies Wear Boots, a new band fronted by singer Emily Grove and featuring members of Jersey bands such as The Battery Electric and Mothguts, will perform the music of the late Ozzy Osbourne and his band Black Sabbath at The Stone Pony in Asbury Park, Sept. 19 at 7:15 p.m.
The other acts on the bill — SPYNE!, Kobi Reese and Last Legs — will include some Osbourne songs in their sets, as well.
FESTIVALS
• Co-headliners for the 32nd annual XPoNential Music Festival — taking place at Wiggins Park in Camden, Sept. 19-21 — will be War (best known for ’70s hits such as “Low Rider,” “The Cisco Kid” and “Why Can’t We Be Friends?”), Sept. 19; Sharon Van Etten & the Attachment Theory, Sept. 20; and Courtney Barnett, Sept. 21. Other performers will include Molly Tuttle, Richard Thompson, The Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Kathleen Edwards, Greensky Bluegrass, Craig Finn and Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country.
The music will take place on two stages, with a children’s activities area offered as well. Food, beverages and other items will be available from vendors. The festival is presented by Philadelphia radio station WXPN.
JAY SEAN
• The Indian-British singer-songwriter Jay Sean will give a concert at Carteret Park, Sept. 20 at 8 p.m. (with Véyah opening) as part of the city’s 29th annual Ethnic Day.
Ethnic Day is part of the Sept. 17-21 Carteret Music Festival & Annual Charity Carnival, which will also include a Freestyle Night, Sept. 19 at 7:45 p.m., with Brenda K. Starr, Judy Torres, Coro and Betty D (of Sweet Sensation); a Battle of the Bands, Sept. 20 at 1 p.m.; a Classic Car Show, Sept. 21; plus rides, carnival games, art and food vendors, and more.
There will be no admission charge for all five days of the festival/carnival.
• Drummer Bobby Sanabria, organist Matthew Whitaker, saxophonist Bruce Williams and harpist Riza Printup will be among the performers at this year’s edition of the annual West Orange Jazz Festival, taking place outdoors at The Oskar Schindler Performing Arts Center in West Orange, Sept. 20 from 1 to 8 p.m.
Headliner Sanabria — a nine-time Grammy nominee — will perform with his Tres Magos (Three Magicians) group, also featuring pianist Marcus Persiani and bassist Donald Nicks.
There will be no admission charge for those who want to see only the hour-long, WBGO-sponsored Kids Jazz Concert featuring drummer Jerome Jennings, at 1 p.m.
SARAH BORGES
• Sarah Borges, Rubix Cube, the Jimmy Buffett tribute band Jimmy & the Parrots, The Tennessee Honey Band, C3 Soul Revue and Cellar Dwellers will be among the artists performing on three stages at the free Festival in the Borough, taking place in Downtown Washington (Warren County), Sept. 20 from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. A family Fun Zone and climbing wall, vendors and more will also be offered.
There will also be a “pre-party,” Sept. 19 from 6 to 9 p.m. at Veterans Park, featuring Mike Frank & Friends.
• Remember Jones, Williams Honor, Nik Greeley & the Operators, Bobby Mahoney and Des & the Swagmatics will be among the many music acts performing at The Medford Oktoberfest at Freedom Park, Sept. 19-20. Other attractions will include German beer and food; traditional German music and dance; steinholding, bratwurst-eating, cornhole and trivia contests; miniature golf; a video-game truck, and more.
• The Middlesex County Jazz Fest will begin with a performance by Elizabeth Bougerol (of the group The Hot Sardines), Brass Queens and The Woodbridge High School Jazz Choir, Sept. 24 at 7 p.m. at Parker Press Park in Woodbridge.
The show will be free, as will the festival’s other events, taking place later in the month in Carteret, Metuchen and New Brunswick.
DANCE
• The Moving Architects will present “Where She Once Stood” at Crane House & Historic YWCA in Montclair, Sept. 20, with performances at various times from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. The site-specific show features an all-female cast; according to a press release, “audiences are guided through the house and grounds to witness stories from different eras of the home’s history — including three generations of the Crane family and the enslaved people and servants who were part of the household (1796–1900), to the period when the home was a segregated YWCA for Black women and girls, including boarders (1920–1965). … This project honors the women of the Crane House & Historic YWCA by giving physical form to their experiences and centering women’s voices in the spaces where they once stood.”
VALERIE TERRANOVA
Matt Monaco will co-star in “RIFT, or white lies,” at Luna Stage in West Orange.
THEATER
• Luna Stage in West Orange — which commissioned Gabriel Jason Dean’s tense two-character drama “RIFT, or white lies,” premiered it last year (read review HERE) and presented it in Edinburgh, this summer — will present it again in West Orange for two nights only, July 19-20 at 8 p.m., with the same actors (Matt Monaco and Blake Stadnik) and director (Luna Stage artistic director Ari Laura Kreith).
• The Improvised Shakespeare Company will perform at The South Orange Performing Arts Center, Sept. 21 at 7:30 p.m. According to the SOPAC website, the troupe offers “spontaneous comedy with the language and themes of the Bard” and “creates a brand-new, fully improvised Shakespearean play every night, based on one audience suggestion.”
FILM
• Ryan Reynolds — who co-produced “John Candy: I Like Me,” a new documentary about actor and comedian John Candy — will appear at a screening of it at The State Theatre in New Brunswick, Sept. 25 at 7 p.m. According to the State Theatre website, the event, which is titled “An Evening With Ryan Reynolds & Friends” and is part of a North American tour, will feature Reynolds in a question-and-answer session “along with family and friends of John Candy.” Proceeds will benefit the “Finding Cures. Saving Children” program at St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital.
Candy — best known for films such as “Stripes,” “Splash,” “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” and “Uncle Buck” — died in 1994, at the age of 43. According to a press release, the film, which was directed by Colin Hanks, “features never-before-seen archival footage, personal imagery, and intimate interviews that illuminate Candy’s extraordinary career, generosity of spirit, and the indelible joy he brought to audiences around the world.”
REVIEWS
“Walden,” presented by Premiere Stages at The Bauer Boucher Theatre Center at Kean University, Union. (Through Sept. 21)
“Romeo & Juliet,” presented by Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey at F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre at Drew University, Madison. (Through Oct. 5)
“Léni Paquet-Morante: Extract/Abstract,” presented by Princeton University Art Museum at Art@Bainbridge. (Through Nov. 2)
“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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