Chris Lane’s Excellent Feature Ocean City Monster Building screens at the Spring 2023 New Jersey Film Festival TODAY Saturday, February 4

Ocean City Monster Building by Chris Lane (playing all day online at the Spring 2023 New Jersey Film Festival) focuses on a small sleepy town in upstate New York in 1984.  The former mayor of the city is found dead on the backseat of his car with a local 15-year-old girl. In the aftermath, his wife of 30 years and his adopted daughter have to make sense of this difficult situation, while a detective from out of town is sent in to try to solve the case together with local law enforcement.   Here is my interview with Ocean City Monster Building director Chris Lane:

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Princeton Makes and Ragged Sky Press Second Sunday Poetry Reading featuring Vida Chu and Bill Wunder

(PRINCETON, NJ) -- Princeton Makes, a Princeton-based artist cooperative, and Ragged Sky Press, a local publisher focused on poetry, will host a Second Sunday Poetry Reading on Sunday, February 12 at 4:00pm.  The readings will take place at the Princeton Makes store in the Princeton Shopping Center. The February reading will feature Vida Chu and Bill Wunder. Their readings will be followed by an open mic available to up to 10 audience members who would like to read their original poetry.

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The Ritz Theatre Company presents "The Color Purple," a Modern Musical Masterpiece

(HADDON TOWNSHIP, NJ) -- The Ritz Theatre Company has a special treat in store for theatre, literature, and culture enthusiasts throughout the month of February, as the organization gets set to present a stirring production of The Color Purple. A musical adaptation of Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, the show is hailed as an inspiring story of hope, a testament to the healing power of love, and a celebration of life featuring a joyous score of jazz, ragtime, gospel, and blues. Directed by Kyrus Keenan Westcott, the production runs at The Ritz from February 10th through February 26th.

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Musicians on a Mission and Special People United to Ride present "Come To Your Senses"

(LINCROFT, NJ) -- Musicians on a Mission and Special People United to Ride present "Come To Your Senses" on February 26, 2023, from 5:00pm to 9:30pm at The Gallery at Thompson Park, 805 Newman Springs Road in Lincroft, NJ. This jam-packed evening will provide a "feast" for all five senses, including art, music, food, drink, fragrant soaps & candles from Brielle Soap and massage, plus a chance to win beautiful raffle baskets!

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The Monmouth County Park System to Hold E. Murray Todd Half Marathon on March 12th

(LINCROFT, NJ) -- The Monmouth County Park System will hold its annual E. Murray Todd Half Marathon on Sunday, March 12. This 13.1-mile race takes runners through Lincroft, Holmdel and Colts Neck. The race begins at 8:30am at Brookdale Community College, 765 Newman Springs Road, Lincroft.

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StocktonPAC presents the World-Famous Harlem Gospel Choir

(GALLOWAY, NJ) -- The World-Famous Harlem Gospel Choir is slated to sing, stomp and praise all night long at Stockton University’s Performing Arts Center on Friday, February 17. Showtime is 7:30pm.

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Jersey City Theater Center presents "The Potential of Song" a Masterclass with Thomas Richards

(JERSEY CITY, NJ) -- “The Potential of Song,” a Masterclass led by Thomas Richards, theater director and former Artistic Director of the Workcenter of Jerzy Grotowski and Thomas Richards in Pontedera, Italy, and assisted by members of Theatre No Theatre, will introduce each participant to an exploration of work on songs of tradition will take place at Jersey City Theater Center, 165 Newark Avenue (entrance on Barrow Street), Jersey City, NJ from February 14 through February 16, 2023. For more information or to register visit https://jctcenter.org.

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NJ Artist Sean Faust Releases "Live Volume Four - 50/Fifty"

On February 3rd, 2023, New Jersey songwriter Sean Faust released the latest in his "Live" album series, "Volume Four - 50/ Fifty." Originally broadcast on BlowUpRadio.com, this is Sean's full set recorded on 9/18/2022 that includes his popular single "Gin Asylum", a return to prog-rock form with his epic "As It Grows", and a solo version of his band MONEY FOR THE TOLL's "Balance".

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Black Women's Mural Raises Awareness About Black Suffragists, Celebrates Black Voices, and Sparks Community Pride

Ida B. Wells-Barnett was a prominent journalist and activist who fought tirelessly for women’s right to vote even though she is often left out of historical conversations about the women’s suffrage movement. Today her image graces a mural located in the heart of downtown Englewood, New Jersey, on the east-facing wall of the Women's Rights Information Center building at 108 W. Palisades Avenue. The painting was inspired by the 100th year anniversary of the 19th Amendment. “The Black Women’s Mural: Celebrating Black Suffragists and Black Women in Englewood” is meant to celebrate the achievements of Black women who paved the way for civil and women’s rights as well as serve as a beacon of pride and hope for young girls, Black women and the community-at-large in Englewood.

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Bruce Springsteen And The E Street Band Back on Tour With First U.S. Show In Seven Years

Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band launched their 2023 international tour on February 1st at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida - offering fans a high-energy 28-song set that included live staples like "Dancing In The Dark" and "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" alongside new material from Springsteen's most recent studio albums Letter To You and Only The Strong Survive. This return to the road marked Springsteen and The E Street Band's first live performance together since the conclusion of The River Tour in 2017, and first in North America since 2016.

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Oscar Nominated Live-Action Shorts and Documentary Short Films to Screen in Spring Lake

(SPRING LAKE, NJ) -- If you’d like to see this year's Oscar Nominated short films before the 95th annual awards are broadcast on March 12th, here’s your chance. Of the three categories open for nomination—Live-Action, Documentary and Animation—Spring Lake Theatre will host Lighthouse International Film Society’s screening of the Live-Action nominees on Friday evening, February 17, and Documentaries on Saturday, February 18.

Chris Lane’s Excellent Feature Ocean City Monster Building screens at the Spring 2023 New Jersey Film Festival TODAY Saturday, February 4

Ocean City Monster Building by Chris Lane (playing all day online at the Spring 2023 New Jersey Film Festival) focuses on a small sleepy town in upstate New York in 1984.  The former mayor of the city is found dead on the backseat of his car with a local 15-year-old girl. In the aftermath, his wife of 30 years and his adopted daughter have to make sense of this difficult situation, while a detective from out of town is sent in to try to solve the case together with local law enforcement.   Here is my interview with Ocean City Monster Building director Chris Lane:

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Black Women's Mural Raises Awareness About Black Suffragists, Celebrates Black Voices, and Sparks Community Pride

Ida B. Wells-Barnett was a prominent journalist and activist who fought tirelessly for women’s right to vote even though she is often left out of historical conversations about the women’s suffrage movement. Today her image graces a mural located in the heart of downtown Englewood, New Jersey, on the east-facing wall of the Women's Rights Information Center building at 108 W. Palisades Avenue. The painting was inspired by the 100th year anniversary of the 19th Amendment. “The Black Women’s Mural: Celebrating Black Suffragists and Black Women in Englewood” is meant to celebrate the achievements of Black women who paved the way for civil and women’s rights as well as serve as a beacon of pride and hope for young girls, Black women and the community-at-large in Englewood.

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Bean and the Babysitter screens at the Spring 2023 New Jersey Film Festival on Friday, February 3

Bean and the Babysitter is a twenty-minute short film directed by Jason Michael Roberts and written by Jimmy Barker. A young college student Pam (Katelin Dirr) is hired to babysit a young boy Bean (Liam Eddy) while his parents go out for the evening. Initially Pam is resistant to bond with Bean to focus on her biology homework, but their relationship takes a turn when Bean’s parents don’t return from their night out. The two of them are stuck at the family farmhouse, far from civilization and have no way to communicate with the outside world. Isolated and scared, Pam and Bean are forced to confront their internal struggles, and each other.

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Mysterious short Duplicitous Minds screens at the New Jersey Film Festival on Friday, February 3

Duplicitous Minds is written and directed by Robert Rippberger. The seventeen-minute short film tells the story of the deceitful exploits of three unnamed characters, The Magician (Matthew Palumbo), his assistant (Catalina Yue), and The Artist (Rob LaColla Jr.). An ominous monologue opens up the film, hinting at the deceptive nature of what’s to come. While performing a show, The Magician is heckled by The Artist. After the performance, The Artist goes backstage and blackmails The Magician to steal for him, or The Artist will give up video footage of a previous heist. The Magician agrees, but little does The Artist know what he has gotten himself into.

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Finding the Rhythm: An Interview with Performing Artist, Educator Yahaya Kamate

To Yahaya Kamate, the work of a performer and an educator is inseparable. Every class he teaches is a dynamic performance, and public performances usually offer opportunities for audience participation, if not a full-length dance lesson. Born and raised in the West African country of Côte d’Ivoire and a former member of the National Ballet of the Ivory Coast, Kamate came to the United States in 1994, and immediately found work as a lead dancer, choreographer and teacher of modern dance, ballet, African dance and music. Kamate has been living in New Jersey since 1999, working at respected local arts organizations including NJPAC, City Lore, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Bronx Art Ensemble, and the Institute of Music for Children. We recently had the opportunity to spend time with this engaging artist at The Center for Modern Dance Education, (CMDE) where he has been offering classes and public performances for over 20 years.

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Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey Announces 2023 Season

(MADISON, NJ) -- The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey (STNJ) has announced its roster of productions for its 61st season — featuring an eclectic mix of comedy, romance, historical drama, and a fantastical holiday offering. The company will present five plays on its Main Stage at the F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre and one summer production on the Outdoor Stage - the Greek amphitheater on the campus of Saint Elizabeth University in Florham Park. The 2023 season will include several contemporary classics never before seen on the STNJ stage, one Shakespeare play on the Main Stage, as well as a number of Shakespeare add-on options.

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Complex short Voiceless screens at the New Jersey Film Festival on Friday, February 3.

Voiceless, a featured short from director Cindy Di Xin, tells the story of an international high school girl who finds herself trapped in a nightmare that she has never experienced before involving inappropriate attention from one of her teachers. Cindy made this short in Pasadena, California, but it is presented in Chinese and English with subtitles. Despite being a short, this is a measured, layered, and complex piece of art.

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Live Music and Iconic Photography in Partnership with Jazz Foundation of America

​​​​​​​Tuesday nights are special at New York’s Thompson Central Park Hotel (formerly the Parker Meridien). From 6-9 p.m. in Parker’s lobby/atrium bar there is now live jazz, thanks to the efforts of the Jazz Foundation of America, a nonprofit organization that has existed since 1989 to provide such things as housing and emergency assistance, pro bono medical care, and disaster relief for jazz musicians in need. 

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"Women's Work" Makes Bold Statements, Yields Nuanced Thoughts

A 2019 Public Library of Science survey of eighteen prominent American museums revealed that over 80% of represented artists are male. This is not new. Throughout history, work by women artists has been undervalued. But, as Susan Fisher Sterling, the Alice West Director of the National Museum of Women in the Arts, told NEA Arts, there are things that people can do to help drive change. One of her suggestions is this: "Support women artists and the institutions exhibiting their work. Privilege those places that are working towards achieving gender equality." 

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First Girl delivers a shock at the Spring 2023 New Jersey Film Festival

First Girl, written and directed by Ellie Konn, yields an unexpected shocking twist on a first time romance flick. The film follows the character of Nadia, a shy teenager exploring her sexuality, as she develops a crush on a girl in her class, Abby. Viewers originally witness her glancing at Abby, frozen with admiration, a state that many can resonate with. Though at first Nadia seems afraid to express her feelings, fate works in her favor as the two are paired together for a school project on female authors. As the girls exchange phone numbers in an awkwardly adorable short conversation, viewers can relate to Nadia’s nervous attitude which mirrors the nerve-wracking emotions associated with having a crush. 

Makin Waves Song of the Week: "In the Night" by Project 18 featuring Dave Vargo

Project 18, featuring Monmouth County-based singer-songwriter Dave Vargo, has released a four-song EP, the opener of which, “In the Night,” is the Makin Waves Song of the Week.

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...2/2/23

“Rob has always done the lyrics and vocal melodies etcetera but I write pretty much all of the music with the band guys," states guitarist Chris Impellitteri of the band Impellitteri. "The line-up is myself; Rob Rock is the lead singer and he's done the majority of all the records. We have James Pulli on bass who's been with us since the late 80s, early 90s; so, pretty much the same bass player and you know we're a bit like Spinal Tap when it comes to drummers. We’ve had drummers who have toured with Slayer and some other hard-core metal bands like The Hollywood Vampires so, we've been all over the place with our drummers but that's pretty much the nucleus of the band and occasionally we'll use a keyboard player at times.” 

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BlowUpRadio.com's New & Notable NJ Music 1/30/23

Lazlo, founder of BlowUpRadio.com (an online radio station based around New Jersey artists), shines a light on some of the many new releases from NJ based musicians each week with this column. This week Lazlo takes a look at releases by Alex Sieira, Old Friends, Today Is..., San Tropez, BYRH, Geb Zurburg, and Solid Bronze.

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Top 15 Most Read Stories at New Jersey Stage from January 22-28, 2023

Here's a look at the top 15 most read articles published at New Jersey Stage from January 22-28, 2023. Each week we publish about 70 articles, including several original columns and features, along with news releases for events happening throughout the state and nearby areas like Philadelphia and New York City. This week's top 15 includes articles from 5 counties in New Jersey (Atlantic, Burlington, Essex, Middlesex, and Monmouth).

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Makin Waves Song of the Week: "Boots of Spanish Leather" by Pat Guadagno

Jersey Shore singer-songwriter Pat Guadagno’s latest album, “1964,” is a tribute to the year that spawned such classics as Bob Dylan’s “Boots of Spanish Leather,” Pat’s cover of which is the Makin Waves Song of the Week