New Jersey Stage: Daily Edition 05-26-22

Here is the morning update from New Jersey's arts newswire. We regularly publish between 8-15 new articles and news reports each day. Nobody covers the Arts throughout the Garden State like New Jersey Stage!

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Catching Up with Mick Chorba of The Successful Failures

The Successful Failures formed in 2005 as a side project for Mick Chorba from the Dipsomaniacs - a garage rock band who put out many great albums during their two decade run and was one of my favorite Jersey bands.  It’s amazing to think about it, but The Successful Failures have actually outlasted the Dipsos. Looking at the band’s history, they were bound to succeed...

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National Endowment for the Arts Announces More Than $750,000 in Creative Forces Community Engagement Grants

(WASHINGTON, DC) -- The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), in partnership with Mid-America Arts Alliance, has announced the inaugural recipients of Creative Forces® Community Engagement grants, with support for 26 organizations totaling $750,385. Awards will support community-based arts programming that will expand the work of Creative Forces into more communities nationwide to address the distinct experiences, challenges, and strengths of military-connected populations through the arts.  The list of Grantees includes Frontline Arts, a New Jersey non-profit corporation in Branchburg. 

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Cape May Music Festival Runs Through June 30th

(CAPE MAY, NJ) -- This year’s 33rd annual Cape May Music Festival, presented by Cape May MAC (Museums+Arts+Culture), continues with an all-live, in-person, indoor and outdoor concert schedule through Thursday, June 30. Come as you are to classical, chamber, jazz, Americana and brass band musical performances, some of which are free to attend. The festival offers music in a variety of genres including classical, chamber, brass band, jazz and Americana.  

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SOPAC's Ribbon-Cutting Celebrates Hurricane Ida Renovation Completion

(SOUTH ORANGE, NJ) -- On Wednesday, May 25, the South Orange Performing Arts Center, Cinema Lab, the township of South Orange Village and South Orange Downtown celebrated the completion of Hurricane Ida renovations in the town’s anchor cultural institution.

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Inside Lighthouse International Film Festival's DARKHOUSE Category

(LONG BEACH ISLAND, NJ) -- The 14th Annual Lighthouse International Film Festival takes place June 2-5, 2022. The festival's new DARKHOUSE genre category is for horror movies, thrillers, sci-fi, and fantasy films, including the galactic premier of "MAD GOD" on the big screen at Manahawkin's Regal Cinema. It is scheduled for an exclusive streaming release on AMC's Shudder later this month.  

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Drummer Evan Sherman’s Quartet To Perform at NJ Jazz Society's First Live Concert Since February 2020

(MADISON, NJ) -- Drummer Evan Sherman spent the summer of 2020 as a New York City street musician – in front of a fruit stand on 207th Street and Broadway, outside Terremoto Coffee on West 15th Street, and, finally, outside Good Enough to Eat, a comfort food restaurant at 85th Street and Columbus Avenue on the Upper West Side.

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Week 4 of Jersey City Theater Center's 6th Annual New Play Festival: STRENGTH To Take Place Online

(JERSEY CITY, NJ) -- The Jersey City Theater Center (JCTC) staff have transferred the final program scheduled for its 2022 New Play Festival to an online format. Due to COVID-19 affecting some team members, the production taking place during Week 4 (Thursday, May 26, 2022) can now be accessed via Zoom at www.jctcenter.org. 

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Alfa Art Gallery presents "Beyond the Brush: The Contemporary Imagination"

(NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ) -- The walls at Alfa Art Gallery currently feature the group oil and mixed media exhibition "Beyond the Brush: The Contemporary Imagination" now through August 28th, 2022. The oil and mixed media exhibition has been a part of the ongoing success of Alfa's New Brunswick Art Salon (NBAS) program since 2010. This exhibition showcases a diverse array of artworks from esteemed artists both native to New Jersey as well as artists living and working within the tri-state area, and features oil paintings and mixed media works that truly push the boundaries of their media. In these selected abstract and figurative artworks, each artist presents their own innovative approach to both the traditional medium of oil paint and mixed media art in order to capture visions of the contemporary world.

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"EXPOSED" by Beth Henley Extended at Black Box PAC

(ENGLEWOOD, NJ) -- Following a sold-out Q&A session with Beth Henley and Craig Lucas, Black Box PAC's world premiere production of Exposed by Beth Henley has been extended! Originally set to close Saturday May 28, the show will return after Labor Day Weekend for an extra four performances: June 2, 3, 4, and 5 at 8:00pm. The show runs at The Black Box Performing Arts Center - 49 East Palisade Avenue in Englewood.

Catching Up with Mick Chorba of The Successful Failures

The Successful Failures formed in 2005 as a side project for Mick Chorba from the Dipsomaniacs - a garage rock band who put out many great albums during their two decade run and was one of my favorite Jersey bands.  It’s amazing to think about it, but The Successful Failures have actually outlasted the Dipsos. Looking at the band’s history, they were bound to succeed...

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A New Look at an Asian-American Past

Emmy Award winning actress Jodi Long is the daughter of two prominent Asian-Americans who starred in Vaudeville for years and introduced Jodi to show business. Her parents, tap dancer Larry Leung and mom Kimye “Trudy” Tsunemitsu, an actress-singer, worked in the in show business from the 1950s. Jodi has starred in some of the best dramas about Asian-Americans, such as Flower Drum Song, among numerous other plays. Her parents toured the country for decades.

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Miss Futuro gets its United States Premiere at the 2022 New Jersey International Film Festival

Antonio Morales’ feature narrative film Miss Futuro will be getting its United States Premiere at the 2022 New Jersey International Film Festival on Saturday, June 4th, at 7 pm in person and online for 24 hours.

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SOPAC events for June 2022

(SOUTH ORANGE, NJ) -- The South Orange Performing Arts Center rounds out its 16th season with seven mainstage shows in June. See many genres of live entertainment, including Comedy, Jazz, Rock/Pop, Country and more. The month includes Laughs in the Loft's 1st Anniversary show, Max Weinberg’s Jukebox, Joan Osborne, Jesse Cook, Nick Lowe’s Quality Rock & Roll Revue starring Los Straitjackets, and Roger McGuinn.

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Timely film The Art of Un-War opens the 2022 New Jersey International Film Festival

The important and timely documentary The Art of Un-War opens the 2022 New Jersey International Film Festival on Friday, June 3. Here is my Interview with Director Maria Niro:

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The Doo-Wah Riders LIVE! at the Grunin Center

Fans of country music are ready and waiting inside Toms River, NJ’s Grunin Center for the Arts this Saturday, May 14, 2022 evening for a live concert by The Doo-Wah Riders.

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The Space Belongs to Them: Artist and Community Collaboration on New Harriet Tubman Monument in Newark

Hailing from Kingston, Jamaica and currently based in Montclair, NJ, architect Nina Cooke John’s work includes a range of ventures - from remodeling homes and businesses, to designing interior and public sculptures, and teaching classes and community workshops.

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Garden of Earthly Delights? Artists in Rowan University Art Gallery Examine the ‘Cultivated Space’

Ever since – even before – Joni Mitchell penned the words “and we’ve got to get ourselves back to the garden,” humans have been seeking to do just that. A return to the “Garden of Eden,” the original utopia. Paradise.

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Makin Waves with Asbury Park African-American Music Project: Preserving History, Celebrating Community, Cementing Future

Around Memorial Day Weekend 1970 when I was 5 years old, my grandmother won me yet another prize at a wheel of chance on the Asbury Park Boardwalk: a copy of The Beatles’ “Abbey Road,” my first big-boy LP. A few weeks later, civil unrest broke out throughout the city, and I didn’t step foot onto the AP boardwalk for a decade!

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PHOTOS from Lotus at Union Transfer

Lotus performed two nights (May 13-14) at Union Transfer in Philadelphia, PA and photographer Chris Paul was on hand to grab some photos. The band, which has performed at festivals like Bonnaroo, Outside Lands, Ultra, and Rothbury, has steadily built a devote fan base through steady touring.  They've also crafted a unique musical style outside of simple genre limitations. Equal parts instrumental post-rock and electronic dance, the band’s distinguishing feature is the ability to maintain a decidedly unique musical voice and remain current while bucking passing trends. 

Top 10 Most Read Stories at New Jersey Stage For Week of May 15-21, 2022

Here's a look at the top 10 most read articles published at New Jersey Stage during the week of May 15-21, 2022.  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 the Top Ten includes articles covering eight counties in New Jersey (Bergen, Cape May, Essex, Hudson, Middlesex, Monmouth, Passaic, and Sussex).

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Makin Waves Song of the Week: “Black Sun in New Orleans” by Silent Knight

New Brunswick rapper Silent Knight’s single, “Black Sun in New Orleans,” is the Makin Waves Song of the Week.

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...5/19/22

"I released an album in 2021 but I haven't been able to tour so we are doing it now. The album title is "The Ghost and the Wall" and it's 10-tracks; I was in Philadelphia and New York; I did three nights at City Winery. I have a trio with a guy named Danny Black who plays acoustic guitar and some lap steel who is from Philadelphia and a lovely woman named Allie Moss who is from New Jersey singing backup harmonies,” said Joshua Radin in a recent discussion about his latest release, his songwriting, the recording process and being on stage.

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Top 10 Most Read Stories at New Jersey Stage For Week of May 8-14, 2022

Here's a look at the top 10 most read articles published at New Jersey Stage during the week of May 8-14, 2022.  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 Top Ten includes articles covering six counties in New Jersey (Cape May, Middlesex, Morris, Passaic, Somerset, and Warren).

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Makin Waves Song of the Week: "You Are All (...Splatter)" by America Part Two

“You Are All (…Splatter”), the first of two singles from Jersey Shore-based America Part Two’s forthcoming EP, “AP2-inverse,” is the Makin Waves Song of the Week