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The Songs That Made Me: My Personal Hall of Fame

by Gary Wien
published 2025-02-20

The cliché is that people often think the best music of their life came out when they were a teenager and they sort of tune out new songs as they get older. I never really agreed with that idea and wanted to put it to the test. What are the songs that mean the most to me throughout my life? The ones you hear the chorus as soon as you see the title? When did they come out? And did I ever stop listening to new music?



Pioneering Color & Light Festival to Illuminate Asbury Park

(ASBURY PARK, NJ) -- On March 21-22, 2025, the historic seaside town of Asbury Park will host the inaugural Color & Light Festival, a groundbreaking event set to redefine the cultural landscape of New Jersey and the Tri-State Area. The festival will transform the façade of Asbury Park's iconic Paramount Theatre with dazzling projection mapping "shows" set to music.



National Alliance for Musical Theatre announces 2024/2025 Writers Residency Grant Recipients as part of the Frank Young Fund for New Musicals

The National Alliance for Musical Theatre (Betsy King Militello, Executive Director) has announced the NAMT Member Theatre and Writer Recipients for the 2024/2025 Writers Residency Grants, part of the Frank Young Fund for New Musicals. The Frank Young Fund is a major funding program to support the development and production of new musicals. Writers Residency Grants encourage collaborations between NAMT Member theatres and writers at the earliest stages of a project.



Westminster Choir College's Celebration of Black Music festival features performances, guest artists, lectures

(LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ) -- Rider University's Westminster Choir College will host its annual Celebration of Black Music festival from March 2-9, 2025. The celebration will feature lectures, workshops, and a concert featuring the Westminster Jubilee Singers, Westminster Symphonic Choir and more.








2025 Princeton Festival to Take Place June 6-21

(PRINCETON, NJ) -- The Princeton Symphony Orchestra (PSO) has announced its performance line-up for this year's Princeton Festival, New Jersey's premier performing arts festival, taking place June 6-21, 2025 on the beautiful grounds of Morven Museum & Garden. The performing arts showcase includes chart-topping hits of music icons, superstar soprano Renée Fleming, songs by Sondheim, a tumultuous opera by Giacomo Puccini, an evening of dance, music of Vivaldi and the Motor City, plus a joy-filled finale featuring the music of ABBA. A Baroque concert and violin recital take place at nearby Trinity Church.



Old Library Theatre is Facing Significant Challenges, Has Paused Operations Due to Status Change with Borough of Fair Lawn

(FAIR LAWN, NJ) -- Old Library Theatre (OLT) is facing significant challenges following a change in its status with the Borough of Fair Lawn. These changes have resulted in increased fees that are unmanageable for OLT, necessitating an adjustment of its season and cancellation of future productions for the next six to nine months. This pause will allow OLT the necessary time to incorporate and secure insurance in order to continue operations.



Students of Nettingham Performing Arts Company Bring Fairy Tales to Life in "Into the Woods JR."

(SCOTCH PLAINS, NJ) -- Students from Nettingham Middle School's Performing Arts Company are set to enchant audiences with a fresh and humorous take on classic fairy tale characters in their production of Into the Woods JR. Directed by Katherine Decker Lewis, with music direction by James Mosser and choreography by Samantha Simpson, this beloved musical promises to be a magical and unforgettable experience. Performances take place February 21-23, 2025.



Montclair Art Museum partners with NJPAC's ArtsRx Program to Prescribe Art for Wellness

(MONTCLAIR, NJ) -- The Montclair Art Museum (MAM) is thrilled to announce its partnership with the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC)'s groundbreaking ArtsRx program. ArtsRx bridges the arts and healthcare, offering creative experiences as a form of therapeutic intervention for mental and physical well-being, through foundational support from RWJBarnabas Health, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey and WomenatNJPAC with additional support from a network of foundation, corporate and individual donors.



NJPAC presents comedian Fern Brady

(NEWARK, NJ) --The New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) is excited to welcome Scotland's comedy superstar Fern Brady as she stops in Newark on Saturday, April 19, 2025 during her U.S. tour. Showtime is 8:00pm.







 

EVENT PREVIEWS

MPAC

MPAC Announces Free Summer Concert Lineup for 2026

(MORRISTOWN, NJ) -- Mayo Performing Arts Center's Arts in the Community free summer concert schedule for 2026 has been announced. MPAC will present six free concerts between June and August. The lineup includes the return of three of their most popular events – Bollywood Dance Party, Country Line Dancing and Salsa at Sunset, as well as singer-songwriters, and more.



Classic

Classic American Tales' presents Tales at the Dormer House every Thursday

(CAPE MAY, NJ) -- From June 4 through October 15, 2026 (except for July 2), Classic American Tales (CAT) once more presents Tales at the Dormer House in which guests are treated to lemonade and tasty treats while listening to stories written by noteworthy authors, read by a variety of performers. The schedule is 4:00pm every Thursday at the historic Dormer House Bed and Breakfast (800 Columbia Avenue) in Cape May, NJ. Performances are on the front porch, weather permitting.



Princeton

Princeton Summer Theater presents "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown"

(PRINCETON, NJ) -- Princeton Summer Theater's 2026 Children's Show is You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, which runs weekends from June 20 to August 1, 2026. A beloved musical since its premiere in 1967, Clark Gesner brings Charles M. Schulz's "PEANUTS" characters to the stage. The musical ventures through the highs and lows of young life, from baseball and homework to young love and friendship. With an empathetic and whimsical eye, You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown reminds us of the importance of connection and joy.



2026-27

2026-27 Season Preview: Split Level Concerts at Jersey Shore Arts Center

(OCEAN GROVE, NJ) -- Split Level Concerts at the Jersey Shore Arts Center (JSAC) in Ocean Grove has announced the full concert lineup for its third season. All shows will take place beginning at 8:00pm in JSAC's Palaia Theater. The season lineup includes Willie Nile, John Gorka, Dan Bern, Catie Curtis and Band, Stephen Kellogg, Abbie Gardner, Heather Maloney and Band, and Kim Richey. As they have done in prior years, artists from the Asbury Park music scene will open many of the shows.



MPAC's

MPAC's Summer 2026 Preview

(MORRISTOWN, NJ) -- From the versatility of Tony winner Darren Criss, the comedy of Abbott Elementary's Janelle James and the nostalgic hits of the Grateful Dead, ABBA and more, Mayo Performing Arts Center's summer lineup features a diverse set of performances and events.












LATEST COLUMNS


Wesley Pierre: "Catharsis"

Even those who don't know very much about visual art are familiar with the Cubist approach to the human body. Pablo Picasso liked to present a person from many angles at once, and compress three-dimensional form into a two-dimensional frame. No matter what step she's on, that nude descending a staircase comes at us all at once. We know we're looking at an individual person, even if it's never clear which of those fields of color represent the present moment and which are afterimages, projections, and vapor trails. Representing human beings like this guarantees that there’ll be distortions: facial features in strange places, unexpected angles, duplicates and odd subtractions, clashes between heads, necks, and torsos, the shuffling of expressions, and the surprise and disquiet that comes when an obviously human figure doesn't look much like a human at all.




Makin Waves Song of the Week: "A Light To Come Home To" by Lisa Bouchelle

The Makin Waves Song of the Week is "A Light To Come Home To" by Jersey roots rocker Lisa Bouchelle featuring Americana legends Amanda Shires and Larry Campbell.




Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites... 07/16/2026

Loss, we've all suffered it. Some of us more than others,some less and still yet there are those of us who've not had loss of any significance to this point. Loss, like anything else, is directly related to perspective. What may seem like a huge loss to one, is insignificant to another. People pass away, bad days do the same, they fade into the night or disappear at the bottom of one's favorite drink until they are swept away by the morning's sunrise and things are new. Some loss stays a bit longer, adding scars to our bodies until they become topographical maps of memories; reminders of what not to do or what we didn't do or should've done.








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