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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theatre

PHOTOS from "The Last Supper" at SOPAC

(SOUTH ORANGE, NJ) -- The world premiere engagement of the new musical comedy, The Last Supper, is currently on stage at South Orange Performing Arts Center (SOPAC). The play is about five liberal grad students sharing a house in a conservative college town who, in their efforts to save the world, host a collection of their neighbors for a friendly evening of dinner and discourse. Things do not go well. Performances run Wednesdays through Sundays from July 27 to August 7th. Photographer John Posada was on hand to take some photos.

The future may be closer than you think in "The Hummingbirds," a comic-drama of menace

The future may be closer than you think in “The Hummingbirds,” a comic-drama of menace.

George Street Playhouse announces cast and creative for "Her Portmanteau"

(NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ) -- George Street Playhouse (GSP) is excited to welcome back audiences to the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center and has announced casting for the upcoming production of Her Portmanteau a new play by Mfoniso Udofia, directed by Laiona Michelle. Performances run October 11-30, 2022.

Centenary Stage Company’s Young Performers Workshop’s 2022 Summer Festival of Shows

(HACKETTSTOWN, NJ) -- Centenary Stage Company’s Young Performers Workshop’s 2022 Summer Festival of Shows has just been announced and will feature performances of I Do! I Do! I Do! I Do!, A Coupla White Chicks Sitting Around Talking, and Two for Four. Performances will run August 5-14 in the Little Theatre located at 400 Jefferson St, Hackettstown, NJ.

Dragonfly Multicultural Arts Center presents "Pride and Prejudice" Outdoors in Plainfield

(PLAINFIELD, NJ) -- The front porch of the duCret School in Plainfield will be transformed into a English Regency-era family home when Dragonfly Multicultural Arts Center presents outdoor performances of Pride and Prejudice August 19-21. Lizzy will see Darcy as she climbs the stairs to the porch. Mr. Collins will wander in the gardens with Charlotte, and Jane and Bingley will dance under the trees in the soft August breeze.

music

Gordon Lightfoot LIVE! at the Ocean City Music Pier

The Ocean City, NJ boardwalk is bustling with people making their way inside the Ocean City Music Pier this Monday, July 18, 2022 evening for a sold-out concert of live music featuring the legendary Canadian singer/songwriter Gordon Lightfoot.

Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...7/28/22

“The new single is “a13” and it's the first song on the new record, “Elevator” and “Elevator” is my 25th solo record so it's kind of a special one for us; we play “a13” in the show as well as some other things from “Elevator.” There's in fact, nine things in the show that we've never played before but there's also a lot of the power trio material that people like, like the King Crimson stuff and some other good songs and there's an acoustic section where I do a solo acoustic guitar and voice thing for about 20-minutes and take some question and answers from the audience. So, it's a very good well-rounded show with lots of different things.”

Axelrod PAC presents The Weeklings at Bell Works

(HOLMDEL, NJ) -- Axelrod Performing Arts Center presents The Weeklings, America’s most unique tribute to the music and inspiration of The Beatles, in a performance on the outdoor deck at Bell Works in Holmdel on Sunday, August 7 at 7:00pm.

film

What’s Filming In New Jersey: AMC’s The Walking Dead Spin-Off starring Lauren Cohan and Jeffrey Dean Morgan

(NEWARK, NJ) -- AMC’s The Walking Dead franchise expands its universe to the Meadowlands Arena and North Jersey locations for its upcoming spin-off series starring Lauren Cohan and Jeffrey Dean Morgan. This is the fifth series in The Walking Dead franchise and will follow Maggie (Cohan) and Negan (Morgan) as they explore a postapocalyptic New York City. Eli Jorné, who writes and co-executive produces the original series, will serve as the showrunner, while Scott M. Gimple, chief content officer of The Walking Dead franchise, will oversee the series. Cohan and Morgan also serve as executive producers. The first six-episode season is expected to debut on AMC and AMC+ in 2023.

art

Northern NJ Community Foundation Awards Fourth Annual Scholarship to Leonia High School Graduate to Study Animation and Fine Arts

(HACKENSACK, NJ) -- The Northern New Jersey Community Foundation's (NNJCF) Frank DeLorenzo Memorial Scholarship Fund awarded Pilar Carranza, a graduate of the Leonia High School class of 2022 in Leonia, New Jersey, its fourth annual scholarship. This fall, Carranza plans to attend Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles and study animation and fine arts.

Akwaaba Gallery presents "String Theory" by Abstract Artist Dawn Stringer

(NEWARK, NJ) -- Akwaaba Gallery in Newark presents String Theory, a collection of abstract expressionist works by Dawn Stringer, whose vibrant, thickly textured paintings explore themes of loneliness, trauma, happiness and healing. The exhibition runs from Saturday, July 30 through September 3, 2022.

community

SOPAC Executive Director Dee Billia Ends Tenure at Performing Arts Center

(SOUTH ORANGE, NJ) -- The South Orange Performing Arts Center’s Board Chair, Douglas Newman, announced that SOPAC’s Executive Director, Dee Billia, recently left her position after years of senior leadership.

Passaic County to Hold Picnic on Sunday to Celebrate the Passaic County Park System

(PASSAIC COUNTY, NJ) -- The County of Passaic and the Friends of Passaic County Parks, Inc., in conjunction with the National Association of Olmsted Parks, will host a picnic at the Rocky Hollow Picnic Area at Garret Mountain Reservation on Sunday, July 31st. This year marks the 200th birthday of Frederick Law Olmsted — author, journalist, public official, urban planner, and founder of American landscape architecture. Olmsted and his successor firms designed thousands of landscape and park projects across the country. In 1927, the Passaic County Park Commission hired the Olmsted Brothers firm to design the Passaic County Park System