(HOLMDEL, NJ) -- The iconic career of the enduring folk-rock duo Simon & Garfunkel will be chronicled in an entertaining music and multimedia stage show presented by Aztec Two-Step 2.0 at the Bell Theater on Saturday, August 16, 2025. Showtime is 8:00pm.
The music in The Simon & Garfunkel Songbook Show speaks for itself and is anchored by Rex Fowler (acoustic guitar, harmonica, lead vocals), co-founder of the renowned folk-rock duo Aztec Two-Step whose self-tiled debut on Elektra and three subsequent albums on RCA were staples of progressive FM and college radio and helped to usher the music of the 1960s into the 1970s and beyond. His wife Dodie Pettit, an original cast member of the acclaimed Broadway musical The Phantom of the Opera, joins Fowler on lead guitar, keyboards and vocals. Multi-instrumentalist Steven Roues and drummer-percussionist Peter Hohmeister round out the band.
The Simon & Garfunkel Songbook Show also features rare early video footage of Simon & Garfunkel assembled by Tony Traguardo, a music archivist, podcaster, radio show host, who serves as the show’s narrator and emcee. Traguardo also edited Fowler’s memoir entitled See, It Was Like This … The show’s storyline was created by the late Pete Fornatale, a pioneer of progressive FM radio in New York and author of Simon & Garfunkel’s Bookends, a book about the making of the duo’s classic 1968 album.
Tickets range from $54.50 - $64.50 and are available for purchase online or by calling 732-531-9106, ext. 14. Bell Theater is located at 101 Crawfords Corner Road in Holmdel, New Jersey.
Bell Theater is a new cultural hub at the historic Bell Works. Their mission is to provide exceptional cultural programming to the community in a state-of-the-art facility. They believe in the transformative power of the arts and are committed to making it accessible to all.
Rex Fowler (Acoustic Guitar, Harmonica, Lead Vocals). After “lifting” the band’s name from a poem by beat poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and writing the first song for or about Jack Kerouac’s iconic novel, “On The Road,” the story of Rex and Aztec Two-Step is intertwined with the history of folk/rock music in America. Originating from a chance meeting at an “open mic night” in a Boston folk club in 1971, the duo that included co-founder Neal Shulman, went on to record four albums throughout the decade on Elektra & RCA Records that left an indelible mark on the musical genre.
As their recording career continued, so did the critical acclaim. In 1986, their first indie album “Living in America” was named in Billboard’s year-end critic’s poll. It also received the New York Music Award for the Best Folk Album. In 1999 they were the subjects of the documentary, “No Hit Wonder,” which was aired on several PBS stations across America. In June 2007, Real Simple, a popular national lifestyle magazine, named Aztec Two-Step’s debut album one of the all-time top five classic “folk” albums, along with works by Bob Dylan, Judy Collins, Tom Rush and Phil Ochs. The article cites the duo as “surpass[ing] Simon and Garfunkel for exquisite harmonies, musicianship and emotion.” In this era of Aztec Two-Step 2.0, Rex continues to expand the band’s musical legacy with fan favorites, forgotten gems and new original folk/rock compositions as he introduces the members of his new ensemble.
Dodie Pettit (Acoustic & Electric Guitars, Keyboards, Vocals). Accomplished songwriter and recording artist, Dodie Pettit first met Rex Fowler when she was a session player and singer on ATS’s 1980 “Times of Our Lives” album. A member of the famed The Untouchable and The Enchanted Forest All-Girl Bands of the mid-1960s, Dodie was a former Principal Dancer for the American Repertory Dance Company which led to a distinguished 15-year career on Broadway as an original cast member of The Phantom of the Opera, as well as appearing in Tony Awarding winning musicals CATS and Titanic. Dodie and Rex were married in August 2018 and together they are now the heart and soul of the new Aztec Two Step “2.0” ensemble.
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