Articles By Candace Nicholson
It’s Time You Knew “Little Girl Blue”
Kicking off the month of February, the George Street Playhouse welcomed lovers of theater, musical history, and all things embodying the High Priestess of Soul to enjoy the opening night of Little Girl Blue: The Nina Simone Musical. Serving as both writer and star of this unique slice of iconographic life, Laiona Michelle struts, sings and serves up the complex, yet honest tale of Eunice Kathleen Waymon for all to see in this world premiere performance.
published on 02/08/2019
What Is The Artist’s Role In Gentrification?
About a year ago, I attended a local community meeting here in Newark for citizens concerned about the changing face of the city. You see, Brick City, after 50 years of neglect, economic disenfranchisement, and disproportionate criticism fueled by racism, xenophobia and class discrimination, is going through a revitalization. Or a “renaissance” if you’re the poetic type.
published on 08/25/2018
Half Time Melds Laughs With Tears And A Lesson On Aging Well
It’s a tale as old as time. The older generations don’t understand the younger generations, and the younger generations just wish the older generations would stop telling them about how terrible their generation is. What would seem like a topic meant more for drama than comedy, Half Time is a musical that takes a deep dive into the generation gap and finds something more than clichéd stereotypes. By the end, you have a story brimming with more side-aching laughs and tender moments than your tear ducts can handle.
published on 06/21/2018
REVIEW: Hearts Beat Loud
The phrase “feel-good movie” tends to get an unfair rep these days. But Brett Haley and Marc Basch’s Hearts Beat Loud is certainly not to blame for that. This make-believe tale of a father and daughter on the cusp of an empty nest transition has more sincerity and virtue than most films submitted for Oscar nods each year, and a lot of that is due to the script, the tone and the performances of its perfectly complementary cast.
published on 05/26/2018
"Dark Money" Is A History Lesson, Signal Flair and Call to Arms All Rolled Into One
Those of us residing on the coastal cities of the United States often paint the American Midwest with a wide brush. Regardless of how many examples provided that speak to our “flyover country” being a cauldron of political complexity that is nowhere near as black and white as the East and West Coast dwellers insist it must be, the Midwest is forever labeled as a conservative utopia that would make every Trump supporter proud. And that’s why Kimberly Reed’s new documentary Dark Money is a must-see!
published on 05/08/2018
The Sting Delivers A Bumpy Con, But A Cool Song-And-Dance
(MILLBURN, NJ) -- With a Tony award for Best Regional Theatre under its belt and numerous productions finding their way across the Hudson, it should be no shock when the Paper Mill Playhouse lands yet another hit musical headed to the boards of Broadway. That was the general consensus from the crowd after Sunday’s opening night performance of The Sting starring Harry Connick Jr. and J. Harrison Ghee.
published on 04/11/2018
Making Newark A City Of The Arts
If you recall, back in January, I reported on Newark’s community info session for the conversion of a long dormant bank building on South Ward’s Clinton Ave. into an artist’s housing and creative community center. That session, and the details shared, is just one of the multi-pronged efforts Brick City is making to revitalize every ward in Newark, not just the downtown area. It’s also a part of Newark’s efforts to brand itself as a “city of the arts.”
published on 02/27/2018
Reading Between The Lines: Der Vang And Whitehead @ Newark
Last week saw the continuation of the year-long academic showcase Writers at Newark Reading Series, hosted by Rutgers University-Newark’s MFA Creative Writing program. On Tuesday, February 6, students, professors and Brick City residents welcomed Walt Whitman award-winning poet Mai Der Vang and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Colson Whitehead to the Express Newark’s lecture hall on Halsey Street.
published on 02/13/2018
An Anchor For Artists: The Nina Simone House
Is Newark on the verge of developing its first artists’ housing co-op? That was the $64,000 question asked at the community meeting for the future Nina Simone House in Brick City’s South Ward neighborhood held on January 10. Spearheaded by the Mayor’s office along with the Newark Community Economic Development Corporation (NCEDC), the efforts to renovate the abandoned Clinton Trust bank building into a space residents could be proud of has been a long time coming.
published on 01/15/2018
The Many Highs (And Lows) Of The Greatest Showman
In the past, I’ve written a few film reviews on my blog, the majority of them for small independent films or documentaries. But what they’ve all had in common is a connection to the arts. So it shouldn’t be too much of a stretch that I’ve decided to review a major feature film also connected to the world of arts in its own unique way: The Greatest Showman.
published on 12/27/2017
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