The Dodge Poetry Festival will take place in Newark, Oct. 17-19.
Here is a roundup of arts events taking place around New Jersey, through Oct. 17.
POETRY
• North America’s largest poetry event, the biennial Dodge Poetry Festival, will take place at NJPAC and other Newark locations, Oct. 17-19, with Nikki Giovanni, Sonia Sanchez, Joan Baez (who recently published her first book of poetry), Tyehimba Jess, Claudia Rankine, Mahogany L. Browne and many others.
In addition to readings and workshops, the festival will offer discussions on topics such as “Call & Response: Performing and Engaging Audiences,” “Poetry as Catalyst: Field Notes From Activists,” “Queering the Poem,” “Publishing in the Era of Social Media” and “The Nature of the Poetry Biz.”
Separate tickets will be required for three events: A performance by Giovanni with saxophonist Javon Jackson and bassist Christian McBride, Oct. 19 at 2 p.m. at NJPAC’s Victoria Theater; “Represent! Social Justice Through Spoken Word,” featuring rappers such as Rakim, Big Daddy Kane and MC Lyte in addition to poets, Oct. 19 at 8 p.m. at NJPAC’s Prudential Hall; and “An Evening of Poetry and Conversation” featuring Baez, Oct. 19 at 8 p.m. at NJPAC’s Victoria Theater.
Oct. 18 is Young Artist Day, meaning that programming will be offered to school groups at no charge. And a free Family Fun Day at Military Park, Oct. 19 at 11 a.m., will offer poetry as well as face painting, a DJ, drag storytelling and food trucks.
KYROS will perform at The ProgStock Festival at The Williams Center in Rutherford.
MUSIC
• The progressive-rock festival known as ProgStock will take place from Oct. 18 to Oct. 20 at The Williams Center in Rutherford, but there will also be a pre-festival concert, Oct. 17 at 6:30 p.m., with the Genesis cover band Abacab followed by Last Call Live, during which professional musicians booked to perform at the festival will play with amateur musicians who are attending.
Performers and participants in various events, Oct. 18-20, will include Gong, SAGA, Patrick Moraz (Yes, The Moody Blues), Larry Fast (Synergy, Peter Gabriel), Jerry Marotta (Peter Gabriel, Hall & Oates), Steve Hogarth (Marillion), Stratospheerius, Lifesigns, KYROS, The David Cross Band, Circuline, Dave Bainbridge (Strawbs) and Rachel Flowers.
• Pianist Enriqueta Somarriba will perform at The Studio at State Theatre in New Brunswick, Oct. 17 at 6 p.m., in this year’s edition of The State Theatre’s annual “Classical Season Celebration.” According to the theater’s website, a cocktail reception will be followed by “an intimate candlelit performance” that “weaves together classical favorites and beloved pieces by Spanish composers.”
• Adam Pascal — whose Broadway credits include “Rent,” “Aida,” “Something Rotten!” and “Memphis” — will appear in the music-and-conversation series “Big Fat Broadway LIVE!,” hosted by pianist and SiriusXM satellite radio DJ Seth Rudetsky, at The Bell Theater at Bell Works in Holmdel, Oct. 12 at 8 p.m.
RAY FISHER
THEATER
• The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey will present “Macbeth” at its F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre at Drew University in Madison, with previews starting Oct. 16, the official opening night on Oct. 19, and the last show on Nov. 17. Ray Fisher will play the title role.
In 2009, Fisher played Macbeth in an abridged version of the play that was part of the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey’s Shakespeare Live! touring program for young audiences; in 2011, he co-starred in a STNJ production of “To Kill a Mockingbird” as the wrongly accused Tom Robinson. His more recent roles have included Muhammad Ali in “Fetch Clay, Make Man,” off-Broadway in 2013; Lymon in “The Piano Lesson,” on Broadway in 2022 (for which he received a Drama Desk Award nomination); the superhero Cyborg in the “Justice League” movie in 2017; and Henry Hays in the HBO series “True Detective” in 2019.
STNJ artistic director Brian B. Crowe, who is also directing this production, said, in a press release, of Shakespeare’s writing in this play, “No one dives deeper into the human psyche as he explores ambition, the abuse of power, and the darker desires of the human spirit.” Which may explain why the production was scheduled to run during the presidential election season.
FAMILY
• The Growing Stage in Netcong will kick off its 2024-25 season with “Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” Oct. 11-13, 19-20 and 26-27. Dahl’s 1964 children’s novel was, of course, made into a popular movie in 1971. This stage-musical version — featuring new songs by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman — opened in London in 2013, and also ran on Broadway in 2017 and 2018.
FILM
• As part of The Newark Arts Festival, Express Newark will offer a free screening of “Following Harry,” a new documentary about the late singer and activist Harry Belafonte, as well as a panel discussion about it, Oct. 12 at 4 p.m.
The cover of Bill German’s “Under Their Thumb: How a Nice Boy from Brooklyn Got Mixed Up with the Rolling Stones (and Lived to Tell About It).”
BOOKS
• From the late ’70s to the mid-’90s, Bill German published a Rolling Stones fanzine, Beggars Banquet, and became something of a band insider in the process. His 2009 book about the experience, “Under Their Thumb: How a Nice Boy from Brooklyn Got Mixed Up with the Rolling Stones (and Lived to Tell About It),” remains one of the best books about the band, and he released an updated version of it in 2022.
As part of Monmouth Arts‘ Artful Experience series, German will give a presentation titled “On the Road and at Home with The Rolling Stones” and sign copies of the book, Oct. 17 at 7 p.m. at Kane Brewing Company in Ocean Township.
• Actor Henry Winkler will sign copies of his new children’s book, “Duck Detective: The Case of the Tadpole,” Oct. 15 at 7 p.m. at Bookends in Ridgewood. His co-writer, Lin Oliver, and the book’s illustrator, Dan Santat, will also participate.
OTHER
• Bringing a macabre spirit to The Big Top, The Vampire Circus has been described as “as a mix of circus cabaret and theatre” as well as “a fusion of Tim Burton and Cirque Du Soleil.” The show, featuring “horrific feats of Cirque acrobatics, comical audience interactions, contortionists, jugglers, acrobats, and clowns,” is on a tour that will come to The Levoy Theatre in Millville, Oct. 13 at 6 p.m., as well as The URSB Carteret Performing Arts & Events Center, Nov. 1 at 8 p.m.
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REVIEWS
“What the Constitution Means to Me,” presented by George Street Playhouse at New Brunswick Performing Arts Center (Through Oct. 13)
“American Mariachi” at Two River Theater, Red Bank. (Through Oct. 20)
“Pen Pals” at New Jersey Repertory Company, Long Branch. (Through Oct. 20)
“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” at Mile Square Theatre, Hoboken. (Through Oct. 20)
“Under a Southern Star: Identity and Environment in Australian Photography,” presented by Princeton University Art Museum at Art on Hulfish. (Through Jan. 5)
“New Sculpture/New Jersey” at Morris Museum, Morris Township. (Through Feb. 2)
“Morven Revealed: Untold Stories From New Jersey’s Most Historic Home” at Morven Museum & Garden, Princeton. (Through March 2)
“Bony Ramirez: Cattleya” at Newark Museum of Art. (Through March 9)
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