THIRD WORLD
Here is a roundup of arts events taking place around New Jersey, through Sept. 25.
MUSIC
• Reggae band Third World will headline The Jazz & Roots Music Festival, a free event taking place at The Lawn at Enlow Hall at Kean University in Hillside, Sept. 21 at 3:30 p.m. Joining them will be Stefon Harris & Blackout, King Solomon Hicks and DJ Prince Hakim, and there also will be food trucks and arts and crafts vendors.
Formed in Jamaica in 1973, Third World has gone through many lineup changes over the years but still includes two co-founders: Guitarist Stephen “Cat” Coore and bassist Richard Daley. The group has received nine Grammy nominations — most recently, in 2020, in the Reggae Album category for More Work to Be Done.
The first Jazz & Roots festival, in 2021, was headlined by The Dizzy Gillespie Afro-Latin Experience, and singer Dianne Reeves headlined in 2022. Third World was scheduled to headline last year, but that festival was cancelled because of a forecast of bad weather.
• The 31st annual XPoNential Music Festival — presented by Philadelphia radio station WXPN — will take place on two stages at Wiggins Park in Camden, with sets by The Walkmen, Pete Yorn, George Porter Jr. & Runnin’ Pardners, Cedric Burnside and others (all Sept. 20); Rosanne Cash, Greensky Bluegrass, Phosphorescent, Blondshell, Lizzie No and others (all Sept. 21); and Guster, Trampled by Turtles, Bully, Jade Bird and others (all Sept. 22). Activities for children will also be offered.
DIONNE WARWICK
• Dionne Warwick will be joined by Deborah Cox, Michelle Williams of Destiny’s Child, Remember Jones and others at the New Jersey Arts Icon Gala taking place at The Bell Theater at Bell Works in Holmdel, Sept. 22, with a 5 p.m. reception and auction followed by a 7 p.m. concert. Proceeds will benefit The Axelrod Performing Arts Center in Deal, and The Bell Theater’s cultural arts and education programs.
The show’s lineup also will include Nova Y. Payton and Warwick’s granddaughter Cheyenne Elliott, and 12 students from the junior division (ages 7-13) of the Axelrod Performing Arts Academy’s musical theater program will sing “That’s What Friends Are For” with Warwick. All the performers will be accompanied by the American Pops Orchestra conducted by Luke Frazier, and PBS will be filming for broadcast on a later date.
• The Garden State Arts Foundation will present three free concerts at the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel this week: Chubby Checker, The Cowsills, The Happenings, The Coda Band, presented by Cousin Brucie, Sept. 19 at 7:30 p.m.; Arrival From Sweden: The Music of ABBA, Sept. 25 at 1:30 p.m.; and Marilyn McCoo & Billy Davis, Darlene Love, The Soundtrack of Our Lives (featuring Deborah Rennard and Al Sapienza), presented by Cousin Brucie, Sept. 26 at 7:30 p.m.
The Garden State Arts Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded in 1984, presents free programs at the PNC Bank Arts Center and other venues. To find out how to request tickets, visit gsafoundation.org/news-events/upcoming-events and click on the event or events you are interested in.
PETER MARKS
NORM LEWIS
• A concert by Norm Lewis — the Tony-nominated Broadway veteran whose credits include “The Gershwins’ Porgy & Bess,” “The Phantom of the Opera,” “Les Misérables” and “The Little Mermaid” — will officially launch the 2024-25 season at The Mayo Performing Arts Center in Morristown, Sept. 20 at 8 p.m.
This is Mayo PAC’s 30th anniversary season; the theater was built in 1937 but reopened in 1994, after being closed for a number of years.
• The West Orange Jazz Festival will take place at The Oskar Schindler Performing Arts Center in West Orange, Sept. 21 from 2 to 9 p.m., with Charisa the Violin Diva, Ty Stephens & the Soul Jaazz Band, Richard Baratta, The Nat Adderley Jr. Quartet, John Lee & Friends, Ultra S, and The Summer Breeze Chinese Fusion Ensemble (featuring Vince di Mura and Lina Zha).
• Blues artists Bernard Allison and Katie Henry will be among the performers at the free Festival in the Borough, taking place in downtown Washington (Warren County), Sept. 21 from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Other performers, on three stages, will include Asbury Fever, Zydeco Revelators, The Jonathan Fritz Band, Kate & Paul, JerZGirls, The Mr. T Band, Ginger & the Schnapps, Steve Kirchuk, Rick Houston and Stacie Rose.
There will also be a Family Fun Zone, a Beer Garden, food trucks and vendors and, Sept. 20 at 6 p.m., The Toga Party Band will perform at a free pre-party at Veterans Park.
MUSIC/FILM
• NJPAC in Newark will present the 2023 animated film “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” with musicians performing the score live, Sept. 22 at 3 p.m. at its Prudential Hall.
KATE BALDWIN
THEATER
• Kate Baldwin, a two-time Tony Award nominee (for “Finian’s Rainbow” in 2010 and “Hello, Dolly!” in 2017″), will star in “What the Constitution Means to Me,” to be presented by George Street Playhouse at The New Brunswick Performing Arts Center, Sept. 24 to Oct. 13, with the official opening night on Sept. 27.
Written by Heidi Schreck, “What the Constitution Means to Me” ran on Broadway in 2019 and was nominated for a Tony in the Best Play category. It also was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The Pulitzer website describes it as “A charming and incisive analysis of gender and racial biases inherent to the U.S. Constitution that examines how this living document could evolve to fit modern America.”
WORDS
• Sept. 17 marked the 141st anniversary of the birth of the poet William Carlos Williams, and Sept. 22 at 4 p.m., The Hoboken Historical Museum will present ” ‘This Is Just to Say …’: Honoring William Carlos Williams” featuring readings by Williams-influenced poets Catherine Doty, Frank Rubino, Claudia Serea, and Joel Lewis, with the museum’s poet-in-residence Danny Shot hosting. The event will be livestreamed on the museum’s YouTube channel and Facebook page.
• Jazz-pop saxophonist Kenny G has written a memoir, “Life in the Key of G,” that he will release on Sept. 24. That same day, at 6 p.m., he will sign copies of it at the Bookends bookstore in Ridgewood.
OTHER
• The free Yogi Berra Tribute Day at The Yogi Berra Museum & Learning Center at Montclair State University, taking place Sept. 22 at noon, will include activities for children and families as well as a 1 p.m. presentation by Yankee Stadium organist Ed Alstrom and a 3 p.m. screening of the Berra documentary, “It Ain’t Over” (watch trailer below).
Alstrom’s presentation will be titled “Yankee Stadium: From the (Organ) Bench.” According to the venue’s website, he “will tell stories from his 21-years of making music and memories in the Bronx. The program, which includes live music, will fascinate baseball fans with a unique behind-the-scenes glance at the source of baseball’s signature musical experience.”
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REVIEWS
“Sense and Sensibility” at Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey at Drew University, Madison. (Through Sept. 22)
“Diversion” at Bauer Boucher Theatre Center at Kean University, Union. (Through Sept. 22)
“Suleika Jaouad and Anne Francey: The Alchemy of Blood” at ArtYard, Frenchtown. (Through Sept. 22)
“The Other American” at New Jersey Repertory Company, Long Branch. (Through Sept. 29)
“Empire Records: The Musical” at Berlind Theater at McCarter Theatre Center, Princeton. (Through Oct. 6)
“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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