Alanis Morissette performs in Newark, June 22.
A new festival, North to Shore, is bringing music, comedy, film, visual arts and technology events, and more, to three New Jersey cities this month. The festival began in Atlantic City and will be in Asbury Park through June 18, and also will be in Newark, June 21-25.
Upcoming Asbury Park events include Demi Lovato at The Stone Pony Summer Stage, June 16 at 6 p.m.; Nicole Atkins at The Wonder Bar, June 16 at 8 p.m.; The B-52’s at The Stone Pony Summer Stage, June 17 at 6 p.m.; The Smithereens with Marshall Crenshaw at The Wonder Bar, June 17 at 8 p.m.; and Jarod Clemons & the Late Nights in “A Musical Celebration of the Life & Music of Clarence Clemons” at The Wonder Bar, June 18 at 6 p.m.
Among the events in Newark will be the Newark International Film Festival; Santana at the Prudential Center, June 21; Halsey with a string ensemble at Prudential Hall at NJPAC, June 21-22; Alanis Morissette with Aimee Mann at the Prudential Center, June 22; Jazmine Sullivan and others at the Prudential Center, June 23; Marisa Monte at Prudential Hall at NJPAC, June 23; Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes at the Victoria Theater at NJPAC, June 23; Bill Burr at the Prudential Center, June 24; “An Evening with Stephen Colbert and Jim Gaffigan” at Prudential Hall at NJPAC, June 24; Natalie Merchant with The Orchestra of St. Luke’s at Prudential Hall at NJPAC, June 25; and Ross Mathews at the Victoria Theater at NJPAC, June 25.
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Here is a roundup of other arts events taking place around the state, through June 22.
WES ORSHOSKI
BUDDY GUY
MUSIC
• Legendary bluesman Buddy Guy, who is 86 and on his Damn Right Farewell Tour (a reference to his 1991 comeback album, Damn Right, I’ve Got the Blues), performs at Ovation Hall at the Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City, June 16 at 9 a.m.
• Longtime Jethro Tull guitarist Martin Barre and his band will present a free concert, June 21 at 7:30 p.m., to kick off this year’s edition of the annual Woodbridge Wednesday series of free performances by nationally known roots and rock acts. Because of the pandemic, the series moved to Woodbridge High School, with social distancing, from 2020 to 2022. But it will be back at its former home, Parker Press Park, this year.
• The Stanhope House will host, June 17 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., the North Jersey Blues Society‘s “Crossroads to Memphis” event, at which six blues acts — Charlie Apicella & Iron City, Gladys & the Powertones, the Summit Street Blues Band, Blues People, Eric Heilner and Seth Okrend — will compete for the opportunity to take part in the next International Blues Challenge in Memphis.
The International Blues Challenge is an annual contest and convention presented by the Memphis-based Blues Foundation; it bills itself as “The world’s largest gathering of blues musicians.” The next IBC is scheduled for Jan. 16-20, with more than 20 Memphis venues hosting performances as well as seminars, master classes, film screenings, book signings, networking events and more.
• Singer-songwriter Mike Montali, who fronts the New York-based rock band Hollis Brown and is also a member of the group Fantastic Cat, will perform solo in a concert presented by GabeGate in a private space at the Spanish Pavilion restaurant in Harrison, June 16, with doors opening at 6 p.m.
Coincidentally, Montali’s Fantastic Cat bandmate Anthony D’Amato opens for Keb’ Mo’ at BergenPAC in Englewood, at 8 p.m. the same night.
TAYLOR GOLDSMITH
• Taylor Goldsmith, frontman of the band Dawes, will present a rare solo show at the Outpost in the Burbs at the First Congregational Church in Montclair, June 18 at 8 p.m. Goldsmith has undertaken various recording projects outside of the band — with Jackson Browne, Conor Oberst, his wife Mandy Moore and others — but never has released a solo album. This will be the last show of the Outpost’s 2022-23 season.
• Singer-songwriter and guitarist Jonathan Butler and saxophonist Gerald Albright will perform on a Smooth Cruise presented by Smooth Jazz New York and Smooth Jazz New Jersey on the Cornucopia Cruise Line. It will leave from Pier 40 in Manhattan at 7:30 p.m. June 22, with boarding starting at 6:30.
• Gioachino Rossini’s opera “The Barber of Seville” will be presented at the Morven Museum and Garden in Princeton, June 16 at 7 p.m., June 18 at 4 p.m. and June 20 at 7 p.m., as part of The Princeton Festival. Cast members will include Nicholas Nestorak as Count Almaviva, Steven Condy as Bartolo, Kelly Guerra as Rosina and Andrew Garland as Figaro, with Rossen Milanov conducting the Princeton Symphony Orchestra.
THEATER
• Mile Square Theatre in Hoboken will present its annual baseball celebration — “7th Inning Stretch,” featuring seven new 10-minute plays about baseball — at 8 p.m. June 16-17, with a 7 p.m. gala preceding the June 17 show. The playwrights will be Charlene Jean, Tim J. Lord, Stephanie Stowe, Michelle Tyrene Johnson, Tim Errickson, Cherise Kimoy and Nandita Shenoy.
Hoboken’s Elysian Fields was the site of the first organized baseball game, in 1845, with the diamond believed to be located around where Washington Street and 11th Street now intersect.
Cast members rehearse for “Round and Round the Garden.”
• The Dragonfly Multicultural Arts Center will offer a rare opportunity to see Alan Ayckbourn’s garden-set 1973 comedy “Round and Round the Garden” in an outdoor setting when it presents it in the garden and the porch of the duCret Center of Art in Plainfield, June 22-24 at 6:30 p.m. and June 25 at 3 p.m.
“Round and Round the Garden” is part of Ayckbourn’s “Norman Conquests” trilogy. The three plays take place simultaneously in three different areas of a house — the dining room, the living room and the garden — where five family members and a neighbor interact throughout a weekend. The central character, the incorrigible Norman, is trying to have an affair with his sister-in-law, with a seemingly infinite number of complications ensuing. The three plays all stand on their own, yet a more complete portrait of the characters emerges if you see all three.
FAMILY
• This year’s edition of the annual State Fair Meadowlands opens in East Rutherford on June 22 and runs through July 9, with the usual rides, carnival games and food, plus offerings such BMX stunts, racing pigs, the Pirates of the Colombian Caribbean high wire act, hypnotist Steve Bayner, magician Lance Gifford, a petting zoo and more. There also will be fireworks (on July 3-4 only) and a Summer Concert Series featuring Canvas, June 22-25; Parker Phillips, June 26-30; Monte Ibel, July 1-4; and Jason Guzman, July 5-9.
DANCE/MUSIC
• Also as part of the Princeton Festival (see above), American Repertory Ballet and the Attacca Quartet will team up for a show at the Performance Pavilion at the Morven Museum and Garden in Princeton, June 17 at 7 p.m. The program will include selections from John Adams’ John’s Book of Alleged Dances; excerpts from Circadia, featuring choreography by Caili Quan, set to Carrot Revolution by Gabriella Smith; Caroline Shaw’s The Evergreen; and excerpts from WOOD WORK featuring choreography by Ethan Stiefel, set to Nordic folk tunes arranged by the Danish String Quartet.
REVIEWS
“The Rose Tattoo,” presented by Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey at F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre at Drew University, Madison. (Through June 18)
“Right to Be Forgotten,” presented by American Theater Group at Sieminski Theater, Basking Ridge. (Through June 18)
“vanessa german: … please imagine all the things i cannot say …” at Montclair Art Museum. (Through June 25)
“Ladies and Gentlemen … The Beatles!” at Grammy Museum Experience Prudential Center, Newark. (Through June 25)
“Komar and Melamid: A Lesson in History” at Zimmerli Art Museum, New Brunswick. (Through July 16)
“NJ & Me: Imperfect Together” at Drawing Rooms, Jersey City. Works by Alan Ostroski, Anne Percoco, Anne Trauben, Dorie Dahlberg, Doug Madill, Eileen Ferara, Edward Fausty, James Pustorino, Jean-Paul Picard, Jessica Rohrer, John T. Meehan III, Kevin McCaffrey, Lauren H. Adams, Sue Ellen Leys, Tim Daly, Tim Heins. (Through July 29)
“Each One Teach One: Preserving Legacy in Perpetuity” at Morris Museum, Morris Township. (Through Aug. 27)
“Spiral Q: The Parade” at Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton. (Through Jan. 7)
“Local Voices: Memories, Stories and Portraits” at Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton. (Through Jan. 7)
“George Inness: Visionary Landscapes” at Montclair Art Museum. (Through June 30, 2024)
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