The main Light of Day WinterFest concert will take place on Jan. 18 but there will be many other concerts as well.
This year’s main Light of Day WinterFest concert — taking place Jan. 18 at The Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank, and featuring John Rzeznik of The Goo Goo Dolls, Jesse Malin, Willie Nile, Joe Grushecky, Remember Jones, Brian Fallon, Dramarama and many others — is sold out. But tickets remain for many other events, including (all in Asbury Park unless otherwise noted):
Willie Nile will perform several Light of Day events.
• “Kick Off” with Fantastic Cat, James Maddock, Williams Honor, The Matt O’Ree Band, The Jake Thistle Band, Emily Grove, SONiA and others, Jan. 16 at 6:50 p.m. at Wonder Bar.
• “Asbury Angels” with Joe Grushecky & the Houserockers, Willie Nile, Tangiers Blues Band Jam, The Adam Ezra Band, Joe D’Urso & Stone Caravan, Alexandra Jardvall and others, Jan. 17 at 6:45 p.m. at Stone Pony.
• Dramarama, The Weeklings, Bobby Mahoney, SONiA and Pete Mancini, Jan. 17 at 7 p.m. at Wonder Bar.
• Albert Lee, The Billy Hector Band, Jan. 17 at 7 p.m. at Tim McLoone’s Supper Club.
• “Pat DiNizio/Smithereens Tribute” with Dead Äire & Friends (John Easdale, Glen Burtnik, Joe D’Urso, Jake Thistle and others), Jan. 18 at 12:30 p.m. at Tim McLoone’s Supper Club.
• “Songwriters by the Sea I” with Bob Burger, Adam Ezra, Renee Maskin, Arlan Feiles, Alexandra Jardvall and others, Jan. 19 at 12:15 p.m. at The Watermark.
• “Songwriters by the Sea II” with John Easdale, Diane Gentile, SONiA, Marc Jonson, Pete Mancini, Cranston Dean and others, Jan. 19 at 3 p.m. at Berkeley Oceanfront Hotel.
• “Songwriters by the Sea III” with Joe Grushecky, Willie Nile, Glen Burtnik, John Easdale, Williams Honor, James Maddock, Bobby Mahoney, Anthony D’Amato, Danielia Cotton, Adam Ezra, Emily Grove, Lisa Bouchelle and others, Jan. 19 at 6:15 p.m. at Tim McLoone’s Supper Club.
• Tusk (Fleetwood Mac tribute), Late for the Sky (Jackson Browne tribute featuring Jake Thistle), Jan. 24 at 7:30 p.m. at Count Basie Center for the Arts, Red Bank.
• “Songwriters in the Round” hosted by Joe D’Urso and featuring Willie Nile, Danielia Cotton, Adam Ezra, Williams Honor, Jake Thistle, Deni Bonet & Chris Flynn and others, Jan. 25 at 7:30 p.m. at Outpost in the Burbs, Montclair.
Over the past 25 years, Light of Day has raised more than $6.5 million to combat Parkinson’s disease and related disorders.
Here is a roundup of other arts events taking place around New Jersey, through Jan. 23.
WYNTON MARSALIS
MUSIC
• Trumpeter Wynton Marsalis and The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra will present a show titled “Cool School & Hard Bop,” Jan. 19 at 7 p.m. at The Mayo Performing Arts Center in Morristown.
Marsalis is the orchestra’s music director. According to the Mayo website, the show features works by Miles Davis, Art Blakey, Max Roach and others and “explores the enduring appeal of mid-century jazz through striking arrangements, mellow tones, virtuosic vocabulary, and a commitment to the blues.”
• The 15th annual “All Stars of Hip-Hop” show — taking place at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, Jan. 19 at 7 p.m. — will feature Method Man and Redman, along with Too Short, Da Brat, Ja Rule, Lil Jon and Master KG.
• New Concepts for Living in Paramus, a center for those with special needs, will present an evening with Ramones drummer Marky Ramone, Jan. 17 at 7 p.m., as a fundraiser. The event will feature a drum demonstration; videos and photos from Ramone’s personal collection; a question-and-answer session; and an auction.
Marky Ramone (born Marc Bell) was The Ramones’ drummer from 1978 to 1983 and from 1987 to 1996. Has has also played with Richard Hell & the Voidoids, and has hosted a punk-rock radio show on SiriusXM satellite radio.
• As counterprogramming to the presidential inauguration, the Internet radio station BlowUpRadio.com has scheduled a Jan. 20 Rock Against Hate Webathon, with live online performances, to raise money for Kids in Need of Defense (KIND) and Planned Parenthood. Digital compilation albums featuring webathon artists will be used as incentives to drive donations.
The webathon’s schedule will be:
10 a.m.: The Fisherman & the Sea
10:40 a.m.: The Winter Sounds
11:30 a.m.: Jason Ingstrup
Noon: Loose Panic
12:40 p.m.: Amanda Rose Riley
1:20 p.m.: Laree Cisco
2 p.m.: Steve Nyhoff
2:40 p.m.: The Cucumbers
3:20 p.m.: Greg McGarvey
4 p.m.: Diego Allessandro
4:40 p.m.: Ben Morss (Ancient Babies)
5:20 p.m.: The Mighty Alrighty
6 p.m.: Jason Didner
6:40 p.m.: Chris Rockwell
CANDICE GUARDINO
COMEDY
• Candice Guardino will tape her “Italian Bred” show as a comedy special, Jan. 18 at 2 and 8 p.m. at The Two River Theater in Red Bank. According to a press release, Guardino, in this show, “slips in and out of multiple family characters, recounts funny childhood moments, and sings iconic songs … Italian Bred will remind audiences of their own unique upbringing and unforgettably humorous memories.”
THEATER
• The Grand Theatre in Williamstown will present “On Your Feet! The Story of Emilio & Gloria Estefan” — the 2015 jukebox musical that tells the story of the Latin-pop hitmaker (“Conga,” “Rhythm Is Gonna Get You,” “Get On Your Feet,” “Don’t Wanna Lose You” etc.) and her husband and musical partner — Jan. 23-26 and 30-31 and Feb. 1-2 and 6-8.
• In partnership with the Interweave spiritual learning center in Short Hills, Vivid Stage will present a free reading of “The Mountaintop” — Katori Hall’s wildly imaginative 2009 play about The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. — at Saint John’s Lutheran Church in Summit, Jan. 19 at 4:30 p.m., with a discussion and refreshments following.
• As part of its “From A to Zoo” series of staged readings of Edward Albee plays, which began in 2023, The Black Box Performing Arts Center will present “The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?” — Albee’s Tony-winning 2000 drama about a middle-aged, married man who falls in love with a goat — at Debonair Music Hall in Teaneck, Jan. 22 at 7:30 p.m. Cast members, director Matt Okin and Jakob Holder (executive director of The Edward F. Albee Foundation) will participate in a post-reading discussion.
Eugène-Samuel Grasset’s 1894 lithograph, portraying Napoleon Bonaparte.
VISUAL ARTS
• “Napoleon: A Visual Legacy of Power” opens at The Zimmerli Art Museum in New Brunswick on Jan. 22 and runs through July 31. According to the Zimmerli website, the exhibition “explores images of Napoleon made after his death, revealing the ways art is intertwined with history and can be used to reinforce or challenge accepted narratives.”
DANCES
• The State Ballet Theatre of Ukraine will present “Swan Lake” — Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s 1877 masterpiece, featuring choreography by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov that debuted in the 1890s — at Prudential Hall at NJPAC in Newark, Jan. 21 at 7 p.m.
The company’s artistic director, Andrei Litvinov, has said that as a child, “I dreamt of becoming an astronaut or hockey player, like all children. But when at first I saw ‘Swan Lake,’ I just fell in love with ballet and could think of nothing else but dancing.”
FILM
• Veteran actress Julia Stiles — who wrote and directs the new romantic drama “Wish You Were Here” (see trailer below), which co-stars Isabelle Fuhrman and Mena Massoud — will participate in a question-and-answer session following a screening of it at The Clairidge in Montclair, Jan. 18 at 2:30 p.m.
• The Williams Center in Rutherford will launch its NJ in Film series with an 8 p.m. Jan. 17 screening of the “Coneheads” movie. The 1993 comedy, based on a popular series of “Saturday Night Live” sketches, was about a family of aliens living in Paramus, and co-starred Dan Aykroyd, Jane Curtin and Michelle Burke.
REVIEWS
“Something to Hold On To: Art and the Carceral System” at Visual Arts Center of New Jersey, Summit. (Through Jan. 26)
“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)
CONTRIBUTE TO NJARTS.NET
Since launching in September 2014, NJArts.net, a 501(c)(3) organization, has become one of the most important media outlets for the Garden State arts scene. And it has always offered its content without a subscription fee, or a paywall. Its continued existence depends on support from members of that scene, and the state’s arts lovers. Please consider making a contribution of any amount to NJArts.net via PayPal, or by sending a check made out to NJArts.net to 11 Skytop Terrace, Montclair, NJ 07043.
