ZACK MASSEY
LUKE COMBS
Here is a roundup of arts events taking place around New Jersey, through July 25.
MUSIC
• Luke Combs has had an impressive string of country hits since 2016, but also has reached the Pop Top 10 with songs such as “Forever After All,” “The Kind of Love We Make” and, last year, his Grammy-nominated cover of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car.” He will perform at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, July 19-20 at 5:45 p.m., with four different opening acts each day: Cody Jinks, Charles Wesley Godwin, Hailey Whitters and The Wilder Blue, July 19; and Jordan Davis, Mitchell Tenpenny, Drew Parker and Colby Acuff, July 20.
• Teatro Nuovo, a New York-based organization devoted to “cutting-edge interpretation of classic Italian opera,” will present Carolina Uccelli’s “Anna di Resburgo” at The Kasser Theater at Montclair State University, July 20 at 7:30 p.m.; and Vincenzo Bellini’s “I Capuleti e i Montecchi” at the same theater, July 21 at 3 p.m. Each performance will be preceded by a “pre-opera serenade,” 90 minutes before showtime; and a lecture, and hour before.
“Anna di Resburgo,” which has been described as “a Romantic thriller,” premiered in Naples in 1835, and the Teatro Nuovo productions that will take place in Montclair and at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York (on July 24) mark its first revival since then.
• Eric Clapton’s longtime bassist Nathan East and Steve Ferrone, who played drums in Clapton’s band from 1986 to 1992, will anchor The Cream of Clapton Band, which will perform Clapton’s music at The Wellmont Theater in Montclair, July 19 at 8 p.m. Joining them will be Will Johns (Clapton’s nephew) on guitar and vocals; and Nathan East’s son Noah on keyboards.
At recent shows, the band has been performing material from Clapton’s groups Cream, Blind Faith and Derek & the Dominos, as well as the music he has released as a solo artist.
DANNY CLINCH
JOE GRUSHECKY
• It has been a busy year for Joe Grushecky. A musical based on his songs, “East Carson Street,” premiered at The Bell Theater in Holmdel, in May. He put out the career-spanning Houserocker: A Joe Grushecky Anthology that same month. And he and his Pittsburgh-based and The Houserockers released their first album of new material in seven years, Can’t Outrun a Memory, on July 12 (you can listen to its “Until I See You Again” below).
July 20 at 8 p.m., he and the band will celebrate the release of Can’t Outrun a Memory at The Wonder Bar in Asbury Park.
• 10cc will perform at The Wellmont Theater in Montclair, July 24 at 8 p.m., and The Ocean City Music Pier, July 29 at 7 p.m. The British band — best known in the United States for their ’70s hits “I’m Not in Love” and “The Things We Do for Love” — is now led by one of its co-founders, singer-songwriter and bassist founder Graham Gouldman, and features two other members, drummer Paul Burgess and singer-guitarist Rick Fenn, who have been involved since the ’70s.
Singer-songwriter Robin Taylor Zander — who is the son of Cheap Trick frontman Robin Zander, and sometimes tours with that band as a guitarist, bassist and backing vocalist — will open both shows.
• Broadway and cabaret veteran Karen Mason will kick off this summer’s Front Row Center cabaret series at The F.M. Kirby Carriage House at The Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, with shows July 19-20. Dinner seating will begin at 6:15 p.m., with Mason’s show starting at 7:30; dessert will be served during intermission.
The series also will feature Jarran Muse, Aug. 2-3; and Nicholas Rodriguez, Aug. 23-24.
TIA FULLER
• The annual Jazz Room Series at The Shea Center for Performing Arts at William Paterson University in Wayne will begin this week, with performers including saxophonist Tia Fuller (who has worked with Beyoncé as well as jazz luminaries such as Terri Lyne Carrington, Esperanza Spalding and Dianne Reeves) and veteran trombonist Wycliffe Gordon.
Here is the schedule:
July 22: The Kelly Green “Seems” Quartet
July 23: Benny Benack III with the Big Beat Big Band
July 24: Brian Lynch & Spheres of Influence (Latin jazz)
July 25: The Tia Fuller Trio
July 26: Wycliffe Gordon and Friends
All shows will be at 7:30 p.m. Tickets can be bought individually or in a five-show package.
• Thomas Dolby — best known for his 1982 hit “She Blinded Me With Science” — will headline the Totally Tubular Festival, which comes to The Hard Rock Live at Etess Arena at Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, July 19 at 8 p.m., and features a bunch of other ’80s pop and rock stars as well: Tom Bailey (of Thompson Twins), Modern English, Wang Chung, Bow Wow Wow, Tommy Tutone, and Eddie Muñoz (of The Plimsouls).
• The free Mardi Gras on the Boardwalk series at Kennedy Plaza in Atlantic City will include a 7 p.m. July 24 tribute to The Band’s “Last Waltz” featuring Bob Margolin (who backed Muddy Waters at that landmark concert) as well as Dave Malone of The Radiators, Mark Mullins of Bonerama, The Honey Island Swamp Band, and Johnny Sansone.
Charisa the Violin Diva.
• The free, third annual Jazz Festival & Food Truck Flavor Faire will take place at Monte Irvin Park in Orange, July 20, with the following schedule:
Noon: Samad Savage
12:40 p.m.: MPack
1:35 p.m.: ULTRA
2:30 p.m.: Blues People
3:25 p.m.: Yayoi Ikawa Trio
4:20: Dermel Warren & Friends
5:15 p.m.: Nat Adderley Jr. Quartet
6:15 p.m.: John Lee & Friends
7:15 p.m.: Winard Harper & Jeli Posse
8:15 p.m.: Charisa the Violin Diva
Dorthaan Kirk, Wayne Winborne, Lynette Sheard and The Rev. Eyesha Marable will co-host. Lawn chairs are recommended.
The event is part of the Essex County Summer Music Concert Series, which presents free events in parks throughout the county.
Sam C. Jones will play Carl Perkins in “Million Dollar Quartet,” in Holmdel.
THEATER
• “Million Dollar Quartet,” the jukebox musical built around a real-life 1956 jam session in Memphis, will be presented at The Bell Theater at Bell Works in Holmdel, July 19-21 and 24-28. Actors will appear as — and sing the hits of — iconic rock ‘n’ rollers Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins.
Hunter Foster, who played the role of studio owner and record producer Sam Phillips in the 2010-11 Broadway production, will co-direct with Rachel Sabo-Hedges.
Click HERE for more about the legendary 1956 jam session.
• As part of “Edward Albee: From A to Zoo,” an ongoing series featuring staged readings of all of Albee’s plays, the Black Box Performing Arts Center will present his absurdist comedy “Seascape” — first performed in 1975, and the winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama — July 24 at 7:30 p.m. at Debonair Music Hall in Teaneck. The reading is free; reservations are encouraged.
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Click HERE for a list of free shows taking place throughout New Jersey.
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REVIEWS
“The Book of Will” at Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey at Drew University, Madison. (Through July 28)
“Still” at Bauer Boucher Theatre Center at Kean University, Union. (Through July 28)
“Crossing the Hudson” at MORA Museum of International Art, Jersey City. (Through July 30)
“George Segal: Themes and Variations“ at Zimmerli Art Museum, New Brunswick. (Through July 31)
“Set in Motion: Kinetic Worlds from the Studio of Richard Whitten” at Morris Museum, Morris Township. (Through Sept. 1)
“Morven Revealed: Untold Stories From New Jersey’s Most Historic Home” at Morven Museum & Garden, Princeton. (Through March 2)
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