MIKE CAMPBELL
Here is a roundup of major arts events taking place around New Jersey, through March 20.
WORDS/MUSIC
• Mike Campbell of Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers fame — who has also performed with Fleetwood Mac, and currently tours and records with his own band, Mike Campbell & the Dirty Knobs — will release a memoir, “Heartbreaker,” on March 18. And at 7 p.m. March 19, he will appear “in conversation” with longtime Rolling Stone writer and editor David Fricke at The Victoria Theater at NJPAC in Newark. The event will also include “an acoustic duo set with Chris Holt (The Dirty Knobs/Eagles), featuring songs from throughout Campbell’s career,” according to the NJPAC website.
Campbell has described the book as “the story of a poor kid from Jacksonville, Florida, who realized a dream through music. It’s a long journey through hard work, dedication, and luck. Playing guitar and writing songs has been my inspiration and purpose. It’s a story of hope, redemption, and gratitude, a testimonial that dreams can come true if you believe in yourself and follow your truth. It took two years to write, and it’s a labor of love.”
Promotional material describes the book as “A fast-paced, tender-hearted rock ‘n’ roll memoir for the ages” and “part rags-to-riches story and part raucous, seat-of-the-pants adventure, recounting Campbell’s life and times as lead guitarist of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. …
“Campbell opens up within these pages for the first time, revealing himself to be an astute observer of triumphs, tragedies and absurdities alike, with a songwriter’s eye for the telling detail and a voice as direct and unpretentious as his music.”
In addition to playing in the Heartbreakers, Campbell co-produced Heartbreakers albums such as Southern Accents and Into the Great Wide Open, and co-wrote songs such as “Refugee,” “Runnin’ Down a Dream,” “You Got Lucky” and “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around,” as well as Don Henley’s “The Boys of Summer” and “The Heart of the Matter.”
GLORIA GAYNOR
MUSIC
• Fifty years after releasing her debut album, Never Can Say Goodbye — whose title track was her breakthrough Disco Era hit — Gloria Gaynor is having a busy 2025, with a new single, “Fida Known” (listen below), and a biopic, “I Will Survive: The Gloria Gaynor Story,” that has been shown on the Lifetime channel. She will be honored and serve as guest speaker at the annual Spring Luncheon at BergenPAC in Englewood, March 18 at 11:30 a.m. (proceeds will be used to support BergenPAC’s Performing Arts School programs and upgrade its facilities), and also perform at BergenPAC, March 27 at 7 p.m.
• Bassist Christian McBride and his group Ursa Major will perform at ArtYard in Frenchtown, March 16 at 3 and 6 p.m.
Ursa Major teams the 52-year-old McBride with four younger musicians: saxophonist Nicole Glover, guitarist Ely Perlman, pianist Mike King and drummer Savannah Harris. The group recently released its debut single, “More Is” (listen below).
• The Hackensack Performing Arts Center will present an event titled “Kudos: A Celebration of Life in Honor of Edward Decker,” March 16 at 3 p.m., with participants including Tony DeSare, John Pizzarelli and Valerie Simpson.
Decker, who died in December, was a guitarist who frequently worked with DeSare, as well as the owner of the Musically Yours store in Hackensack, and the chairman of Hackensack’s Main Street Business Alliance.
VADIM GLUZMAN
• New Jersey Symphony will perform at The State Theatre in New Brunswick, March 20 at 7:30 p.m., The Count Basie Center for the Arts, March 22 at 8 p.m.,; and Prudential Hall at NJPAC in Newark, March 23 at 3 p.m., with Lina González-Granados conducting, and Vadim Gluzman featured on Johannes Brahms’ Violin Concerto.
The program will also include Robert Schumann’s Overture, Scherzo and Finale (celebrating his marriage to pianist and composer Clara Schumann); and Gabriela Ortiz’s Clara. Ortiz has said that her piece, which debuted in 2022, is about the relationship between the Schumanns, and represents an attempt “to transfer onto an ephemeral canvas the internal sounds of each one without attempting to illustrate or interpret, but simply voice and create, through my ear, the expressiveness and unique strength of their complex, but also fascinating personalities.”
THEATER
• The George Street Playhouse will present Rajiv Joseph’s 2022 play “King James” at The New Brunswick Performing Arts Center from March 18 to April 6. The play, whose title refers to basketball star LeBron James, is about the friendship between two of his fans; it begins in 2004, when James was a rookie with The Cleveland Cavaliers, and ends in 2016, when he led the team to an NBA championship.
Other works by the Cleveland-born Joseph include “Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo” (2009), for which he was named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
• The McCarter Theatre Center in Princeton will present Karen Zacarías’ 2009 comedy “Legacy of Light” from March 19 to April 6. The play tells intertwining stories of Émilie du Châtelet, an 18th century French physicist, and a fictional, present-day Princeton astrophysicist who may have discovered a new planet. McCarter describes it as “bright and funny play about life, the universe, and the legacy we leave behind.”
DORY PREVIN
FILM
• Montclair Film will screen a documentary about singer-songwriter Dory Previn, “Dory Previn: On My Way to Where,” March 19 at 7 p.m. at The Clairidge in Montclair. Click HERE to read an NJArts.net feature on the film, which explores Previn’s mental health struggles as well as her music.
The screening will be followed by a panel discussion with co-director Julia Greenberg, animator Emily Hubley, and Jessie Roth, director of the Institute for the Development of Human Arts. According to the Montclair Film site, they “will discuss how artists can respectfully approach the representation of those who experience voices and visions in ways that encourage empowerment over discrimination.”
• The New Jersey Jewish Film Festival, taking place at JCC MetroWest in West Orange from March 20 to April 6, will launch, March 20 at 7 p.m., with the ensemble comedy “Bad Shabbos” (watch trailer below), followed by a question-and-answer session featuring director/co-writer Daniel Robbins and others involved in the making of the movie.
FAMILY ENTERTAINMENT
• The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey will presented abridged, family-friendly versions of Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and “Romeo & Juliet” at its F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre at Drew University in Madison, March 15 at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., respectively, with more shows at the same times on April 19.
ROCCO DiSPIRITO
WORDS
• At 7:30 p.m. March 14, The New Brunswick Performing Arts Center will launch a monthly lecture series titled “Culinary Conversations”; it will feature interviews with celebrity chefs and be moderated by restaurateurs Mark Pascal and Francis Schott, who co-own the New Brunswick restaurants Stage Left Steak and Catherine Lombardi, and co-host the “Restaurant Guys” podcast.
Rocco DiSpirito, who will participate in the first talk, first gained fame as the executive chef at Union Pacific in New York, and has appeared on television shows such as Bravo’s “Top Chef” and “Rocco’s Dinner Party,” A&E’s “Rocco Gets Real,” and NBC’s “The Restaurant.” His books include 2003’s “Flavor,” which won a James Beard Foundation Book Award in the Cooking From a Professional Point of View category; and last year’s “Everyday Delicious: 30 Minute(ish) Home-Cooked Meals Made Simple.”
A portion of the proceeds from the series will benefit the Promise Culinary School, created by the New Brunswick-based social service agency Elijah’s Promise. Future chefs in the series include Scott Conant, April 17; Alex Guarnaschelli, May 12; and Andrew Zimmern, June 27.
OTHER
• “Thelma & Louise” co-stars Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis will reunite at the “Monster-Mania Con” taking place at The DoubleTree Hotel in Cherry Hill, March 14-16, with other celebrities — on hand to meet fans, sign autographs and do photo ops — including Eli Roth, Chris Jericho, Linnea Quigley, Tobin Bell, Allan Trautman, Beverly Randolph and Shawnee Smith.
REVIEWS
“A Case for the Existence of God” at Luna Stage, West Orange. (Through March 16)
“Hollywood, Nebraska,” presented by South Camden Theatre Company at Waterfront South Theatre. (Through March 16)
“Macro vs. Micro,” works by Katie Truk, presented by Studio Montclair at Academy Square Gallery, Montclair. (Through March 21)
“tiny beautiful things” at Mile Square Theatre, Hoboken. (Through March 23)
“Christine Romanell: Navigating Infinity” at Hillside Square Gallery, Montclair. (Through April 3)
“Sarah Canfield: The Circuit Unseen” at BrassWorks Gallery, Montclair. (Through April 26)
“Safe Passage in Conversation with Her Flowers: Disruption of Old Narratives: Heather Williams” at Karl and Helen Burger Gallery at Kean University, Union. (Through May 9)
“Nanette Carter: A Question of Balance” at Montclair Art Museum. (Through July 6)
“Morven Revealed: Untold Stories From New Jersey’s Most Historic Home” at Morven Museum & Garden, Princeton. (Through March 1)
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