New Jersey Symphony will play the score live at screenings of “The Muppet Christmas Carol” in Morristown, Red Bank, Newark and New Brunswick.
Here is a roundup of arts events taking place around New Jersey, through Dec. 5.
FILM/MUSIC
• New Jersey Symphony, conducted by Constantine Kitsopoulos, will perform the score live at screenings of the 1992 film “The Muppet Christmas Carol” — featuring Michael Caine as Ebenezer Scrooge, Kermit the Frog as Bob Cratchit, Fozzie Bear as Fezziwig (renamed Fozziwig), and so on — Dec. 5 at 7:30 p.m. at The Mayo Performing Arts Center in Morristown, Dec. 6 at 7:30 p.m. at The Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank, Dec. 7 at 3 and 7:30 p.m. at Prudential Hall at NJPAC in Newark, and Dec. 8 at 3 p.m. The State Theatre in New Brunswick.
• Julia Greenberg, who co-directed “Dory Previn: On My Way to Where” — a new documentary about the boldly unconventional ’70s singer-songwriter — is also a musician, and she, along with keyboardist Joe McGinty and bassist Jeremy Chatzky, will perform a set of Previn’s songs at Monty Hall in Jersey City, Dec. 1 at 4 p.m., before the film is shown.
Greenberg, along with producer Amy Hobby and animator Emily Hubley, will also participate in a question-and-answer session following the screening.
SAMARA JOY
MUSIC
• Jazz singer Samara Joy, who was anointed Best New Artist at last year’s Grammy Awards, also released a Christmas EP, A Joyful Holiday, last year, and will sings songs from it and more at a show with the same title, Dec. 4 at 7:30 p.m. at The Mayo Performing Arts Center in Morristown. Joy, whose full name is Samara Joy McLendon, will be joined by The McLendon Family, featuring her father Antonio McLendon — a singer and bass player who has worked with Andraé Crouch and other gospel artists — and other relatives.
• The 25th annual edition of “Giants of Jazz,” a series of tribute concerts organized by bassist John Lee at The South Orange Performing Arts Center, will return Nov. 30 at 8 p.m. with a show honoring drummer and bandleader Lewis Nash. The musicians who will be on hand to pay homage will include Eric Alexander, Don Braden, Tommy Campbell, Cyrus Chestnut, Steve Davis, Emmet Cohen, Dave Stryker, John DiMartino, Dezron Douglas, Roberta Gambarini, Benito Gonzales, Winard Harper, Billy Hart, Freddie Hendrix, Mike LeDonne, Brandon McCune, Rufus Reid, Evan Sherman, Terell Stafford, Erena Terakubo, Jeff “Tain” Watts, John Webber, Buster Williams and Steve Wilson.
Among Nash’s many credits are Grammy-winning recordings by McCoy Tyner, Nancy Wilson, Betty Carter, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Diana Krall, James Moody, The Joe Henderson Big Band and The Joe Lovano Nonet.
• Actress Jane Lynch (“Glee,” “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “Best in Show”) will present “A Swingin’ Little Christmas” at The Levoy Theatre in Millville, Dec. 3 at 7 p.m., singing new and old Christmas songs with Kate Flannery (best known as an actress on “The Office”), Tim Davis and The Tony Guerrero Quintet. The same performers were featured on Lynch’s 2016 album A Swingin’ Little Christmas!; listen to their “A Swingin’ Little Christmas Time” below.
Jordan Kai Burnett will co-star as Gilda Radner in “Gene & Gilda.”
THEATER
• The George Street Playhouse will bring “Gene & Gilda” — Cary Gitter’s play about actor Gene Wilder and “Saturday Night Live” star Gilda Radner, who were married from 1984 until Radner’s death in 1989 — to The New Brunswick Performing Arts Center, with previews starting on Dec. 3, the official opening night on Dec. 6, and the last show on Dec. 22. Jordan Kai Burnett and Jonathan Randell Silver — who played Radner and Wilder, respectively, in the play’s premiere, last year at The Penguin Rep Theatre in Stony Point, New York — will reprise their roles.
Three performances — Dec. 13 at 7:30 p.m. and Dec. 14 at 2 and 7:30 p.m. — can be watched online, via livestreams. For information, visit lolst.org/geneandgilda.
• The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey will present Neil Bartlett’s 1996, eight-actor adaptation of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” at its F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre at Drew University in Madison, with previews starting on Dec. 4, the official opening night on Dec. 7, and the last show on Dec. 29.
• “Tuck Everlasting” — the 2015 musical based on Natalie Babbitt’s 1975 fantasy novel about a teenager who has an opportunity to be granted eternal life — will be produced by The Vanguard Theater in Montclair, with previews starting on Dec. 5, the official opening night on Dec. 7, and the last show on Dec. 22. (Babbitt’s novel was also made into a 2002 film co-starring Alexis Bledel, Ben Kingsley and Sissy Spacek.)
• The Theater Project will present its 21st annual radio-play version of the widely beloved 1946 film “It’s a Wonderful Life,” Nov. 30 at 8 p.m. and Dec. 1 at 2 p.m. at The Oakes Center in Summit. “When people think of ‘It’s a Wonderful Life,’ they immediately think of James Stewart as George Bailey,” said The Theater Project artistic director Mark Spina, in a press release. “Few are aware that it was also a radio play. For many of our patrons, attending our production is an annual holiday tradition.”
NEIL deGRASSE TYSON
WORDS
• Astrophysicist, author and television personality Neil deGrasse Tyson will give a talk on the subject of “Science as a Way of Knowing,” Dec. 1 at 3 p.m. at Prudential Hall at NJPAC in Newark. According to the NJPAC website, “he’ll discuss the anatomy of science and the scientific process. What exactly is science? How does it work? And why is it so effective at explaining the confusing world around us?”
DANCE
Most performances of the holiday season perennial “The Nutcracker” will not happen until December, but there are a few shows — or starts of multi-show runs — that are scheduled for November. These include:
• Nov. 29 at 4 and 8 p.m.: “Nutcracker! Magical Christmas Ballet” at The Theatre at Raritan Valley Community College, Branchburg.
• Nov. 29 at 7 p.m.: “The Nutcracker,” presented by Atlantic City Ballet and Nut Ballet at Scottish Rite Auditorium, Collingswood
• Nov. 29 at 2 and 7 p.m., Nov. 30 at 1 and 6 p.m., Dec. 1 at 1 p.m.: “The Nutcracker,” presented by American Repertory Ballet at McCarter Theatre Center, Princeton.
FAMILY
• Mile Square Theatre in Hoboken will present “The Christmas Show Must Go On,” Nov. 29-30 and Dec. 1, 6-8 and 13-15. According to the theater’s website, in this new play by Pia Wilson, “All The Christmas Fairy wants to do is put on a good show, but the Frogs, the elves and even a Christmas Gremlin are getting in the way! Can they set the stage and make Christmas Magic happen in time for Christmas?”
FILM
Chevy Chase with Beverly D’Angelo in “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.”
• “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” co-star Chevy Chase and his wife Jayni will be on hand for a question-and-answer session following a 35th anniversary screening of the 1989 film at The State Theatre in New Brunswick, Dec. 5 at 7:30 p.m.
• The Barrymore Film Center in Fort Lee will screen “Daytime Revolution,” a new documentary about John Lennon and Yoko’s Ono’s week-long 1972 residency on television’s “The Mike Douglas Show,” Nov. 29-30 at 7 p.m., following screenings of the classic 1964 Beatles film “A Hard Day’s Night,” Nov. 29-30 at 4:30 p.m.
VARIOUS GENRES
• The Madison Holiday Arts Festival will offer a variety of classical music events (including performances by The Baroque Orchestra of New Jersey and The BONJ Horns) — as well as some jazz, folk, rock, theater, film and visual arts — from Nov. 29 to Dec. 1, at The Madison Community Arts Center and three other Madison venues (The Museum of Early Trades and Crafts, Harvest Bistro and Shanghai Jazz). Click HERE for the complete schedule.
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REVIEWS
“Lonely Planet” at Luna Stage, West Orange. (Through Dec. 8)
“2024 New Jersey Arts Annual: Exploring Our Connections” at Montclair Art Museum. (Through Jan. 5)
“Under a Southern Star: Identity and Environment in Australian Photography,” presented by Princeton University Art Museum at Art on Hulfish. (Through Jan. 5)
“Kimberly Camp – Cross River: A Parallel Universe” at Hunterdon Art Museum, Clinton. (Through Jan. 12)
“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)
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