Wendy Wasserstein’s best known play, "The Heidi Chronicles," won both the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Play in 1989. Many of the themes of this feminist classic were already evident in "Uncommon Women and Others," a play written by Wasserstein a decade earlier. "Uncommon Women" is on stage at the Princeton Summer Theater through July 22nd. For this podcast, producer Susan Wallner spoke to the Dean of the College at Princeton University and author of a book about Wendy Was...
Jul 19, 2018•16 min
Looking for a way to celebrate the start of the summer season? Beginning Friday, June 22, all 48 blocks of Atlantic City will be buzzing with hands-on art projects, live performances, unique dining experiences and a lot more. We recently spoke with Joyce Hagen, Executive Director of the Atlantic City Arts Foundation, to learn more about A.C.’s arts scene, and to find out what the 48 Blocks Atlantic City arts celebration is all about. For a handy guide to all of the locations and events, check ou...
Jun 21, 2018•9 min
“Caged” is a play based on the experiences of incarcerated men in New Jersey. It’s written by the New Jersey Prison Cooperative, a group of men who met in a drama class in prison taught by Chris Hedges, an author and Princeton University professor. Hedges had heard a story about a man being jailed that had affected him, and he offered it to the class as a starting point. From that beginning, the men created “Caged,” a transformative play based on their own, similar experiences of incarceration. ...
May 03, 2018•14 min
The new musical "The Sting," now entering its last weekend at Paper Mill Playhouse, was pretty much totally sold out before it even opened. A musical adaptation of the classic, Oscar-winning film of the same name starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford, this new version stars Harry Connick, Jr., J. Harrison Ghee and Kate Shindle – to name a few. Theater-goers know Ghee from his inimitable performance as the drag queen hero Lola of the Tony Award-winning "Kinky Boots," and they know Shindle from ...
Apr 26, 2018•21 min
Even if you don't know anything about opera, you've heard “Ride of the Valkyries" – it’s been bouncing around pop culture for generations, appearing in everything from Bugs Bunny cartoons to "Apocalypse Now." This Sunday, March 18, at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Trilogy: An Opera Company will present Richard Wagner’s "The Valkyrie" – the second of four works that form Richard Wagner's musical drama "Ring Cycle" – which features the famous “Ride of the Valkyries” segment at the beginni...
Mar 15, 2018•19 min
The next show at the Axelrod Performing Arts Center, opening March 3, is the popular musical “Ragtime.” Set in the early 20th century, it features African Americans, Jewish immigrants, upper-class suburbanites, as well as historical luminaries such as Harry Houdini, Henry Ford and Emma Goldman. Luis Salgado is the director of this new production, returning to Axelrod PAC after his popular 2017 production of “In the Heights.” Luis was an original cast member and assistant choreographer for Lin-Ma...
Mar 01, 2018•14 min
Caleb Hudson is the newest member of the Canadian Brass, the popular quintet that revolutionized the place of brass in classical music. A former principal trumpet of Collingswood’s Symphony in C, Hudson returns as a featured artist on their “Italian Festival” concert on January 27 at the Rutgers Camden Center for the Arts. He spoke to producer Susan Wallner about how he first came to play the trumpet, what it's like to be part of the Canadian Brass and the two solos he’ll be performing with the ...
Jan 18, 2018•13 min
This year commemorates the 100th anniversary of the United States’ entry into World War I. Though often referred to as The Forgotten War, most of us know that it was one of the largest and most brutal wars in history. But there is one short chapter that is still unknown to many—during the Christmas of 1914, peace broke out. Allied and German soldiers on the front lines reached out to each other from their trenches, initially through Christmas caroling, and met in the No Man’s Land between them t...
Dec 07, 2017•14 min
The elegant old Hahne and Co. Department Store in Newark, shuttered for 30 years, is now home to a new experiment in the arts. Along with the first Whole Foods in the city, apartments and a new restaurant, it’s home to Express Newark - an “arts incubator” conceived by Rutgers University-Newark in collaboration with community arts leaders. Popular programs include the weekly open studio at the Newark Print Shop, the free facilities at Shine Portrait Studio and the changing exhibitions at the Paul...
Nov 30, 2017•16 min
We recently spoke with Tony Award-winning director John Rando about the new musical comedy “The Honeymooners” – based on the classic television series – which recently had its world premiere at Paper Mill Playhouse. The common ancestor of many, if not most, television sit-coms, “The Honeymooners” told the stories of married, working-class Brooklynites Ralph and Alice Kramden, their best friends Ed and Trixie Norton and people from the neighborhood around their apartment building. The influence o...
Oct 12, 2017•15 min
ArtYard began in Frenchtown, NJ with a “hatch.” From a huge egg, people emerged in chicken costumes to the music of a jazz saxophonist, leading a parade from ArtYard’s future headquarters in an old egg hatchery to its current space at 62A Trenton Road. It’s the kind of unexpected, collaborative event that ArtYard has become known for, and that you can expect more of in the future. Producer Susan Wallner visited ArtYard Founder and Executive Director Jill Kearney at the new, expansive center for ...
Sep 28, 2017•14 min
This Friday, the fifth annual New Jersey Uke Fest – that’s Uke as in Ukulele – begins at the Ukrainian American Cultural Center in Whippany. This weekend of concerts and workshops ends on Sunday with a big outdoor “Uke Jam” on the Morristown Green in Morristown, New Jersey. Chris Benincasa recently spoke with one of the festival’s organizers, Fil Wisneski, about what happens when hundreds of ukulele players congregate, and the distinct musical styles of featured artists Kimo Hussey, Rachel Manke...
Aug 23, 2017•16 min
When the days are longest, the world can magically transform. In a new production of "A Midsummer Night’s Dream," the fairies Moth, Cobweb, Mustardseed, Peaseblossom, Puck, Oberon and Titania transform items most of us casually throw away. Old keys, straws, plastic membership and transit cards, wine corks and CDs, all combine in costumes and sets that evoke a magical world. Director and designer Bonnie Monte - a self-proclaimed collector and recycler - describes her vision of "Midsummer" to prod...
Jul 06, 2017•13 min
It’s a musical about a woman on her own in the Old American West – disguised as a man named Jo. "The Ballad of Little Jo" opened Friday, June 9th at Two River Theater in Red Bank, and runs through June 25th.Based on the 1993 film of the same name, the show is directed by Maggie Greenwald, who based her story on the real life experiences of a woman named Josephine Monaghan. In the story, Josephine becomes Jo to survive in a time and place in which women are openly preyed upon, and lynch mobs are ...
Jun 12, 2017•16 min
Joan Osborne is a multi-platinum selling recording artist and seven-time Grammy Award nominee. She shot to fame with her 1995 album "Relish," featuring the hits songs “One of Us” and “St. Teresa.” Since then, she’s appeared with the Grateful Dead and Mavis Staples, fronted her own bands and is now embarked on a Songbook Series featuring the work of writers she admires - starting with Bob Dylan. Her tour includes a performance at SOPAC on May 19. Producer Susan Wallner spoke to Joan Osborne about...
May 17, 2017•16 min
We recently visited the rehearsal studios of American Repertory Ballet, where Artistic Director Douglas Martin was doing a complete run-through of his new ballet. Based on Jane Austen’s classic 1813 novel “Pride & Prejudice,” this full-length production will be performed at McCarter Theatre in Princeton and will feature live orchestral accompaniment by the Princeton Symphony Orchestra. A complex love story set in the world of the landed gentry of the British Regency, “Pride & Prejudice” ...
Apr 18, 2017•11 min
The New York Times has called Amy Beth Kirsten "wondrously eclectic." The New Haven-based composer and librettist has a new work, "Quixote," created with director Mark DeChiazza and the ensemble Howl. The performance theater piece is based on the classic novel by Cervantes. It was developed at Montclair State University through a new, long-term residency program as part of their Peak Performances series. Producer Susan Wallner stopped by for a rehearsal and spoke to collaborators Amy and Mark. T...
Mar 16, 2017•10 min
This year marks the 10th anniversary of Camden Repertory Theater, and to celebrate, founder Desi P. Shelton has brought one of her signature plays back to the stage – or, in this case, a house. "For Sale!" is the name of the play, and it’s a site-specific theatrical experience happening at 445 Mechanic Street in Camden, New Jersey. Christopher Benincasa met up with Shelton earlier this week to talk about the play, Camden Rep’s mission to represent the “urban female voice," and 10 years of creati...
Feb 06, 2017•11 min
Hot music for a cold month - that's the idea behind Centenary Stage's January Thaw Music Fest in Hackettstown, NJ. Producer Susan Wallner talks with Eddie Allen, leader of 3hree for Louis, a six-piece ensemble playing the music of the great Louis Armstrong. "Louis had a way of putting his signature stamp on every tune he played. There’s no way to improve on what he did with his music," says Allen. "So, this three trumpet ensemble has taken some of the music Louis performed and rearranged them wi...
Jan 11, 2017•11 min
Whitney Houston’s smash hit single "I Will Always Love You" was everywhere in the nineties. It was the musical centerpiece of the 1992 Oscar-nominated romantic thriller "The Bodyguard," starring Houston and Kevin Costner. In a way, the Grammy Award-winning soundtrack was as big as the movie. Now, a musical version of "The Bodyguard" has been created for the stage, and the songs are front and center. It recently opened at Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, New Jersey – not far from Whitney Houston...
Dec 21, 2016•17 min
"Hunger" is a new work based on old Irish songs and first-hand accounts of Ireland’s Great Famine of 1845-1852. It's an opera in the sense that it tells a big story through music. The composer, Donnacha Dennehy, and the lead singer, Iarla Ó Lionáird, join producer Susan Wallner to discuss singing in Irish and the connection between the dark times of the Great Famine and today’s world. The Princeton University Fund for Irish Studies presents excerpts from "Hunger" and a discussion with Donnacha a...
Nov 15, 2016•17 min
In an election season as outlandish as this one, it’s probably healthy to take a breather from the news – or get some perspective by seeing what a group of visual artists have to say about it. At The Printmaking Center of New Jersey in Branchburg, a new exhibit titled Election 2016 is on view through October 29. Christopher Benincasa recently spoke with artist Ken Schnall, who was the sole juror of Election 2016, in the Printmaking Center’s main gallery, surrounded by art that was equal parts po...
Oct 26, 2016•10 min
On October 7th, The Growing Stage - The Children’s Theatre of New Jersey kicks off its 35th season with the Tony Award-winning Broadway hit "Peter and the Starcatcher." It tells the story of how a wayward orphan became Peter Pan – the famous, flying boy from Neverland who wouldn’t grow up. Cutthroat pirates, unlikely heroes, a treacherous jungle island, a giant crocodile, mermaids and a treasure chest full of mysterious starstuff make "Peter and the Starcatcher" a family-friendly adventure worth...
Sep 28, 2016•13 min
This Friday, the XPoNential Music Festival kicks off a weekend of music on the Camden Waterfront - three days, three stages, and more than 30 performances. At the River Stage at Wiggins Park on Friday, New Jersey guitar legend Billy Hector will ring in the festival with his signature style, a combination of Rock & Roll and Jersey Shore Blues. He’s played with artists like Bonnie Raitt and B.B. King, and made 14 albums - all while performing regularly on the small club circuit for more than 3...
Jul 20, 2016•20 min
Christopher Benincasa recently sat down with artist Elizabeth Strong-Cuevas at Grounds For Sculpture in Hamilton, New Jersey. This Thursday, you can too – at the Art Salon at Rat’s Restaurant at Grounds For Sculpture. The Art Salon is an opportunity to enjoy fine food, wine, a relaxed atmosphere, and thought provoking conversation. Strong-Cuevas has three pieces in the 42 acre sculpture park - 'Two Face Telescope', 'Arch II', and 'Arch II, Set II' - large, aluminum, abstract work that brings to ...
Jun 12, 2016•8 min
Producer Christopher Benincasa recently spoke with Saskia Schmidt, Director of Education at The Noyes Museum of Stockton University, as well as a couple of artists featured in this year’s New Jersey Arts Annual. The exhibit is on display at Atlantic City’s Noyes Arts Garage – a gallery and community space cleverly housed within a parking deck in the historic Duck Town neighborhood – and showcases a cross section of contemporary visual art currently being produced in the state. The 2016 New Jerse...
May 25, 2016•9 min
Sarah Kirkland Snider didn't start out to be a contemporary classical composer, although music was what she loved as long as she could remember. In this podcast, the Princeton composer tells producer Susan Wallner how she was drawn to composing, the role of popular music in her work, and what it's like to be premiering her newest piece, "Hiraeth," in her hometown. The half-hour piece is dedicated to her father, and is accompanied by a film shot on location in his North Carolina hometown. "Hiraet...
Apr 20, 2016•16 min
"Healing Voices OnStage: Caregivers Stories" is a theatrical project weaving together stories about the experience of being a caregiver – whether it’s taking care of a loved one who is seriously ill, working professionally with patients at a healthcare facility, or going through the transition of becoming the caretaker of a parent. Unlike most plays, this script is based on the writing of people who have lived these experiences. The New Jersey Theatre Alliance has partnered with Atlantic Health ...
Mar 23, 2016•9 min
Paul, Prince and Presley’s dad is the greatest tightrope walker of all time. But with a father's fame comes pressure on his sons, who must learn to walk the ropes of life. Mexico City playwright Bárbara Colio's "Ropes" is at Two River Theater in Red Bank, NJ through March 20, including a special performance on March 5 of the play in Spanish, its original language. Producer Susan Wallner talks to actor Gabriel Gutiérrez (Prince), who was born and raised in Mexico City. The play, translated by Mar...
Feb 24, 2016•12 min
February 8th marks the beginning of the Chinese Lunar New Year, and the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company is coming to help us all celebrate. The festivities begin on February 6th at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark. 2016 is the Year of the Monkey, and it should be a good one. And if you’re hungry for really good Chinese food after the show, there will be a “Feast of the Monkey King” banquet across the street at the Robert Treat Crystal Ballroom. Christopher Benincasa recently spoke with ...
Jan 27, 2016•12 min
