Paul J. Stankard is an internationally acclaimed artist and pioneer in the studio glass movement. His lifelike, nature-based glassworks have changed the paperweight world over his forty-year artistic career. Having begun his career working in scientific glassblowing, it was through this industry that he found creativity and learned that he was indeed an artist. He is now the subject of a new documentary by Director Dan Collins, “Paul J. Stankard: Flower & Flame” set to screen at the Perkins ...
Feb 22, 2024•20 min
Over a decade ago, a Korean musical genre known as KPop rose in popularity amongst US audiences. We can probably thank Psy and his song "Gangnam Style" for that. But there is so much more to Korean music than KPop! And U.S. audiences are in for a treat when they discover CelloGayageum. The group, founded by Austrian cellist, Sol Daniel Kim, and gayageum player, Dayoung Yoon will be introducing U.S. audiences to their unique sound with their first North American tour. In celebration of the lunar ...
Jan 25, 2024•22 min
A nonbinary hero himself, Jonathan van Ness rose to fame as the hairstylist to heroes, the name Netflix’s “Queer Eye” reboot gives to its episodic guests. But Jonathan’s been an artist long before “Queer Eye.” Beyond the artistry required in his work as a stylist, Jonathan has been on stage as a comedian for years. His web series “Gay of Thrones,” a weekly comedic recap of HBO’s “Game of Thrones,” where he starred as none other than an opinionated hairstylist, was a hit for Funny or Die. He is a...
Jan 18, 2024•33 min
As his bio reads, Brian Noonan “has starred on Broadway and National Touring Companies as The Phantom in Phantom of the Opera, Enjolras in Les Miserables, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in Jekyll & Hyde, Cable in South Pacific with the legendary Robert Goulet, Gus/Growltiger in Cats, and Jesus Christ Superstar. As an international concert soloist, Mr. Noonan has performed for a myriad of Presidents and world dignitaries.” He is now the founder and managing director of the The Jersey Tenors, the new...
Dec 21, 2023•26 min
Ana Gasteyer is headed to Kean Stage on December 17th with a concert tour in support of her 2019 holiday album, Sugar and Booze . The S aturday Night Live alum and classically-trained singer has numerous Broadway shows, films, and TV credits under her belt–most recently starring in NBC’s American Auto . Gasteyer chats about her upcoming concert, Broadway, SNL , her high school musical, and what’s still ahead on her "to-do" list. Thanks for listening! Subscribe to The Jersey Arts Podcast in your ...
Dec 12, 2023•31 min
Duke Ellington was a jazz composer and bandleader in the early 1900s. He is quite possibly one of the greatest jazz composers of all time. Written alongside collaborator, Billy Strayhorn, "The Nutcracker Suite" is a jazz reimagining of Tchaikovsky’s" Nutcracker Suite." The Water Gap Jazz Orchestra will be performing Ellington’s rendition alongside the new "Grinch Suite , " written by WGJO director, Dr. Matt Vashlishan. Featuring Ellington’s own grandson, Mr. Edward Ellington II, as narrator and ...
Dec 07, 2023•9 min
Eileen Ivers has been called “the Jimi Hendrix of the violin,” as reported by the New York Times. A master of the violin, which is also known to be a fiddle, dependent on the way in which it is played, Ivers is known to be the pre-eminent exponent of the Irish fiddle in the world today. Grammy-awarded and Emmy-nominated, Ivers has guest starred with over 50 orchestras, toured with the likes of Sting, Hall and Oates, and The Chieftains, founded her own group called Cherish the Ladies, composed fo...
Nov 30, 2023•30 min
Charlie Brown, created by Charles M. Schulz first appeared in 1950 in the St Paul Pioneer Press. Over 70 years later, Charlie Brown and his friends are still entertaining audiences. " A Charlie Brown Christmas" was the first television program based on Schulz’ comic strip and it aired in 1965. Since then, the beloved Christmas classic has been adapted for the stage with much acclaim. "A Charlie Brown Christmas: Live on Stage" has been delighting Peanuts fans since 2013. The touring production wi...
Nov 09, 2023•21 min
Pioneer Productions Company is dedicated to sharing the collective human story through live theatrical performance by producing shows that are relevant to our time and inspiring audiences to attend live theatre. And it serves their mission well that their upcoming show is Neil Simon’s “Lost in Yonkers.” Though set in 1942, the play echoes the troubles of our modern world and speaks to audiences through the eyes of a dysfunctional albeit entertaining New York family. The play boasts the 1991 Puli...
Oct 19, 2023•15 min
It’s officially Spooky Season and quite possibly, the best season for a night of debauchery with "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" 48th Anniversary Spectacular Tour. On October 25th at the Bergen Performing Arts Center in Englewood, NJ, Rocky Horror fans will be treated to a screening of the original unedited film alongside a live shadowcast. Audience participation is encouraged and expected. Patricia Quinn, the film’s very own Magenta, will be in attendance as well with special VIP Meet & Gre...
Oct 10, 2023•21 min
Gloria Gaynor is best known as the queen of disco with her mega-hit dance anthem, “I Will Survive,” but this Jersey girl has never stopped taking risks and building on her success. JerseyArts chats with the music legend about growing up in New Jersey, how she got her big break, the legacy of disco, her new “Gloria Gaynor: I Will Survive” documentary, and her Sept. 16 concert at bergenPAC. Thanks for listening! Subscribe to The Jersey Arts Podcast in your favorite podcast player. The Jersey Arts ...
Aug 24, 2023•21 min
"Satellites" will make its world premiere this July at the aptly named Premiere Stages at Kean University. Having previously won the 2022 Premiere Play Festival, the show penned by Erin Breznitsky will celebrate its first full stage production under the direction of Premiere Stages' Artistic Director, John J. Wooten. "Satellites" orbits around married couple Katherine & Mike who are each on a mission to save the world. She's a scientist studying climate change; he's an astronaut exploring th...
Jun 29, 2023•19 min
On The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey's Outdoor Stage arrives an epic play with an equally epic title: "Shipwrecked! An Entertainment—The Amazing Adventures of Louis de Rougemont (as Told by Himself)." Louis de Rougemont was the pen name for real-life raconteur Henri Louis Grin, who sold serialized stories of his imagined adventures to the British World Wide Magazine in the late 1800s. After he was exposed as a fraud, The World Wide Magazine went on to publish the quote: “Truth is stranger th...
Jun 21, 2023•21 min
You may know Billy Bob Thornton as an Oscar-winning writer, Oscar-nominated actor, and award-winning director, or maybe you simply know him as "Bad Santa,” but did you know he is also an accomplished singer and songwriter? Along with his friend J.D Andrew, Billy founded the rock and roll group, The Boxmasters. The Boxmasters have recorded an impressive and diverse catalog of music that touches on their love of a wide array of influences, but most importantly, the rock and roll of the 1960s. Thei...
Jun 15, 2023•28 min
As the birthplace of baseball, Hoboken is the perfect New Jersey city to celebrate our national pastime; and Mile Square Theatre, the perfect venue. Annually, the Hoboken theater commissions seven playwrights to each write a 10-minute play involving the American game. This 19th year of “7th Inning Stretch” runs June 16th and 17th. The sentiment of the plays rounds the bases from heartwarming to hysterical; realistic to absurd. Jersey Arts speaks to Mile Square Theatre’s Artistic Director, Kevin ...
Jun 01, 2023•24 min
The historic James Howe House was home to a formerly enslaved man, abolitionist and Montclair's first African American homeowner. Thanks to a large-scale collaboration between historians, preservationists, artists, and the teams at Luna Stage and Crossroads Theatre Company, the story of Howe House over the last nearly 200 years will be told through the upcoming play "The Ground on Which We Stand." Luna Stage artistic director Ari Laura Kreith and award-winning playwright and screenwriter Richard...
Apr 20, 2023•24 min
Laura Ekstrand is the Producing Artistic Director of Vivid Stage in Summit, New Jersey, as well as its next leading lady. Starring in 101 Humiliating Stories by Lisa Kron, she will headline the first performance of Vivid Stage's Solo Series from April 13 to 16. "In this one-woman show, the actor shares a series of humiliations past, present and future, including exquisitely detailed anecdotes like "Geeky Celebrity Encounters" and "How I Spent All the Petty Cash From My Office on Makeup." An invi...
Apr 06, 2023•20 min
During her tenure as President of The Washington Post, Katharine Graham published the Pentagon Papers, ran the Watergate story and served as the first female CEO of a Fortune 500 company, but her journey to career success was a traumatic one. Robin Gerber’s play The Shot , coming to New Jersey Repertory Company April 6-23, reveals the harrowing events that led to Graham taking the helm, including a history of domestic abuse and her husband’s suicide. Host Maddie Orton speaks with playwright Robi...
Mar 23, 2023•26 min
This year’s Garden State Film Festival kicks off Thursday, March 23, and will be serving up a four-day weekend of more independent films and one-of-a-kind events than even the most die-hard moviegoer could take in. Since the first festival in 2003, GSFF has provided opportunities for aspiring filmmakers and actors to network with industry pros and have their work showcased in one of the country’s most iconic cities – New Jersey’s Asbury Park. Five venues there, the Jersey Shore Arts Center in Oc...
Mar 09, 2023•19 min
“When teenager Percy Jackson discovers he’s a demigod, he and his friends embark on an epic journey to find Zeus’s missing lightning bolt and prevent a war among the gods.” That is the synopsis for “The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical,” produced by The Growing Stage, The Children’s Theatre of New Jersey, in Netcong March 10-26, 2023. The Growing Stage’s mission is to nurture the development of the performing arts through education, and to create, produce and perform works that engage ...
Mar 02, 2023•25 min
Bradley Gibson (“A Bronx Tale,” “The Lion King,” “The Partner Track”) has big sandals to fill as the titular role in “Disney’s Hercules,” but if anyone’s ready to play the lovable demigod, it’s him. As a child, Bradley was a huge fan of the 1997 animated Disney movie, and taking on the character has helped him find new meaning in, and love for, the story. Gibson leads a star-studded cast at Paper Mill Playhouse from Feb. 16 -March 19. He chats with Jersey Arts about his love for the 1997 film, d...
Feb 15, 2023•28 min
Carmen Matarazzo, a graduate of Pinelands High School in New Jersey, is an actor/drummer who has been seen in multiple productions at his high school and several theaters across the state including Mary Poppins (Robertson Ay), Clue: On Stage (Professor Plum), Spring Awakening (Ernst), The Addams Family (Lucas), The Sound of Musi c (Captain Von Trapp). Carmen will star as Tobias Ragg in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street at the Levoy Theatre in Millville, New Jersey Feb. 10 - 19. His ...
Feb 09, 2023•16 min
It’s a night of music, dancing, drugs, and deception—and that’s only act one! Andrew Lippa’s The Wild Party takes the stage at Hammonton’s Eagle Theatre from February 9-26, bringing Joseph Moncure March’s 1928 narrative poem of the same title to life. The musical tells the story of a romance between Vaudeville performers gone awry, and is set against a backdrop of eccentric characters, catchy tunes, and a soirée that won’t soon be forgotten. Jesey Arts talks with Producing Artistic Director and ...
Jan 25, 2023•22 min
Comedian Caroline Rhea is back on tour for the first time in years, and she's got plenty of material! Most recognized for her work as Hilda Spellman on the hit TV series Sabrina the Teenage Witch , Rhea is also known and loved for The Caroline Rhea Show , as a voice on Disney Channel's Phineas and Ferb , her recurring spots on Hollywood Squares and The Match Game , A Very Sordid Wedding , A Mrs. Miracle Christmas , and her many stand-up specials. Rhea talks with Jersey Arts Podcast about the art...
Dec 29, 2022•18 min
Crossroads Theatre Company's upcoming production of Chicken & Biscuits Dec. 21-31 at New Brunswick Performing Arts Center as is about coming home. The play itself is a comedy about a family reuniting and will run over the holidays as many people head home to celebrate and hopefully catch some theater with family and friends. It is also a homecoming of sorts to returning Artistic Director Ricardo Khan, who co-founded Crossroads Theatre Company in 1978, returned in 2020, and is working with di...
Dec 14, 2022•26 min
Classical crossover ensemble Sons of Serendip broke onto the scene in 2014 after competing on America’s Got Talent , and they’ve been going strong ever since. They’re currently touring the country spreading their signature style of holiday cheer and will perform at South Orange Performing Arts Center Dec. 7. Jersey Arts Podcast speaks with lead vocalist Micah Christian and pianist Cordaro Rodriguez about how their call to make music brought Sons of Serendip together, and how their second album, ...
Nov 29, 2022•21 min
For more than a decade, Jersey City has had its own special holiday tradition: Nimbus Dance’s Jersey City Nutcracker . The city-centric show runs from Dec. 9 through 23 at the new Nimbus Arts Center. Host Maddie Orton talks with Nimbus Dance Founding Artistic Director Sam Pott, who choreographed and co-wrote the piece, School Director Harumi Elders, and student dancer Izzy Baculod about being a part of this celebrated annual show. LINKS Nimbus Thanks for listening! Subscribe to The Jersey Arts P...
Nov 22, 2022•22 min
Evelyn "Evie" McGee Colbert is an arts advocate, a film producer, and one of the founding board members of Montclair Film, a nonprofit that produces a festival that “connects global filmmakers with audiences in a diverse, culturally vibrant community” and more, “presenting … year-round programs that engage, entertain and educate through the power of visual storytelling.” The 2022 festival is in its 11th season and it opens Friday, Oct. 21 at the Wellmont Theater with a special screening of “The ...
Oct 20, 2022•28 min
Renée Elise Goldsberry is the Grammy Award- and Tony Award-winning talent behind Angelica Schuyler in Hamilton and currently appears on She-Hulk and Girls5eva . Goldsberry is headed to Mayo Performing Arts Center in Morristown on September 30th for her concert called Opening Night: An Evening with Renée Elise Goldsberry. She chatted with host Maddie Orton about creating a show of songs she loves. LINKS Mayo Performing Arts Center Thanks for listening! Subscribe to The Jersey Arts Podcast in your...
Sep 15, 2022•25 min
The Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University in New Brunswick is showcasing its newly-acquired American art collection from the former Jersey City Museum for the first time. "American Stories: Gifts from the Jersey City Museum Collection” shares Jersey City history through work from artists like Chakaia Booker, May Stevens, Shelia Pepe, Melvin Edwards, and Jaune Quick-to-See Smith. Host Maddie Orton spoke with Zimmerli Chief Curator Donna Gustafson Chief Curator about what we can look forward t...
Sep 01, 2022•20 min
