Jersey Arts Podcast

Jazz fans, rejoice! Grammy winning trumpeter, Chris Botti, will be gracing the stage of the Mayo Performing Arts Center this April. 

For nearly three decades now, Botti has been one of the most popular instrumentalists in the world, boasting collaborations with stars like Sting, Paul Simon, Barbara Streisand, Lady Gaga, Frank Sinatra, Andrea Bocelli and many more.

His most recent album, produced by David Foster an...

The six-time Tony Award winning show “Dear Evan Hansen” is bringing its North American Tour to the State Theatre in New Brunswick, NJ. The show boasts music and lyrics by EGOT winners - that’s an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and a Tony - Benjamin Pasek and Justin Paul. “Dear Evan Hansen” offers a score that will have you whistling the tunes on your way out of the theater.

The show tackles some sensitive topics in a way that audiences have b...

Jonatha Brooke has a voice to soothe your soul, and the lyrics to nurture it. First introduced to audiences as a part of the duo, “The Story,” Brooke eventually turned to an illustrious solo career and has been gifting us with her own unique storytelling ever since.

Jonatha has quite the discography to boast with 14 albums over the past three decades, most of which were produced under her own independent label - Bad Dog Re...

Pinky Patel is the crown adorned TikTok comedian you’ve come to know and love for her no holds barred, quick and quippy style. She speaks directly to audiences from her glam cave though sometimes she calls it - something else.

She claimed TikTok stardom while still working her corporate 9 to 5 job and playing PTA mom on the daily. It was the Covid pandemic and a close friend who gave her the push she needed to change her l...

Catching the Moon: The Story of a Young Girl’s Baseball Dream is a musical based on the children’s book of the same title written by Crystal Hubbard. It tells the story of Marcenia Lyle, a young, Black girl growing up in the 1930s who went on to become Toni Stone, the first female to play as a regular for an all-male professional baseball team.

The Growing Stage in Netcong is only the second theater company to perform this...

35 years ago–well before orchestras performing film scores became popular–George Daugherty and his husband and producing partner David Wong developed Bugs Bunny at the Symphony. The concept was new at the time: a world-class orchestra would play full cartoon scores live alongside the films. It was an instant hit.

Of course, what makes Looney Tunes music different from many of the film scores played live is that it's based on so...

“Noli Timere” is Latin for “be not afraid,” and the name of the world premiere presentation from Director and Choreographer, Rebecca Lazier and Sculptor, Janet Echelman. The collaboration features eight multidisciplinary performers dancing up to 25 feet in the air within a voluminous, custom-designed Echelman net sculpture.

Choreographed to an original score by JORANE, this fusion of contemporary dance, avant-garde circus,...

Founded by Luke Ferrell in 2022, Ferrell Studios offers exceptional and affordable performing arts education and theatrical productions. They offer a variety of classes and programs, including acting, musical theatre, playwriting, film and television acting, public speaking, and theory and criticism as well as private lessons for those who want to focus on a specific area of study.

At Ferrell Studios, they believe that the arts have...

Known for their electrifying renditions of classic holiday music, Twelve Twenty-Four combines the festive spirit with high-energy rock performances that will leave audiences of all ages wanting more.

They are the longest running Trans Siberian Orchestra Tribute band having begun in 2002, over twenty years ago! They will soon be thrilling audiences in Millville, NJ at the beautiful Levoy Theater on December 15th.

J...

"How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?" A quote from the one and only Sherlock Holmes, by way of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, in "The Sign of the Four."

Now, as improbable as it may seem, the truth is - the ever popular Sherlock Holmes died. And then, ten years later he came back to life. Imagine just how frustrated...

Award-winning playwright José Rivera brings both his writing and directing talents to New Jersey Repertory Company’s production, Your Name Means Dream.  Rivera’s play explores the imagined highs and lows of artificial intelligence through the lens of healthcare–telling the story of Aislin, an aging woman who is being taken care of by Stacy, an A.I. entity.

Rivera may be most widely-known for his work in film. He earned an ...

"My Italy Story," written by Joseph Gallo, directed by Charlotte Cohn, and starring Michael Notardonato, is a nostalgic exploration of family, heritage and the ties that bind us. Spurred by pleas to help reunite his fractured family, a young man quits his job as a New York account executive and travels to Vallata — the tiny Italian town of his ancestors. Not until he returns home, however, does he discover a secret that u...

Art House Productions is collaborating with Kenia Rosete Dance to bring a new modern dance series to Jersey City.

The show, titled “FOCUS,” will feature two to four artists per night, who will present their own original choreography. Each artists' piece is a bite-size performance that showcases the dancers’ creative, unique, and innovative voices.

Audiences can expect an easy, fun and inspiring evening. Easy ...

Theater icon Norm Lewis is known for a lot of things: breaking barriers as Broadway's first African-American Phantom in The Phantom of the Opera; lending his stunning baritone to the roles of Sweeney Todd, Porgy, and Jarvert; playing Senator Edison Davis on the hit TV show Scandal—the list goes on and on. But what you may not know that the Emmy, Grammy, Tony, and SAG Award nominee works just as hard behind the scenes as an act...

Even those who don’t know the name Hoagy Carmichael certainly know his songs. The composer behind “Heart and Soul,” “Georgia on my Mind,” “The Nearness of you,” and “Stardust” is celebrated through the musical "Hoagy Carmichael’s Stardust Road." With only one previous professional production, the musical will find new audiences this September as part of Surflight Theatre’s 75th Anniversary Season. Producing Artistic Direc...

Jersey Arts talks to music icon - singer, songwriter, and guitarist Richie Furay, who boasts a 60 year musical career, having played with acclaimed groups such as Buffalo Springfield, Poco, the Souther-Hillman-Furay Band and of course, his own solo ventures.

He is an inductee of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as well as the Colorado Music Hall of Fame. But perhaps most importantly, he’s a family man. The balance between ho...

“I’m Just a Singer (In a Rock and Roll Band).” “Ride My See-Saw.” “Isn’t Life Strange?” These are just a few of the mega hit titles by The Moody Blues, and John Lodge is their bass guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. He has been performing and recording with The Moody Blues for more than 50 years while also pursuing a successful solo career. He’s even been voted one of the “10 most influential bass players on the planet.”

This episode honors Pride Month, most specifically a particular celebration in Red Bank, NJ called “Pride on the Plaza” hosted by Two River Theater.

Pride Month has a storied history, much of it more distressing than celebratory, but that is exactly why Pride Month is so important. Centuries of degradation and segregation led to protests that grew to a cultural revolution designed to protect, and eventually celebrate, those in the L...

The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey is New Jersey's largest professional theatre company dedicated solely to Shakespeare's canon and other classic masterworks. Previously under the leadership of artistic director Bonnie J. Monte since 1990, the theater has since welcomed Brian Crowe as the new Artistic Director as of January of 2024.

Brian has been with the organization for 29 years, formerly serving as the Dir...