(PRINCETON, NJ) -- McCarter Theater Center will reopen their doors this Fall with a robust slate of events across music, theater, dance, spoken word, and family programming. Favorite artists will be returning plus headliners and burgeoning talent excited to meet McCarter audiences for the first time.
Theater highlights include the Broadway Tour What the Constitution Means to Me, plus 2 new musicals, Dreaming Zenzile based on the life of Miriam Makeba and Ride The Cyclone directed by Artistic Director Sarah Rasmussen. Presented Series highlights include: Lake Street Dive, The Moth, National Geographic Live, Audra McDonald, Kelli O’Hara, Keb Mo, Shawn Colvin, Sweet Honey in the Rock, David Sedaris, Rosanne Cash, Mark Morris Dance and more. Full line up and dates are here.
The Opening Weekend kicks off on Friday, September 24 at 8:00pm in McCarter’s Mathews Theater with 15-time Grammy Award winner Béla Fleck - in his first bluegrass tour in 24 years My Bluegrass Heart - the third chapter of a trilogy beginning with his 1988 album Drive. Then on Sunday afternoon, Sept 26, McCarter invites the entire community to “GARBA 360,” a free outdoor event celebrating the traditional Gujarati Social Folk Dance experience. With dance lessons, performance, and live music, this off-site extravaganza takes place at the Princeton Shopping Center where families and friends are invited to gather for a fun afternoon to mix, move, and mingle.
“We are eager to come together as a community once again. We know that art and “collective effervescence” (Emile Durkheim) is a powerful way to celebrate and connect. I am truly excited to welcome you back — and to bring so many fine artists and unique performances to the stage in my first "live" season as McCarter's new Artistic Director,” said Sarah Rasmussen.
McCarter will also keep its digital stage active with Paula Vogel’s Bard of the Gate, a virtual reading series, and the (free) experience The Manic Monologues - creating conversation around mental health.
McCarter is following all CDC and NJ guidelines including: air filters, enhanced cleaning, contactless ticketing and ongoing staff training. At the present time, we will be selling our shows to full capacity with no social distancing, mask, or vaccine requirements. We will be asking artists, audiences, staff, and volunteers to monitor their health and stay home if they are exhibiting any COVID-19 and/or flu-like symptoms. As guidelines and health directions evolve, we will update our requirements. To learn more and for the latest information, visit www.mccarter.org/COVID19.
Full schedule of events from September - November below. For the entire line up, visit, www.mccarter.org.
Friday, September 24 / 8:00pm. BÉLA FLECK - Join us as we reopen our doors with this joyous concert! In My Bluegrass Heart, Fleck’s tribute to his musical heritage, Fleck has assembled Michael Cleveland, Sierra Hull, Justin Moses, Mark Schatz, and Bryan Sutton to form the ultimate bluegrass band.
Sunday, September 26 / 2:00pm. GARBA 360 - Take part in this free outdoor event that celebrates the traditional Gujarati social folk dance experience. With dance lessons, performance, and live music, gather in the plaza at Princeton Shopping Center, where all are invited to come together for a fun afternoon event.
Friday, October 8 / 8:00pm & Saturday, October 9 / 8:00pm. A.I.M BY KYLE ABRAHAM - The contemporary dances from A.I.M combine a provocative vocabulary with a strong emphasis on sound, human behavior, and all things visual in an effort to create an avenue for personal investigation.
Saturday, October 9 / 8:00pm. TUSK - the number one tribute to Fleetwood Mac in the world, bar none.
Tuesday, October 12 / 7:30pm. DAVID SEDARIS - With sardonic wit and incisive social critiques, David Sedaris has become one of America’s preeminent humor writers.
Friday, October 15 / 8:00pm. NELLA - Winner of the 2019 Latin GRAMMY® Award for Best New Artist, Nella merges her folklore roots of Venezuela, modern production, and Andalusian inspirations to resound every corner of the globe.
Friday, October 15 / 8:00pm. JAN LISIECKI - Pianist Jan Lisiecki’s interpretations and technique speak to a maturity beyond his age. At 26, the Canadian performs over a hundred yearly concerts worldwide, and has worked closely with conductors such as Antonio Pappano, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Daniel Harding, and Claudio Abbado.
Saturday, October 16 / 8:00pm. TERENCE BLANCHARD - Two-time Oscar® nominee, and five-time GRAMMY®-winning trumpeter and composer Terence Blanchard celebrates both the brilliance of Wayne Shorter’s legacy and the inspiration he has given Blanchard, influencing his ever-expanding amalgam of music and storytelling. Featuring The E-Collective and Turtle Island Quartet.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 22 / 8:00pm. Dorrance Dance: SOUNDspace - MacArthur “Genius” Award recipient and artistic director Michelle Dorrance, Dorrance Dance aims to honor tap dance’s uniquely beautiful history in a new and dynamically compelling context.
Saturday, October 23 / 8:00pm. CHRIS THILE - Encompassing classical, rock, jazz, and bluegrass, Chris Thile (of Punch Brothers, Nickel Creek, and now the host of the radio program Live from Here) creates a distinctly American canon and a new musical aesthetic for performers and audiences alike.
Sunday, October 24 / 7:00pm. LAKE STREET DIVE - As a band, Lake Street Dive epitomizes democracy in action. Their personalities, skills, and wide-ranging taste in pop, rock, R&B, and jazz have long blended together to make an impressively cohesive sound, both sophisticated and playful, combining retro influences with contemporary attitude.
Friday, October 29 / 8:00pm. MATTHEW WHITAKER QUARTET - To witness the breathless virtuosity of Matthew Whitaker improvising at the jazz piano and organ keyboards is to be in the presence of a once-in-a-generation musical talent.
Friday, November 5 / 8:00pm. THE MOTH - Hailed as “New York’s hottest and hippest literary ticket” by The Wall Street Journal, The Moth is dedicated to the art and craft of storytelling. The Moth has presented more than 40,000 stories, told live and without notes, by people from all walks of life. Each show has a theme and features simple, old-fashioned storytelling by wildly divergent raconteurs.
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 6 / 8:00pm. Shake & Holla - Shake & Holla is a brand-new tour that showcases foot-stomp-ing Mississippi “hill country” blues and the funky, syncopated sounds of New Orleans brass.
Sunday, November 7 / 3:00pm. NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC LIVE: SECRETS OF THE WHALES - For his latest project, celebrated National Geographic Explorer and underwater photographer Brian Skerry turns his lens to one of the world’s most beloved animals to show audiences startling new insights into their lives and culture.
Saturday, November 13 / 8:00pm. KELLI O’HARA - Stage and screen star Kelli O’Hara has established herself as one of Broadway’s greatest leading ladies. She has been nominated for seven Tony Awards and won the 2015 prize for Best Leading Actress for The King and I. Other nominations include Grammy, Olivier, Drama League, and Outer Critics Circle Awards.
Friday, November 19 / 8:00pm. DESSA - Singer, rapper, and writer Dessa has made a career of bucking genres and defying expectations. In addition to performing at Lollapalooza and Glastonbury, her track on The Hamilton Mixtape has notched over 11 million streams.
THEATER SHOWS:
What the Constitution Means to Me (December 7-12). A Play by Heidi Schreck, Directed by Oliver Butler, Starring Cassie Beck. Direct from Broadway, this hilarious, hopeful, and achingly human new play breathes new life into our Constitution and imagines how it will shape the next generation of Americans.
Dreaming Zenzile (January 15- February 13). Based on the life of Miriam Makeba By Somi Kakoma and directed by Lileana Blain-Cruz. In partnership with Octopus Theatricals, National Black Theatre, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, New York Theatre Workshop, Arts Emerson, and Apollo Theater. At her final concert, South African musical legend and activist Miriam Makeba delivers the performance of her life, raising the conscience and the consciousness of a people. Written and performed by international music sensation Somi Kakoma, this world premiere musical is an electrifying portrait of a revolutionary artist’s singular voice and vision.
Ride the Cyclone: The Musical (April 30-May 29). Book, music & lyrics by Brooke Maxwell & Jacob Richmond Directed by McCarter Artistic Director Sarah Rasmussen. Part comedy, part tragedy, and wholly unexpected, this wildly imaginative story delivers surprises at ev- ery turn. The lives of six teenagers from a Canadian chamber choir are cut short in a freak accident aboard a roller coaster. A mechanical fortune-teller invites each to tell their story of a life interrupted, offering the chance to come to terms with their fates. At once quirky and smart, edgy and beautiful, Ride the Cyclone ultimately reveals the resilience of the human spirit in spite of senseless tragedy.
Under the leadership of award-winning Artistic Director Sarah Rasmussen, Managing Director Michael S. Rosenberg and Special Programming Director William W. Lockwood, the mission of McCarter Theatre is to create world-class theater and present the finest artists for community engagement, education, and entertainment. Winner of the 1994 Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre, world premieres include Christopher Durang's Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike (2013 Tony Best Play); Tarell Alvin McCarey's The Brother/Sister Plays, Emily Mann's Having Our Say, and Danai Gurira's The Convert. McCarter’s presented series has hosted thousands of celebrated world-class artists and burgeoning talent, across music, dance, jazz, family, cabaret, and spoken word including Joan Baez, Peter, Paul and Mary, Martha Graham, Rosanne Cash, YoYo Ma, Lang Lang, Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, Bill Murray, David Sedaris, Mavis Staples, Kodo Drummers, Pilabolus, Wynton Marsalis, Blues Traveler and more.
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