PHOTOS from Greensky Bluegrass at Count Basie Center for the Arts

by Chris Paul - published 2023-01-25
(RED BANK, NJ) -- Greensky Bluegrass performed at Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank on January 18, 2023 and photographer Chris Paul was there to take photos.  Chris also interviewed Mike Bont, banjo player for Greensky Bluegrass, ahead of the show and that interview can be found here.

Superb feature Ocean City Monster Building screens at the Spring 2023 New Jersey Film Festival on Saturday, February 4

by Anita LaBelle - published 2023-01-25
Ocean City Monster Building directed by Chris Lane examines the question: How much can a position of power control what remains hidden behind the scenes - even after one dies?

New Jersey Stage: Daily Edition 01-25-23

Here is the morning update from New Jersey's arts newswire. We regularly publish between 8-15 new articles and news reports each day. Nobody covers the Arts throughout the Garden State like New Jersey Stage!

Angelic short Fereshteh screens at the Spring 2023 New Jersey Film Festival on Saturday, January 28

by Loren Simon - published 2023-01-24
“Hi mommy, my beautiful fereshteh,” she greets her mother through a voicemail, letting her know that she, and her father, would not be attending dinner, leaving her mother in her familiar solitude once again. The short film, Fereshteh by filmmaker Elika Rezaee, details the daily routine of an Iranian woman who spends the entirety of her day in the company of herself and her dogs. The word “fereshteh” means angel in Urdu, and I believe its inclusion in the title highlights how much the protagonist mimics the ideal image of an angelic parent or natural caretaker who puts their family’s needs before their own. Her role as a mother begins immediately within the film, but of course not to traditional children. Her dogs keep her company as her husband and actual human kids are not home; preoccupied with other matters. We never experience their physical presence but learn of them through phone calls. After watching the film for a second time, I realized the dialogue of the main character consists solely of words that pertain to her services of her loved ones' needs, asking: if ‘everyone got home alright last night’, ‘are they hungry,’ and cooks them a meal that no one actually eats. It is a sacrifice many parents, more commonly mothers, have to make in order to fulfill roles placed upon them that revolve around maintaining a well-functioning home.

New Jersey Stage: Daily Edition 01-24-23

Here is the morning update from New Jersey's arts newswire. We regularly publish between 8-15 new articles and news reports each day. Nobody covers the Arts throughout the Garden State like New Jersey Stage!

Vivid's The Flip Side to Perform in Madison

(MADISON, NJ) -- Vivid Stage will take improv on the road to the Madison Community Arts Center on Friday, February 3 at 8:00pm. THE FLIP SIDE, Vivid’s house improv team, features Brad Barton, Clark Carmichael, Laura Ekstrand, Noreen Farley, Lulu French, Dave Maulbeck, Scott McGowan, Becca McLarty and Emaline Williams. This unpredictable evening is an affordable, enjoyable evening that is packed with laughs from start to finish.

CDC Theatre presents Shakespeare's Comedy "Twelfth Night"

(CRANFORD, NJ) -- “Better a witty fool, than a foolish wit.”, “If music be the food of love, play on” and “Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon ‘em.” are just a few of the familiar lines from William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night.

The Herb + Milly Iris Gallery at SOPAC presents "SLADE: A Family Affair"

(SOUTH ORANGE, NJ) -- It is often said that art inspires more art. That is certainly true for Kelvin and Corrine Slade, father-and-daughter artists featured in SLADE: A Family Affair, an exhibition at The Herb + Milly Iris Gallery at SOPAC, on display from January 26–March 5. Kelvin, who takes photographs of Jazz performers, has an undying love for the musical genre, while Corrine taps into her admiration for Jazz when creating comforting abstract environments in her oil paintings. In celebration of Black History Month, this exhibit portrays the influence that Black music, particularly Jazz, has had on the artists.

BlowUpRadio.com's New & Notable NJ Music 1/23/23

by Lazlo - published 2023-01-23
Lazlo, founder of BlowUpRadio.com (an online radio station based around New Jersey artists), shines a light on some of the many new releases from NJ based musicians each week with this column. This week Lazlo takes a look at releases by Mark Parker, Solo For Dolo, Post Nuclear Beach Party, Shawn Mars, and Phoneboy.