Top 15 NJ Arts Events of the Week: Bruce Springsteen/American Music Honors, Remember Jones, more

3

Here is a roundup of major arts events taking place around New Jersey, through April 23.

MUSIC

• Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band will bring their heavily political Land of Hope & Dreams American Tour to The Prudential Center in Newark, April 20 at 7:30 p.m. This will be the tour’s only New Jersey concert.

Songs that have been performed at most or all shows, so far, include, “Streets of Minneapolis,” “Born in the USA,” “American Skin (41 Shots),” “Death to my Hometown,” “The Ghost of Tom Joad” and covers of Bob Dylan’s “Chimes of Freedom,” Edwin Starr’s “War” and The Clash’s “Clampdown.”

The E Street Band will also be honored at the fourth annual American Music Honors ceremony, being presented by The Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music at The Pollak Theatre at Monmouth University in West Long Branch, April 18 at 8:30 p.m. The other inductees will be Dionne Warwick, Patti Smith, Dr. Dre and The Doors, and the induction speeches will be given by Springsteen (Warwick, Smith), Stevie Van Zandt (The Doors), Jimmy Iovine (Dr. Dre) and Jon Landau (The E Street Band).

The show will also include a tribute to The Band. Van Zandt’s Disciples of Soul will serve as the house band, and Brian Williams will host.

Remember Jones will perform Stevie Wonder’s “Songs in the Key of Life” album in Red Bank, April 18.

• Stevie Wonder’s landmark Songs in the Key of Life is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, and The Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank will mark the occasion April 18 at 8 p.m., with a performance of it in its entirety, plus other Wonder songs, by Remember Jones and the fully expanded version of his band, plus “special guests.”

Songs in the Key of Life — a double album that came with a bonus four-song EP — was a No. 1 hit, as were its singles “I Wish” and “Sir Duke.” Other well known songs from it include “Isn’t She Lovely,” “As,” “Another Star,” “Pastime Paradise,” “Love’s in Need of Love Today” and “Summer Soft.” It won four Grammys in 1977, including Album of the Year.

• The Sugarhill Gang, the pioneering rap group with Englewood roots, will present a show they are calling “Rappers Convention” at BergenPAC in Englewood, April 17 at 8 p.m. Performers will include The Furious 5, Waterbed Kev, Crash Crew, The Treacherous 3, The Awesome 2, Special K and Teddy Ted.

• An unpublished memoir by composer and guitarist Steven Mackey’s mother Elaine inspired his “MEMOIR,” which The McCarter Theatre Center, in partnership with Princeton University’s music department, will present at McCarter’s Berlind Theatre, April 18 at 7:30 p.m. and April 19 at 2 p.m. The work will be performed by The Aeolus Quartet, the arx percussion duo and narrator Natalie Christa Rakes, who will read passages taken directly from his mother’s writings.

Mackey, the Grammy-winner and Princeton professor, says in a press release that “MEMOIR” is “hard to describe — maybe opera without singing or story-telling wrapped in music.”

Mackey, 70, also said in the press release that he could not have written “MEMOIR” earlier in his career. “There is a level of vulnerability I would not have tolerated as a 50-year-old midcareer composer,” he said. “By the time I became eligible for Medicare, and started working on MEMOIR, holding back seemed stingy, being ‘cool’ had lost its appeal. In short … I have a story to tell and not forever to tell it. What am I waiting for?”

Mackey, who will retire from teaching at the end of the current semester, will talk about the creation of “MEMOIR” at the start of each McCarter concert.

BENJAMIN EALOVEGA

XIAN ZHANG

• New Jersey Symphony, conducted by Xian Zhang, will Mozart’s Requiem — unfinished at the time of his death but completed by his student and colleague Franz Xaver Süssmayr — at Prudential Hall at NJPAC in Newark, April 16 at 1:30 p.m. and April 18 at 7:30 p.m.; and The State Theatre in New Brunswick, April 19 at 2 p.m.. Vocalists will include The Montclair State University Chorale (Heather J. Buchanan, director) with Mei Gui Zhang, soprano; Taylor Raven, mezzo-soprano; Eric Ferring, tenor; Dashon Burton, bass-baritone.

The program will also include Gabriel Fauré’s Pavane; and Gustav Mahler’s Songs of a Wayfarer.

• The country band Big Hix will perform at 3 p.m., with line dancing offered before and after, at the free “Boots in the Borough” event that The Washington Business Improvement District will present in downtown Washington (Warren County), April 18 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. In addition to the music, there will be vendors, food trucks, a beer tent and more.

DANCE

• “Reach,” a benefit for Carolyn Dorfman Dance, will be held at The Maplewood Country Club, April 23 at 6:30 p.m. Works to be performed include “Love Suite Love,” featuring the songs of Patsy Cline and exploring the subject of young love; “Mayne Mentshn,” which is about Dorfman’s family and is part of her “Legacy Project,” and uses klezmer music; and “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy,” named after The Andrews Sisters’ 1941 jump-blues hit.

Performers will include members of Carolyn Dorfman Dance and “Spotlight Friendz” (Ronnie Carney, Ennis & Phil Carter, Lara Friedman-Kats, Jill Ford and Betsy Sobo), and honorees will include Ennis Carter (the director of Social Impact Studios), Janel Brown and Helen Davis.

ANDREW DISMUKES

COMEDY

• Andrew Dismukes, a “Saturday Night Live” cast member since 2000 and a writer for the show for several years before that, will do standup at The Stress Factory in New Brunswick, April 16 at 7:30 p.m. and April 17-18 at 7 and 9:30 p.m.

THEATER

• The Actors Studio of New Jersey and The Sieminski Theater in Basking Ridge are teaming up to present “Finishing the Hat: The Music of Sondheim,” April 18 at 7:30 p.m. and April 19 at 2:30 p.m. at The Sieminski Theater. The show is a tribute to the songs of the late Stephen Sondheim, featuring material from musicals written or co-written by him, including “Company,” “Into the Woods,” “Merrily We Roll Along,” “Sweeney Todd,” “Follies,” “A Little Night Music,” “Sunday in the Park With George” and “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.”

• John Malkovich will play the title character in “The Music Critic,” April 17 at 7:30 p.m. at The McCarter Theatre Center in Princeton. The piece was conceived and created by violinist, composer and comedian Aleksey Igudesman (of the duo Igudesman & Joo), and will feature Malkovich and Igudesman along with pianist Hyung-ki Joo.

The show will combine music written by Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Brahms and others, with witheringly negative critiques delivered, in character, by Malkovich. (see video below)

The cover of Colm Tóibín’s “The News From Dublin: Stories.”

WORDS

• The sixth annual Hoboken Literary Weekend will take place April 17-19, with nine different events, mostly at the Little City Books store. A few of the highlights:

April 18 at 6 p.m., Colm Tóibín, author of the novels “Long Island” and “Brooklyn,” will discuss his latest book, “The News From Dublin: Stories.”

April 18 at 1 p.m., actor Andrew McCarthy — who co-starred in Brat Pack Era films such as “Pretty in Pink” and “St. Elmo’s Fire” — will discuss his book “Who Needs Friends? An Unscientific Examination of Male Friendship Across America.”

April 18 at 2 p.m., chef Melissa Ben-Ishay will discuss her book “Come Eat: 100 Nourishing Recipes to Eat Every Day” at Hoboken’s Mile Square Theatre. (This is the only Weekend event that will not be at Little City Books).

April 18 at 8 p.m., “Little City Laughing,” hosted by Leah Williams, will feature comedy by Shaunak Godkhindi, Lizzy Cassidy, Vannessa Jackson, Brandon Follick and Michael Good.

April 19 at 2 p.m., young adult writer and editor David Levithan will host a panel discussion, “Queer Voices, Queer History: Sharing Out Stories for New Generations.”

• April 23 at 6 p.m., Margaret Atwood will give a talk at The Grunin Center for the Arts at Ocean County College in Toms River, as part of the Blauvelt Speaker Series. Atwood, of course, is best known for writing the dystopian novel “The Handmaid’s Tale” (made into a much-acclaimed Hulu series) as well as its sequel, “The Testaments” (whose adaptation is currently in its first season on Hulu). Her most recent book is a memoir titled “Book of Lives.”

The Toms River talk will be available as a free livestream, with advance registration required.

VISUAL ARTS

• The third annual Garden State Art Weekend will take place April 17-19, with offerings at more than 100 museums and galleries throughout the state.

James Franco, left, and Seth Rogen in “Pineapple Express.”

FILM

• The Williams Center in Rutherford will honor the unofficial cannabis-culture holiday of 420 (taking place on April 20, or 4/20) with a stoner-comedy marathon featuring “Dazed and Confused” at 5:15 p.m.; “Cheech & Chong’s Up in Smoke” at 5:30 p.m.; “Half Baked” at 7:15 p.m.; “Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle” at 7:15 p.m.; and “Pineapple Express” at 10:30 p.m.

OTHER

• As part of its “Night at the Museum,” held on the third Thursday of each month from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m., The Morris Museum in Morris Township will offer live jazz by bassist and composer John Koozin and his band, The Neighborhood, April 16. A glass of wine or a soft drink is included in the price of admission.

On April 12, the museum opened a new exhibition, “Henri Matisse: Beyond Color,” featuring 71 drawings from the last two decades of Matisse’s life.
_____________________________

REVIEWS

“1776” at Paper Mill Playhouse, Millburn. (Through May 2)

“Ann Vollum: Sharp Teeth, Long Tongues!” at BrassWorks Gallery, Montclair. (Through May 22)

“Alexandra Schoenberg: Shifting Perspectives” at Hillside Square Gallery, Montclair. (Through June 26)

“Willem de Kooning: The Breakthrough Years, 1945–50” at Princeton University Art Museum. (Through July 26)

“Allan Rohan Crite: Neighborhood” at Zimmerli Art Museum, New Brunswick. (Through July 31)

“Salvador Jiménez-Flores: Raíces & Resistencias” at Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton. (Through Aug. 1, 2027)
_____________________________

_____________________________