April 23, 2025

By Stuart Mitchner

An open pack of premium cigarettes was thus a centerpiece of Hindenburg advertisements.

—Edward Tenner

Even before I read about those advertisements in Edward Tenner’s new book Why the Hindenburg Had a Smoking Lounge: Essays on Unintended Consequences (American Philosophical Society Press $34.95), my interest in vintage cigarette ads had been stirred by a Broadhurst Theatre Playbill from 1934, three years before May 6, 1937, the day the Hindenburg crashed and burned on landing at Lakehurst N.J. Naval Air Station, killing 35 of the 97 passengers. By specifying the proportion of fatalities, Tenner leaves it up to us to assume that most of the victims were in the smoking lounge at the time (“under 7 million cubic feet of flammable gas”), a possibility underscored by a pointed reference to satirist Bruce McCall’s drawing of a Hindenburg prospectus showing a skeleton in an officer’s uniform asking elegant passengers, “Zigarette?”

The Playbill

Passed down by my parents, who once dreamed of writing Broadway plays together, the Playbill for Men In White, Sidney Kingsley’s drama about doctors, love, abortion, and medical ethics, features three cigarette ads in its 22 pages, the first a two-page spread wherein the “Warner Bros.” star Joan Blondell testifies to the “throat-ease and flavor” of Old Golds, my two-pack-a-day mother’s brand for life. Another two-page spread (“Get a LIFT with a Camel!”) shows two unidentified young women, one frowning (“Tired? Then light a Camel!”); the other smiling, radiant, cigarette in hand. On the back cover an older, fashionably dressed woman is saying, “Frankly, one of the chief reasons why I enjoy Chesterfields is the fact that I don’t get little crumbs of tobacco in my mouth.”  more

By Nancy Plum

Spring is always a time of renewal, and for college students the season may mean an opportunity to enjoy a break from the academic race to the end of the semester. For the members of the Princeton University Orchestra and Glee Club, the early months of this spring have meant hard work and preparation as the two ensembles came together for a presentation of 20th-century pieces. This past weekend’s performances of Francis Poulenc’s Gloria and Maurice Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé showed precision, musicality, and crisp playing in the annual Stuart B. Mindlin Concerts.

Friday night’s performance (which was repeated Saturday night) in Richardson Auditorium juxtaposed two French composers linked by their use of Impressionistic compositional devices as well as a unique scoring for chorus. Early 20th-century composers in France often added choral forces as wordless voices for effect — distinctly evident in Ravel’s 1912 ballet Daphnis et Chloé. Fifty years later, Poulenc’s 1960 six-movement Gloria drew on voices to the fullest to convey a liturgical test. Led by Orchestra conductor Michael Pratt, the University Orchestra and Glee Club were precise from the outset of the Gloria, with short decisive conducting gestures from Pratt eliciting a crisp sound. Off-beat rhythms were meticulous from the Glee Club, and it was unmistakable that this piece was a good fit for these singers.  more

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY: Jerry Rife, conductor of the Blawenburg Band, celebrates his 40th year on the podium at a concert that also marks the 135th year of the band on May 18.

The Blawenburg Band, New Jersey’s oldest community band, will celebrate its 135 years of performing as well as the 40th year of conductor Jerry Rife’s leadership at its Anniversary Concert in Kendall Hall on The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) campus, 2000 Pennington Road, Ewing, on Sunday, May 18, at 3 p.m.

The concert is free, but donations are welcome. On the program are traditional band marches, show tunes, and more. more

SAIL AWAY: Cast members of the Mercer County Community College Academic Theater and Dance program rehearse the upcoming production of “Anything Goes,” which runs April 25-May 4 at the Kelsey Theatre on the college’s West Windsor Campus.

The Mercer County Community College (MCCC) Academic Theater and Dance program presents the musical comedy Anything Goes, April 25-May 4 at the Kelsey Theatre on the college’s West Windsor Campus.

The show follows the antics of Billy Crocker, who stows away on the S.S. American when he learns his love interest, Hope, is on board and bound for England to marry the wealthy Lord Evelyn Oakleigh. When Billy borrows an unused ticket and passport from gangster Moonface Martin (a.k.a., Public Enemy 13) to stay on board, the comedy gets rolling with mistaken identities, a comical disguise, and blackmail — along with music and dancing. more

The Princeton Garden Theatre has announced the 2025 lineup of the annual Hollywood Summer Nights program. Featuring 34 films that showcase over 75 years of cinematic history, the season will include classic literary adaptations, political satires, sci-fi and fantasy spectacles, and much more. Each film will be exhibited as originally intended: on the big screen.

Opening the series on May 28 is Planet of the Apes, followed by The Maltese Falcon on May 29. The season will close on September 10 with Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove: or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, and Christopher Nolan’s Memento on September 11. Each film will begin at 7 p.m. with select titles receiving encore screenings on Sunday afternoons.  more

“JAPANESE MAPLE LEAVES”: This photo by Sharlene Holliday is featured in the “Not Your Run of the Mill Photo Show,” on view through April 27 at Phillips’ Mill in New Hope, Pa.

April marks a month-long celebration of fine art photography at the historic Phillips’ Mill in New Hope, Pa., which wraps up with a final exhibit spotlighting the work of the Mill Photo Committee members who organize the annual juried exhibition each year.

The “Not Your Run of the Mill Photo Show” is on view through April 27. The Mill Photo Committee is comprised of both professional and amateur photographers who meet and share their interests in all things photography throughout the year. Like the juried exhibition, the Photo Committee show fills both levels of the Mill, upstairs and down, with works of photographic art on the walls, as well as dozens of matted prints in the portfolio bins. more

The Art Station, 148 Monmouth Street, Hightstown, will celebrate its 34th year of open studios on Sunday, May 4 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The Art Station welcomes the public to tour its historic building, view the art, and meet award-winning artists during its semi-annual open studios. Enjoy light refreshments and conversation, and learn what inspires the artists and about their creative process. Visitors will also have the opportunity to enter a drawing for a door prize.

The eclectic art mix at the Art Station includes painting, drawing, fiber art, mixed media, collage, assemblage, sculpture, video, jewelry, and ceramics. Artwork will be available for purchase.

The Art Station artists include Murray Becker, Anne Ciemnecki, Karen Cybulski, Ingrid Davis, Roy Fisher, Gary David Fournier, Marisa Keris, Kathleen Hurley, Liao, Claudia Luongo, Jane Nieman, Mary Jane Puleio, Tehyla Richman, Anne Steinhorn, Joy Sacalis, Chanika Svetvilas, Susan Winter, and Juanita Yoder.

For more information, visit artstationstudios.com.

The Trent House Association will host a talk by Gary Saretzky illustrating photography of the mid-19th century with a special focus on the work and life of Edward H. Stokes. This free talk will be given on Sunday, April 27 at 2 p.m. in the Trent House Visitor Center, located at 15 Market Street, Trenton. Free parking is available behind the property off William Trent Place.

The last private owners of the Trent House, then known as Woodlawn, were the Stokes family. Edward Harris Stokes was born in 1824. He became an accomplished artist, photographer, and daguerreotypist in the 1850s. After his marriage to the wealthy heiress Permelia Wood in 1860, Stokes retired from this business to become active in Trenton ​civic affairs and investments, while his nephew, Stockton Stokes, remained a photographer for many years in Trenton and Philadelphia. This illustrated lecture by Gary Saretzky explores both the early history of photography in Trenton and the life of Edward H. Stokes, who became one of the wealthiest men in Trenton. more

April 16, 2025

By Stuart Mitchner

The SOB is a ballet dancer, the best ballet dancer that ever lived. And if I get a good chance I’ll kill him with my bare hands.

—W.C. Fields on Charlie Chaplin

The talkies brought forth one great comedian, the late, majestically lethargic W.C. Fields who could not possibly have worked as well in silence…

—James Agee, from “Comedy’s Greatest Era”

I’d agree with Agee if I hadn’t just seen Fields at his flinching, cringing, fumbling, pugnacious, masterfully disoriented best in the 1926 silent The Old Army Game, which also offered actual visual details (cars, stores, streets, small town America) to compare to the period recreation in Paramount’s recent series 1923. Given Chaplin’s immense popularity in those days, it was interesting to watch his 1923 silent feature The Pilgrim alongside Taylor Sheridan’s brilliant prequel to Yellowstone at a time when theaters all over the country, including one in Billings, Montana, would have been screening the latest Chaplin. And since The Pilgrim opened in New York in late February 1923, I’m taking the liberty of installing it in a Times Square movie house on the day that 1923’s embattled heroine Alexandra Dutton arrived in America.

Ellis Island Ordeal

What tempts me to imagine The Pilgrim into the third episode of 1923’s second season (“Wrap Thee in Terror”), is the witty, charming, and altogether delightful woman portrayed by Julia Schlaepfer. Admirers of Paramount’s Golden Age star Carole Lombard will see a 21st-century throwback in Alexandra, which makes it even harder to watch her being brutally debased by three Ellis Island immigration doctors. Poked in the stomach, made to strip naked, treated as a pregnant adventuress, she braves the humiliation, and, in one of the great moments of the show, shames the last and harshest of the doctors by quoting the lines on the Statue of Liberty (“give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses”) and reading a passage from Walt Whitman as further proof of her literacy.  more

MUSIC AT TRINITY: The Signum Quartet returns to Princeton as part of Princeton Symphony Orchestra’s Chamber Series at Trinity Church on May 1.

The Signum Quartet returns to Princeton on Thursday, May 1 at 7 p.m. to perform in the Princeton Symphony Orchestra (PSO)’s new chamber music series at Trinity Church.

The ensemble consists of violinists Florian Donderer and Annette Walther, violist Xandi van Dijk, and cellist Thomas Schmitz. On the program are Franz Joseph Haydn’s String Quartet in C Major, Op. 33 No. 3, “The Bird”; Vítezslava Kaprálová’s String Quartet, Op. 8; and Antonín Dvorák’s String Quartet No. 13 in G Major, Op. 106.

The quartet began their 2024-25 season with performances across Germany, Switzerland, and Spain. They also toured South Africa combining programs featuring select works by Haydn, Schumann, and Brahms with an original presentation highlighting current South African composers and musicians in honor of the 30th anniversary of the fall of apartheid. more

GOBLIN CITY: Jim Henson’s film “Labyrinth” starring David Bowie is the subject of “Labyrinth in Concert” at the State Theatre New Jersey on May 2 at 7:30 p.m.

State Theatre New Jersey presents Jim Henson’s Labyrinth: In Concert on Friday, May 2 at 7:30 p.m. For the first time, Jim Henson’s original masterpiece and musical fantasy film Labyrinth, starring David Bowie, will transport fans to Goblin City in a blend of film and live music on stage.

The event will start with a costume contest on stage. The movie is presented on a large HD cinema screen. On stage, a live band will perform in sync with Bowie’s original vocals, playing the songs and the score from the soundtrack composed by Bowie and Trevor Jones.

Tickets range from $29-$125. more

McCarter Theatre is a stop on Twyla Tharp’s 60th Anniversary Tour on Thursday April 17 at 7:30 p.m. The celebrated choreographer is marking this milestone with a coast-to-coast tour featuring her “Diabelli Variations,” set to Beethoven’s work of the same name and performed live by pianist Vladimir Rumyantsev; and “SLACKTIDE,” a new work set to a reimagining of Philip Glass’s “Aguas da Amazonia,” arranged and recorded by Third Coast Percussion. McCarter is at 91 University Place. Visit mccarter.org. (Photo by Mark Selinger)

Clara Rottsolk

Clara Rottsolk

The Dryden Ensemble returns with its new artistic director, Daniel Swenberg, in a program entitled “Baroque Passion: Musical Meditations on Holy Week,” on Saturday, April 19 at 4 p.m. at the Princeton Theological Seminary Chapel, 64 Mercer Street. Admission is free.

The ensemble will complete its Phoenix Season with a program of musical contemplations on themes of Holy Week. The program features soprano Clara Rottsolk and gambist Arnie Tanimoto, who will join Dryden regulars Daniel Swenberg (artistic director/lutes), Lisa Terry (viola da gamba), and Webb Wiggins (chamber organ).

Rottsolk specializes in historically informed performance practice, singing with the American Bach Soloists, Santa Fe Pro Musica, Colorado Bach Ensemble, Trinity Wall Street Choir, and Seraphic Fire. She has performed at the Carmel Bach Festival, Philadelphia Bach Festival, and Boston Early Music Festival. A native of Seattle, Rottsolk earned music degrees at Rice University and Westminster Choir Collegeand was awarded recognition for musical excellence by the Metropolitan Opera National Council. Currently she is based in Philadelphia and teaches voice at Swarthmore, Haverford, and Bryn Mawr Colleges. more

The musical riches of 18th-century Dublin will be surveyed in a concert with commentary entitled “Beyond the Fanlight — Music in Georgian Dublin” on Sunday, April 27 at 3 p.m. at the Center for Modern Aging. The event is hosted by the English-Speaking Union, Princeton Branch, 101 Poor Farm Road.

The performers are the Practitioners of Musick, with John Burkhalter playing English and small flutes, and Sheldon Eldridge, harpsichordist.

“Concert-going in Dublin in the 18th century was very much part of the social life in the Irish capital,” reads a release about the event. “And despite its location on the periphery of Europe, Dublin boasted a surprisingly active musical life in the 18th century. The Irish capital attracted a number of renowned musicians, including Geminiani, Arne, and Handel. An illustrated overview of Dublin by John Burkhalter will complement the musical performance.”  more

WINNING PIANISTS: The winners of the Westminster Conservatory Piano Concerto Competition are, from left, Caelan Costello, Vito Cottone, and Joanna Hou. The three young musicians will perform at the Conservatory’s Showcase on May 4 at Richardson Auditorium.

On Sunday, May 4 at 3 p.m., Westminster Conservatory presents the Westminster Conservatory Showcase in a concert at Richardson Auditorium on the Princeton University campus.

On the program are the Westminster Community Orchestra conducted by Ruth Ochs, the Rider University Chorale conducted by Tom Shelton, and piano duo Phyllis Alpert Lehrer and Ena Bronstein Barton.

Also performing are Honors Music Program vocal soloists, and the winners of the Conservatory Piano Concerto Competition. Tickets at $15 and $20 are available at the door, online at tickets.princeton.edu, or by calling (609) 258-9220.

STAND-UP STAR: Mark Normand brings his comedy routines to the State Theatre in New Brunswick on April 25.

State Theatre New Jersey presents Mark Normand: Ya Don’t Say on Friday, April 25 at 7 p.m. Tickets range from $35-$159.75.

Dubbed by Jerry Seinfeld as the “best young up-and-coming comic,” Normand has a growing reputation for his comedy acts. His 2023 one-hour Netflix special, Soup to Nuts, was a staple in the streamers’ Top 10 for several weeks. This follows Normand’s self-released special, 2020’s Out to Lunch, which amassed over 12 million views on YouTube. more

Niall Jones
(Photo by Heather Cromartie)

Interdisciplinary artists Niall Jones and Tamara Santibañez have been named Princeton University Arts Fellows for 2025-2027 by the Lewis Center for the Arts and will begin two years of teaching and community collaboration at the University in September. The two artists were selected by faculty from more than 800 applicants in creative writing, dance, music, theater, and the visual arts.

The Arts Fellows program of the Lewis Center provides support for early-career artists who have demonstrated both extraordinary promise and a record of achievement in their fields with the opportunity to further their work while teaching within a liberal arts context. Fellows are selected for a two-year residency to teach a course each semester or to undertake an artistic assignment that deeply engages undergraduate students, such as directing a play, conducting a musical ensemble, or choreographing a dance piece. Fellows are expected to be active members of the University’s intellectual and artistic community while in residence, and in return, they are provided with the resources and spaces necessary for their work.  more

FAMILY FRIENDLY: “Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock LIVE” plays two shows at State Theatre New Jersey on April 26.

State Theatre New Jersey presents “Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock LIVE” on Saturday, April 26 at 1 and 5 p.m. Tickets range from $25-$59.

Based on Jim Henson’s award-winning Apple TV+ original series Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock, recipient of this year’s Emmy for Outstanding Children’s or Family Viewing Series, this all-new, family-friendly live stage show will feature new walkaround versions of the Fraggles, new puppet versions of their gearhead friends the Doozers, and visits from a giant Gorg , as well as new puppet creature friends — all built by Henson’s Creature Shop. more

ActorsNET invites audiences to experience a fresh perspective on Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House at The Heritage Center Theatre in Morrisville, Pa., May 2-18.

Adapted by Maryalice and Hayley Rubins-Topoleski, this reimagining sets the classic drama in Philadelphia during the 1960s. A Doll’s House tells the story of Nora Helmer (Cat Milone), who appears to have it all: a comfortable suburban home, a successful husband, and adorable children. But beneath the surface of this seemingly perfect 1960s life lies a secret that threatens to shatter her carefully constructed world. As the truth unravels, Nora is forced to confront the limitations placed upon her as a woman and make a radical choice that will change her life forever. more

Princeton University senior Clara Toujas, front, and the cast of her new work “entre moi et nous,” one of two dance pieces to be performed April 17-19 at 8:30 p.m. in the Hearst Dance Theater in the Lewis Arts complex on the campus. The second work is by senior Faith Wangermann. Admission is free. Visit arts.princeton.edu for more information. (Photo by Emily Tang)

“NUMBER 40”: This photograph by Harold Stetson won Best in Show at this year’s “Phillips’ Mill Photographic Exhibition,” on view through April 18 at Phillips’ Mill in New Hope, Pa.

About two hundred attendees recently gathered for the artists’ reception that opened the Phillips’ Mill Community Association’s 32nd annual “Photographic Exhibition.”

Showcasing 150 contemporary works across many genres, from portraiture to nature to abstraction, the 2025 “Phillips’ Mill Photographic Exhibition” was selected by a panel of three jurors: Jennifer King, an internationally acclaimed landscape and fine-art photographer; Kristen King, a veteran photography instructor in Bucks County, Pa., high schools; and Nora Odendahl, co-chair of the Phillips’ Mill Photo Committee, whose members are responsible for putting on the exhibition. more

Leo Vayn

Trenton City Museum at Ellarslie will present two public programs as part of its exhibition “Cultural Connections: Eastern European Artists of Greater Trenton,” which is on view through June 8.

An afternoon with photographer and filmmaker Leo Vayn will screen and discuss Vayn’s documentary The Road to Krasnostav on Sunday, May 4, at 2 p.m. Produced by the Soviet Russia-born Vayn, the film examines one family’s personal journey through the former Jewish shtetl in Krasnostav, Ukraine, to reconnect with a past that saw the town’s Jewish population executed by the Nazis in 1941. Vayn, of Princeton, is a businessperson and entrepreneur who has dedicated himself to photography and the Tsal Kaplun Foundation, created to preserve Jewish culture and heritage in the former Soviet Union. He is among the 10 area artists with artwork showcased in “Cultural Connections.” Admission is $5 at the door (free for museum members).

“Sorrow & Joy: Ukrainian Art Songs” is planned for Saturday, May 17, at 2 p.m. This exploration of Ukrainian classical music will include works by Mykola Lysenko, who is considered the father of Ukrainian classical music; Kyrylo Stetsenko, one of Ukraine’s most prolific and important 20th century artists; Vasyl Barvinsky, Ukraine’s first internationally known composer; and Stefania Turkewich, Ukraine’s first female composer. Admission is a suggested donation of $5. more

Artworks Trenton, the city’s nonprofit visual art center, has unveiled an ambitious project to reshape the urban landscape and redefine pedestrian experiences in Trenton. In collaboration with a coalition of nonprofit organizations and local and state government partners, Artworks has announced Phase 1 of the Trenton Artwalk: the commissioning of a public art mural to animate the Route 1/129 underpass.

The proposed mural, a permanent artistic transformation of the underpass’s north wall along Market Street, marks the initial step in creating a visually captivating and pedestrian-friendly Artwalk connecting the Trenton Transit Center with downtown Trenton. This project aims to foster a safer, more inviting passage while promoting healthy living and public transit use among residents, commuters, and visitors. more

“MOTHER”: This oil on canvas painting by Jessie Krause is on view in an exhibit also featuring works by her mother, Sylvette de Aldrey Krause, at Tipple & Rose. A reception is this Thursday, April 17, from 4:30-6:30 p.m.

Sylvette de Aldrey Krause, originally from San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Jessie Krause, from Princeton — mother and daughter, respectively — are showing their paintings together at Tipple & Rose, 210 Nassau Street. A reception is this Thursday, April 17, from 4:30-6:30 p.m.

Sylvette began showing her work in Princeton in the mid-1960s with shows at the Nassau Club, Gallery 100, the Present Day Club, and other venues around the country. She studied painting at the Whitney School of Art and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Madrid, Spain. Sylvette’s artwork was influenced by her Spanish heritage, using oils and pastels to create textures, strong lines, and rich earthen colors. more

Princeton Makes, a Princeton-based artist cooperative, will ring in the spring with its semi-annual Art at Night, an evening art making party, on Saturday, April 19 from 6:30 to 11 p.m. The party will take place at its artist studios and art market in the Princeton Shopping Center, 301 North Harrison Street.

Art at Night will be an evening of creativity and community featuring live model drawing sessions (with supplies provided), a collaborative community art project, hands-on creative activities for all ages, artist demonstrations, live music by goodfellow, a raffle of Princeton Makes artists’ work, and more. Refreshments will be served. The event is free and open to the public, though a $10 per person donation is requested and appreciated. more