Arts | Town Topics

November 22, 2023

Lane, Morison to Discuss “Plato’s Ideas of the Political”

Plato famously defends the rule of knowledge, but what is the rule? In her new book, scholar Melissa Lane shows Plato to have been deeply concerned with the roles and relationships between rulers and ruled.

The Princeton professor will present and discuss these theories with her colleague in the University Classics department, Benjamin Morison, on Wednesday, November 29 at 6 p.m. at Labyrinth Books, 122 Nassau Street.

In Of Rule and Office: Plato’s Ideas of the Political (Princeton University Press, $49.95), Lane shows how political office and rule were woven together in Greek vocabulary. Adopting a longstanding Greek expectation that a ruler should serve the good of the ruled, Plato’s major political dialogues — the Republic, the Statesman, and Laws — explore how different kinds of rule might best serve that good.

Thomas Swick

A Princeton Public Library event, “Thomas Swick: Trenton, Warsaw, and the Making of a Travel Writer,” will feature travel writer Thomas Swick on Monday, November 27 at 6 p.m. at the library. Swick will talk about history and self-discovery and sign copies of his new memoir, Falling into Place: A Story of Love, Poland, and the Making of a Travel Writer.

Working as a feature writer in 1976, Swick fell in love with a visiting Polish student and soon moved with her to Warsaw. During the next decade he lived in Poland, Greece, and Philadelphia, and witnessed the changes in Poland, including the imposition of martial law. In 1989, he watched his partner in her country’s first free elections since pre-war independence.

PERFORMANCES ADDED: Due to popular demand, the Philadelphia Ballet has added shows to its run of George Balanchine’s “The Nutcracker” at the city’s historic Academy of Music December 8-30. (Photo by Arian Molina Soca)

Tickets are on sale for Philadelphia Ballet’s production of George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker at the historic Academy of Music December 8-30. Demand was so high that the company had to add some extra performances.

HOLIDAY FUN: The touring show “The Illusionists: Magic of the Holidays” comes to the State Theatre New Jersey on December 6.

State Theatre New Jersey presents “The Illusionists: Magic of the Holidays” on Wednesday, December 6 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets range from $39-$129.

The show is an all-new installment of the touring magic spectacular “The Illusionists,” from producers Simon Painter, Cirque du Soleil, and MagicSpace Entertainment.

CELEBRATING MOVEMENT: Works by Brian Brooks, Amy Hall Garner, and Bill T. Jones are on the program at the 2023 Princeton Dance Festival. (Photo by Maria Baranova)

The Lewis Center for the Arts’ Program in Dance at Princeton University presents the 2023 Princeton Dance Festival at McCarter’s Berlind Theatre, 91 University Place, December 1-3.

Students in the program will perform new and repertory works by Brian Brooks, Amy Hall Garner, and Bill T. Jones, staged by Catherine Cabeen, Ishita Mili, Shamel Pitts, and Donna Uchizono. The works include contemporary ballet, Indian/hip-hop fusion, and contemporary works from a multidisciplinary perspective.

Shows are December 1 at 8 p.m., December 2 at 2 and 8 p.m., and December 3 at 2 p.m. Visit arts.princeton.edu for more information.

Garden State Watercolor Society Hosts Member Exhibit, Art Sale

“GRAND OLD OAK”: This painting by Wayne Skylar won Best in Show in the Garden State Watercolor Society’s “2023 Members Exhibition.” The society is also presenting a Pop-Up Art Sale on Hulfish Street in Palmer Square through December 3.

The Garden State Watercolor Society (GSWS) has announced its “2023 GSWS Members Exhibition,” viewable on the GSWS YouTube channel (https://tinyurl.com/29whh3am) through January 14. The exhibition was juried for prizes by Janet Campbell, a signature member and the president of the North East Watercolor Society.

Best in Show was awarded to Wayne Skylar for “Grand Old Oak.”

HOLIDAY ART SHOW: Work by award-winning photographer Ann Darlington is featured in the Artists of Bordentown Holiday Art Show, on view December 2 and 3 at Old City Hall in Bordentown.

The Artists of Bordentown Holiday Art Show will highlight seven well-known contemporary Bordentown artists and crafts people and Leaping Dog Art Studios. They will be displaying and offering their work for sale on Saturday and Sunday, December 2 and 3, from 12 to 5 p.m. each day. The show is at the restored Old City Hall, 11 Crosswicks Street, Bordentown. Admission is free.

“BOUQUET”: This acrylic painting by Linda Gilbert is featured in “Trees, Flowers, and Water,” on view December 3 through December 28 at Gourgaud Gallery in Cranbury. An opening reception is on Sunday, December 3 from 1 to 3 p.m.

Gourgaud Gallery, located in Cranbury Town Hall, 23A North Main Street, Cranbury, presents its 13th annual open call exhibit, “Trees, Flowers, and Water,” December 3 through December 28. An opening reception is on December 3 from 1 to 3 p.m. Admission is free.

November 15, 2023

Thoughts on “Now and Then” and the Beatles

By Stuart Mitchner

Approaching the “last Beatles’ song,” my first thought is how well the title “Now and Then” fits the occasion. The dominant line, “It’s all because of you,” works for people who have lived more than half a century with the group as I have, as well as our generation’s children and grandchildren, like the 23-year-old who says “I was 1 when George Harrison died” in a November 3 New York Times article about Gen Z Beatles fans on TikTok.

The Romance

In last Sunday’s Times (“At the Heart of the Last Beatles Song, A Love Story”), Ian Leslie views “Now and Then” in the context of the book he’s writing about Lennon and McCartney’s “love story in songs.” While he seems to agree that “their love story is “our love story, too” and that “their songs still permeate our lives,” Leslie views “Now and Then” as a song based on Lennon’s last words to McCartney in the hallway of the Dakota, “Think about me every now and then, old friend.” However, highlighting the romance inevitably distracts from the fact that the song and the official video with its doctored clips of Beatles “now and then” is being presented to the world as a technologically achieved Beatles reunion. While George Harrison’s searing guitar was the defining force in the 1994 “reunion” that produced “Free As a Bird,” this time it’s Paul who “came up with a slide guitar part played on a lap steel guitar,” according to the liner notes, “in homage to George,” who had dismissed “Now and Then” as “rubbish” when they first tried to work with the demo in the late nineties. more

Princeton Symphony Orchestra Presents Choral/Orchestral Classic

By Nancy Plum

Princeton Symphony Orchestra returned choral music to its repertory this past weekend with a performance of a newly-reimagined edition of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s popular Requiem. Since Mozart’s untimely death in 1791 left the work incomplete, scholars have attempted to second-guess the composer and provide an alternative completion adhering to Mozart’s intent and historical character. Conductor Rossen Milanov and Princeton Symphony Orchestra brought this rendition of Mozart’s immortal masterpiece to Richardson Auditorium this past weekend, with composer Gregory Spears’ addition of three new movements to the mass for the dead. Joining the Orchestra for Saturday night’s performance (the concert was repeated Sunday afternoon) were four vocal soloists and Westminster Symphonic Choir.

Princeton Symphony Orchestra paired the Requiem with a 21st-century work inspired by a string quartet of Mozart contemporary Franz Joseph Haydn. Caroline Shaw’s 2011 Entr’acte for string orchestra incorporated contemporary musical effects into a classically-structured piece, including passages reminiscent of J.S. Bach. Milanov led the Orchestra in a feathery opening to Shaw’s one-movement work, allowing the music to quickly become powerful while maintaining a lean quality. Concertmaster Basia Danilow and principal cellist Alistair MacRae played an intense duet against relentless pizzicati of the other players, and MacRae’s graceful lute-like playing delicately brought Shaw’s unique and appealing work to a close. more

Holiday Favorites, Sing-Along At Annual PSO Concert

HOLIDAY TUNES: Vocalist Morgan James is the soloist at the Princeton Symphony Orchestra’s (PSO) annual Holiday POPS! Concert on December 16 at Richardson Auditorium. Shows are at 3 and 6 p.m.

Vocalist Morgan James joins the Princeton Symphony Orchestra (PSO) at the orchestra’s December 16 Holiday POPS! Concert, taking place on December 16 at 3 and 6 p.m. at Richardson Auditorium. Morgan will sing holiday favorites, while the Princeton High School Choir carries the traditional carol sing-along, inviting the audience to join in.

The program includes Steve Allen’s “Cool Yule” and Mariah Carey’s version of “All I Want for Christmas,” plus jazz-infused versions of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” and “Santa Claus is Coming to Town.” Leroy Anderson’s ” Christmas Festival “and “Sleigh Ride” are also included. John Devlin returns to the PSO from West Virginia’s Wheeling Symphony Orchestra to conduct both performances. more

PHS Spectacle Theatre Brings “Gatsby” to Stage

GATSBY GLAMOUR: Princeton High School’s production of “The Great Gatsby,” adapted by Gary Peterson, is on stage this weekend at the school’s Performing Arts Center on Moore Street.

A stage adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s iconic novel The Great Gatsby will be performed by the PHS Spectacle Theatre at Princeton High School’s Performing Arts Center this weekend. Shows are Thursday-Saturday, November 16-18 at 7:30 p.m.; and Sunday, November 19 at 2 p.m. more

Holiday Variety Show From Cirque du Soleil

GRAVITY DEFYING: Cirque’s holiday show, coming to New Brunswick’s State Theatre New Jersey, is filled with acrobats, contortionists, and aerialists.

State Theatre New Jersey presents “A Magical Cirque Christmas — A Holiday Variety Show” on Friday, December 1 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets range from $39-$99.

This production features world-class acrobats, contortionists, and aerialists performing to a holiday musical score. Featured acts include Jonathan Rinny (rolla bolla, unicycle, juggling performer) and Aryn Shelander (contortionist and aerial foot archer). Rinny is a fourth-generation circus artist. Shelander is trained in Mongolian contortion and is the creator of aerial archery. more

Annual “Festival Of Trees” Returns to Morven Museum

“FESTIVAL OF TREES”: Morven’s annual winter exhibition is on display through January 7. The museum’s Winter Garden Party fundraiser will take place on Thursday, November 30 from 6 to 8 p.m.

Morven’s annual winter exhibition, “Festival of Trees,” is back now through January 7. A Princeton holiday tradition, visitors will enjoy the museum’s elegant galleries, mantels, and porches festively decorated for the holidays by local businesses, garden clubs, and nonprofit organizations.

The 2023 “Festival of Trees” decorators include Contemporary Garden Club of Princeton, HomeFront’s SewingSpace Program, Lawrenceville Main Street Landscaping Committee, Mount Laurel Garden Club, Neshanic Garden Club, Nottingham Garden Club of Hamilton Township, Princeton First Aid and Rescue Squad, Princeton Garden Theatre, SAVE – A Friend to Homeless Animals, Stony Brook Garden Club, The Garden Club of Princeton, The Present Day Club, West Trenton Garden Club, and ToobyDoo Princeton. more

Covered Bridge Artisans Host 29th Annual Fall Studio Tour

“PARTRIDGE IN A PEAR TREE”: Hand-painted glass pieces by Karen Caldwell of Sunflower Glass Studio in Stockton are among the works featured in the 29th Annual Covered Bridge Artisans Fall Studio Tour, to be held November 24, 25, and 26.

Held November 24, 25, and 26 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day, the 29th annual Covered Bridge Artisans Fall Studio Tour is a self-guided driving tour located in the Delaware River Valley of lower Hunterdon and Bucks counties. The studio tour will take place in seven professional artists’ studios in the Lambertville, Stockton, Sergeantsville, and Solebury and New Hope, Pa., along with 14 additional artists at the Sergeantsville Firehouse Events Center. All studios are located within five miles of Stockton. Visitors can visit the workshops, shop for distinctive gifts, and learn from each artist about how and where they create their work.

The idea for the tour started with a group of six area artists 30 years ago. Each was a professional in their craft and worked in unique, rural, historic studio settings. They decided to create a tour that introduced people to their remote locations and allowed for a direct relationship with the artist. Visitors get the chance to tour the studio, see work in progress, discuss new commissions, and buy finished work. more

Off the Wall Holiday Market at WW Arts

“TREVI FOUNTAIN, ITALY”: This painting by Robert Hazzon is offered in West Windsor Arts’ Annual Off the Wall Holiday Market, running through December 23.

West Windsor Arts presents its annual Off the Wall Holiday Market through December 23, highlighting more than 100 original and affordable artworks and hundreds of handcrafted items made by artisans including jewelry, accessories, ceramics, and one-of-a-kind items for the home.

New this year is a special focus on supporting November as Arts and Health month. Shoppers can encourage healthy hearts with purchases from a special pop-up section of donated artwork. more

Ghada Amer Named New ACP Artist-in-Residence

ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE: Internationally renowned artist Ghada Amer is joining the Arts Council of Princeton as a long-term artist-in-residence.

The Arts Council of Princeton (ACP) has announced artist Ghada Amer as a long-term artist-in-residence, working in the studio spaces at the Arts Council to produce a new body of clay and print works.

Amer’s wide-ranging practice spans painting, cast sculpture, ceramics, works on paper, and garden and mixed-media installations. Further, she often collaborates with her longtime friend Reza Farkhondeh. Recognizing both that women are taught to model behaviors and traits shaped by others, and that art history and the history of painting in particular are shaped largely by expressions of masculinity, Amer’s work actively subverts these frameworks through both aesthetics and content. Her practice explores the complicated nature of identity as it is developed through cultural and religious norms as well as personal longings and understandings of the self. more

November 8, 2023

Once Upon a Time in Indiana: James Dean and Hoosier Hysteria

By Stuart Mitchner

Dream as if you’ll live forever, live as if you’ll die today.

—James Dean (1931-1955)

You got that James Dean daydream look in your eye…

—Taylor Swift (born 1989)

The reality of writing an open-ended weekly column is that at the last minute someone or something may come out of nowhere to redirect a piece that was originally triggered, in this case, by controversial basketball coach Bobby Knight’s front page obituary in the New York Times. First thought is you’ll be writing about growing up with Indiana basketball, which goes according to plan until you remember a player you admired as a 10-year-old, who reawakens thoughts of James Dean, the actor you were obsessed with at 17.

It seems incredible that at the time I was buying everything about James Dean I could lay my hands on, I missed the poem with the line about dreaming and living that contains other “last words” such as “Forgive quickly, kiss slowly,” “Dance as if no one’s watching,” and “Love as if it’s all you know.” Any one of those lines could be the title of a song by Taylor Swift, who brought Dean dancing back into the pop culture conversation in 2014 and then again last week in her rerecorded version of “Style.” more

Princeton Pro Musica Opens 45th Season With Rarely-Heard Handel Oratorio

By Nancy Plum

When choruses choose to perform the oratorios of George Frideric Handel, it is usually the popular Messiah which draws in audiences. However, Handel composed close to 30 oratorios, essentially perfecting the genre when interest in Italian opera waned in 18th-century England. Sung in English, oratorios had great audience appeal, retaining the solo vocal fireworks popular in opera but adding complex choral numbers which served a narrative function and provided commentary on the action.

Handel looked to biblical sources for subject matter to create his familiar oratorios, with works based on the stories of Saul, Samson, and Judas Maccabeus. Lesser known is the 1748 Solomon, which depicts the life of the monarch of ancient Israel in 63 arias, recitatives, and choruses. Handel’s choral/orchestral works are tailor-made for the more than 100-member Princeton Pro Musica, which brought a production of Solomon to Richardson Auditorium this past Sunday afternoon. Led by Pro Musica Artistic Director Ryan J. Brandau and joined by the period orchestra New York Baroque Incorporated and five vocal soloists, Pro Musica presented a spirited performance of Handel’s animated work. more

Scrooge and Company Return to McCarter Theatre Stage

GOD BLESS US EVERYONE: Joel McKinnon Miller stars as Ebeneezer Scrooge, carrying Rafaella Mousa as Tiny Tim in “A Christmas Carol,” coming to McCarter Theatre December 6-24.

McCarter Theatre presents A Christmas Carol starring Joel McKinnon Miller, familiar from his work on Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Big Love, as Ebeneezer Scrooge. The Charles Dickens classic is adapted and directed by Lauren Keating, with musical direction by Chris Frisco and choreography by Emily Maltby.

“Since 1980, McCarter’s A Christmas Carol has been a beacon of holiday cheer and a celebration of our community,” said Artistic Director Sarah Rasmussen. “I think a lot about what it means to connect across differences. This story reminds us that it’s not too late to change or to welcome someone back to the table. If Scrooge can change, if his community can give him another chance — then just imagine what is possible for us. Whether it is your first time attending or your 40th, thank you for gathering with us to tell this story.” more

Tickets Now on Sale for Readings and Carols

A LOCAL TRADITION: The 2022 “Evening of Readings and Carols” concert presented at Princeton University Chapel by Westminster Choir College of Rider University will be broadcast by American Public Television this year.

Music lovers can relive the 2022 performance of “An Evening of Readings and Carols,” which is now available on American Public Television member stations throughout the U.S. Tickets for this year’s event are now on sale. The concert is presented at Princeton University Chapel.

Last year’s concert is available through PBS Passport, the public television streaming service. All available stations will be listed at rider.edu/readingsandcarols. The holiday concert was filmed last year in honor of its 30th anniversary, and featured student and alumni choirs from Westminster. The recording project was supported by gifts from alumni and friends of the College. more

Brightman Stars in Concert with Orchestra and Choir

CHRISTMAS SPECTACLE: Soprano Sarah Brightman leads “A Christmas Symphony” at the State Theatre New Jersey on November 26.

State Theatre New Jersey presents soprano Sarah Brightman in “A Christmas Symphony” on Sunday, November 26 at 7:30 p.m.

Last year, A Christmas Symphony travelled internationally to Japan and Southeast Asia and was met with standing ovations and rave reviews. Accompanied by orchestra, choir, and special guests, this holiday show will feature Brightman performing many of her holiday classics and greatest hits. more

Holiday Ballet

Tickets are on sale for American Repertory Ballet’s production of “The Nutcracker,” coming to McCarter Theatre November 24-26, Two River Theater in Red Bank December 1-3, Patriots Theater at the War Memorial in Trenton on December 9, and State Theatre New Jersey in New Brunswick December 15-17. Visit arballet.org.

Flutists and Pianist Perform at Church

The Westminster Conservatory at Nassau series will continue with a recital of music for two flutes and piano on November 16 at 12:15 p.m. The performers are flutists Ellen Fisher Deerberg and Kevin Willois, and pianist Patricia Tupta Landy, all members of the teaching faculty of Westminster Conservatory of Music.

The recital will take place in the Niles Chapel of Nassau Presbyterian Church, 61 Nassau Street. Admission is free. The program includes the Flower Duet from Delibes› opera, Lakme; Doppler Andante and Rondo, op. 25; selections from Flowers from Frösö Island by Wilhelm Peterson-Berger and the Sonata for Flute and Piano by Francis Poulenc. more

Jon Batiste, Suleika Jaouad to Appear at Richardson

Princeton University Concerts (PUC) will kick off its 2023-24 Healing with Music season on Wednesday, November 15 at 7:30 p.m. at Richardson Auditorium with “The Beat Goes On: Healing from Cancer through Music,” an evening of conversation permeated by live performance with author Suleika Jaouad and her husband, multiple Grammy Award-winning musician Jon Batiste.

The evening is moderated by Deborah Amos, international correspondent journalism professor at Princeton University. As an extension of this event, Princeton University Concerts has teamed up with Princeton University’s Office of Community and Regional Affairs to host a Be the Match bone marrow donor registry drive on campus throughout the day on November 15. more