January 4, 2023

Gallery 14 in Hopewell Hosts “2023 Juried Exhibit”

“INSPIRED”: This work by Vince Pellegrini is among 38 photographs selected by a jury panel for the “2023 Juried Exhibit,” on view January 14 through February 5 at Gallery 14 Fine Art Photography in Hopewell.

Gallery 14 Fine Art Photography presents its “2023 Juried Exhibit” from January 14 through February 5.

“It is always exciting to see the work of new and emerging photographers, as well as work by more established photographers.” said John Clarke, the exhibit curator.

This exhibit includes 38 photographs selected by a jury panel from over 120 submitted works. The three jurors for the exhibit are John Stritzinger, Richard Lewis, and Charlann Meluso, who all commented on the overall quality of the entries and the difficulty of selecting the final pieces. The full gamut of photographic possibilities was covered by the entries. The judges were tasked with selecting the images to be included in the exhibit and selecting three award winners. Entries were received from several states in the mid-Atlantic area.

The exhibit will open on January 14 from 11-4 p.m. The top award winners will be announced between 1 and 3 p.m. The exhibit will continue until February 5.

Gallery 14 Fine Art Photography is a co-op gallery located at 14 Mercer Street in Hopewell. Hours are 11–4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, and by appointment with an email to galleryfourteen@yahoo.com. For more information, visit Gallery14.org.

Princeton Makes Artists’ Exhibit at Small World Coffee

“COBAIN”: This painting by Renata Pugh is part of an exhibition highlighting the works of the artists of Princeton Makes, on view at Small World Coffee, 14 Witherspoon Street, through February 7. An opening reception is on January 6 from 5-7 p.m.

The artists of Princeton Makes, the Princeton-based artist cooperative, are hosting an exhibition of their work at Small World Coffee, 14 Witherspoon Street, through February 7. An opening reception will be held on January 6 from 5-7 p.m., featuring live music by Zeke Levine and an opportunity to meet the artists showing their work in the exhibition. All works will be available for purchase.

 more

December 28, 2022

Jack Kerouac at 100: “I’m Lost But My Work Is Found”

By Stuart Mitchner

I drink because I want to make people respond wildly, be happy, enthusiastic…

—Jack Kerouac (1922-1969)

One year ends and a new one’s looming, so get ready for “Auld Lang Syne,” toasts, laughter and tears, and remembering the friends you lost but never lose, like Jack Kerouac, born 100 years ago, March 12, 1922, in Lowell, Mass. Of all the writers I know and never knew, from Shakespeare to Salinger, Coleridge to Chekhov, Jean-Louis Lebris de Kérouac, who lived out his 47 years in the 20th century, is always good company, the writer most likely to make fast lifelong friends of readers like myself. On the scale of associations, no one else I know can go from New Year’s Eve parties dancing to Wardell Gray and Dexter Gordon blowing “The Hunt” to the spire of Combray cathedral and Proust, “that old teahead of time” who “I love so much now that in the history of my affections he ranks with Wolfe & the man of the Karamazov darkness.” 

In his journal for November 13, 1951, Kerouac recalled the moment when “heaven punished me” for being drunk dancing “so crazily to Stravinsky that I tore my own shirt off.” The day before, he’d written, “I’m beginning to see my own tragedy. All I have to do is look in the mirror. The moment is coming when I must decide to go cold turkey on all alcohol. I just can’t restrain myself after a brew.” Ten days later and 18 years before his October 21, 1969 death from “massive internal bleeding caused by cirrhosis of the liver,” Kerouac stated his writer’s rational for alcoholic excess, that his drinking derived from his desire to make people “respond wildly, be happy, enthusiastic.” Yet it was the crowds of wildly happy, enthusiastic, privacy-invading fans that nearly drove him out of his mind and deeper into drink, a fate detailed in Big Sur (Farrar, Straus and Cudahy 1962).  more

“Dragons and Mythical Beasts” Comes to New Brunswick

PUPPETS ON PARADE: Full-size puppets take the stage at State Theatre New Jersey on January 15.

State Theatre New Jersey presents Dragons and Mythical Beasts on Sunday, January 15 at 1 and 5 p.m. The Olivier Award-nominated show comes to the U.S. direct from London’s West End. Tickets range from $19-$54.

“Dragons and Mythical Beasts” is the new all-ages show from the creators of Dinosaur World Live! Spectacular full-size puppets come to life in this magical on-stage world of myths and legends. Throughout the live stage production, the audience will unveil a myriad of dark secrets and come face to face with magnificent beings such as the colossal Stone Troll, the mysterious Indrik, and Japanese Baku, the adorable Unicorn, the majestic Griffin, and more.

State Theatre New Jersey is at 15 Livingston Avenue in New Brunswick. Visit stnj.org for tickets and details.

“My Fair Lady” Comes To State Theatre NJ

“MY FAIR LADY”: From left, Jonathan Grunert as Professor Henry Higgins, Madeline Powell as Eliza Doolittle, and John Adkison as Colonel Pickering in Lincoln Center Theater’s production of Lerner & Loewe’s “My Fair Lady.” The production is coming to State Theatre New Jersey in New Brunswick for four performances beginning on January 27. (Photo by Jeremy Daniel)

State Theatre New Jersey in New Brunswick presents Lincoln Center Theater’s production of Lerner & Loewe’s My Fair Lady for four performances on Friday, January 27 at 8 p.m; Saturday, January 28 at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.; and Sunday, January 29 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $40-$98. 

Directed by Bartlett Sher, Lincoln Center Theater’s production of Lerner & Loewe’s My Fair Lady is the winner of five Outer Critics Circle Awards including Best Revival of a Musical, and was nominated for 10 Tony Awards including Best Musical Revival, five Drama Desk Awards including Best Musical Revival, and three Drama League Awards including Best Musical Revival.  

Adapted from George Bernard Shaw’s play and Gabriel Pascal’s motion picture Pygmalion, My Fair Lady premiered on Broadway on March 15, 1956. The original production won six Tony Awards including Best Musical and ran for 2,717 performances making it, at the time, the longest-running musical in Broadway history.  

Visit stnj.org for tickets.

PDS Presents Exhibition of Stop-Motion Animation

“YENE FIKIR ETHIOPIA (MY LOVE ETHIOPIA)”: This still from a 2019 film by Gabrielle Tesfaye is featured in “an explorer, a tracer of lost tribes, a seeker of clues to feelings,” an exhibition of stop-motion animation by Tesfaye, Carrie Hawks, and Jordan Wong, on view January 9 through March 24 at the Anne Reid ’72 Gallery at Princeton Day School.

The Anne Reid ’72 Gallery at Princeton Day School presents “an explorer, a tracer of lost tribes, a seeker of clues to feelings,” an exhibition of stop-motion animation by Carrie Hawks, Gabrielle Tesfaye, and Jordan Wong, on view January 9 through March 24.  The show takes its title from the poem “A Remembrance of Ritual” by Betye Saar in Serious Moonlight, the accompanying catalogue to rarely seen installation work shown at ICA Miami in 2022.

A public reception is on January 19 from 3:30-5:30 p.m.

Akin to Saar, Hawks, Tesfaye, and Wong incorporate a wide range of found and created materials into their artwork. This exhibition features films made with fabric, hair, drawn and painted puppets, and natural matter such as leaves and bark. Each film is sensitive, serious, intimate, and personal — inviting the viewer to witness and relate to themes of identity, ancestry, mythology, and the body.

Hawks’ film Origin of Hair (2019) explores legacies of self-love and Black identity through collage, remnants of human hair and handmade puppets. Hawks drew inspiration from the life and activism of Sister Rosetta Tharpe, a Black American musician responsible for popularizing the electric guitar and the invention of pop gospel in the mid-1900s. Inner Wound Real (2022) weaves together three stories about individuals dealing with self-harm and then finding alternative methods of coping. Hawks’ film centers the experiences of queer BIPOC folk who are often excluded from mainstream conversations about self-harm and healing.  more

ACP Presents “Painting Women” Exhibition, Classes

 

“ON THE DEATH OF MY FATHER”: This 1980 work by Charles David Viera is part of his exhibition “Painting Women: Variations on a Theme,” on view January 7 through February 4 at the Arts Council of Princeton. An artist’s reception is on January 7 from 3 to 5 p.m.

The Arts Council of Princeton (ACP) will present an exhibition of paintings by Charles David Viera, “Painting Women: Variations on a Theme,” which will include a selection of Viera’s paintings on the subject of women. Many of the paintings have rarely been exhibited, with some works dating as far back as 1975. This exhibition, on view January 7 through February 4, will coincide with an adult painting class taught by Viera.

The community is invited to an artist’s reception on Saturday, January 7 from 3 to 5 p.m.

The paintings were selected not only for their representation of the female form, but also for their stylistic variations, psychological impact, and how they would contribute to and support the special adult painting class.

“I’ve been painting for over 45 years, and many of my artworks have involved women,” said Viera. “As a male my view is that of an outsider, but that hasn’t stopped me from trying to understand and illustrate what women contribute to the human condition. I have been inspired by not only their beauty and sensuality, but I’ve also tried to understand and illustrate how they feel and act. I have used women in paintings to serve as players in a narrative and physiological drama, but I have also used the female form as a starting point for abstract compositions.  more

Artwork by Monica Sebald Kennedy at Gourgaud Gallery

ART AT GOURGAUD: A retrospective collection of artwork by Monica Sebald Kennedy is on view January 1 through January 31 at Gourgaud Gallery in Cranbury. An artist’s reception is on January 1 from 1 to 3 p.m.

The Cranbury Arts Council and Gourgaud Gallery are hosting a retrospective collection of artwork by Monica Sebald Kennedy from January 1 through January 31.

An artist’s reception is on January 1 from 1 to 3 p.m.

Kennedy was born in Spain and grew up in Germany in a culturally diverse family. She studied communications design in Wuerzburg, Germany, and freestyle painting in Salamanca, Spain.

Her father was well-known bookbinder in Wuerzburg, and encouraged her to work as book illustrator. She is associated with the Garden State Watercolor Society and is a board member of The Creative Collective.  more

December 21, 2022

Works by Rothko, de Kooning, and Others Make Up Significant Gift to Museum

A MAJOR GIFT: When the new Princeton University Art Museum, shown here in a rendering, opens its doors in late 2024, important works of abstract art donated by Preston H. Haskell III ’60, and an education center named for him, will be key elements.

By Anne Levin

A donation announced last week by Princeton University Art Museum is considered one of the most important gifts of art in the museum’s history.

Preston H. Haskell III, a member of the Class of 1960, has given eight abstract works from his collection by Willem de Kooning, Mark Rothko, Joan Mitchell, Helen Frankenthaler, Hans Hofmann, Jean-Paul Riopelle, and Gerhard Richter. Haskell’s name will be on a new education center in the museum, which is being designed and expanded on its former footprint by architect Sir David Adjaye, in collaboration with architects Cooper Robertson.

Haskell’s gift is among several made by alumni toward construction of the new building, doubling its space. “While the museum’s expansive collections include over 114,000 works of art from cultures spanning the globe, no more than two percent of these could be on display at any time in the former building,” reads a release on the University’s website.

Haskell is a major collector whose primary interests are abstract expressionism, minimalism, and pop art from the mid-to-late 20th century, especially the 1940s-1970s. He has shared some of his collection with the museum in the past, primarily the exhibit “Rothko to Richter: Mark-Making in Abstract Painting from the Collection of Preston H. Haskell” in 2014. He served on the museum’s advisory council for 24 years and was its chair for four years. He remains an honorary member. In 2010, he endowed the Haskell Curatorship of Modern and Contemporary Art at the museum, which is currently filled by Mitra Abbaspour. more

Christmas Dreams with David Lynch

By Stuart Mitchner

I love Christmas tree bulbs.

—David Lynch

You can’t fool me, there ain’t no sanity clause.

—Chico Marx

Say you’re watching the classic routine from A Night at the Opera (1935), wherein Groucho Marx and his brother Chico are going over a contract and literally ripping out every clause until they get to a single shred of paper containing the provision requiring that the signatories be in their right minds, at which Chico delivers a punch line for the ages.

The first time I laughed along with my parents at that scene I was still a secret believer in the fantasy of St. Nick driving his reindeer team across the mysterious Christmas Eve sky with a gift for every child in the universe. While it was easy enough to laugh at a childish dream and move on, I’ve never really given up on the Christmas mystery, with its tree of many colors, its Dickensian coziness, and its music, and I’m pleased that David Lynch loves Christmas tree bulbs. It makes some kind of twisted sense that the Eagle Scout of the Darkly Strange and Weirdly Wonderful has a weakness for holiday customs and American icons. He didn’t invent “damn fine coffee and cherry pie,” but fans of Twin Peaks have reason to think so since he invented Dale Cooper (Kyle McLachlan), the only FBI agent on the planet who employs Tibetan rituals in his work. Lynch is the Kilroy of American culture, he’s everywhere, giving daily YouTube weather reports in L.A., designing videos for Moby, and lending himself to a travesty of Santa in Family Guy (“How David Lynch Stole Christmas”), coming down the chimney to present a little boy with a human thumb in a box (à la the ear in Blue Velvet) while reminding him to leave a plate of black coffee under the tree next Christmas Eve. more

New Jersey Symphony Orchestra Brings Handel’s “Messiah” to Richardson Auditorium

By Nancy Plum

Some orchestral ensembles keep things light musically during the holiday season — performing pops concerts full of spirited carols and celebratory music. New Jersey Symphony Orchestra has traditionally maintained a more classical approach to this time of year with an annual performance of George Frideric Handel’s oratorio Messiah. Led by Music Director Xian Zhang, New Jersey Symphony brought Messiah to Richardson Auditorium on the campus of Princeton University last Friday night for full-house performance with orchestra, chorus, and four vocal soloists.

Handel’s 18th-century Messiah was by definition an oratorio, with close to 50 choruses, recitatives, and solos or duets tracing the life of Christ in three major sections. When performed in full, the concert can be more than three hours long, and conductors have long taken liberties with dropping numbers from the production. What to cut is often decided by the popularity of certain selections, and this was certainly the case with NJSO’s performance. Much of Part I, depicting the birth of Christ, was intact, but of the more than 30 musical selections comprising Parts II and III, NJSO performed only 16 choruses, recitatives, and arias. Truncating the oratorio to this extent can lose much of the work’s drama and theatricality, but NJSO’s presentation clearly retained the most familiar and popular solos, allowing the vocal soloists the chance to shine.

Friday night’s concert featured a very scaled-down instrumental ensemble, with a small group of strings, pairs of oboes and trumpets, a single bassoon and keyboard continuo accompaniment. Keyboard player Robert Wolinsky was kept particularly busy switching between harpsichord and portative organ, and several principal string players provided expert solo accompaniment in imaginative scoring to certain solo sections.

Zhang and the orchestra began the “Overture” to Messiah in a regal tempo, with relaxed double-dotted rhythms and a lean string sound. With Messiah being such a long work, something often needs to set the performance on fire, whether it be solo singing, fast tempi or musical effects. From the outset, it was clear that what was going to set this performance apart would be variety in dynamics. Zhang consistently built dynamics well within the music and enticed a great deal of dynamic variety from the players. In the first solo aria of the evening, this approach was conveyed especially well by tenor Miles Mykkanen, a Finnish-American singer who lived up to his reputation of having an infinite range of dynamics within his singing. Mykkanen communicated animatedly with the audience in his arias and recitatives, maneuvering through the vocal runs with accuracy. more

“Salute to Vienna” Concert on Dec. 31

HAPPY NEW YEAR: Ballroom and ballet dancers are part of the celebration at State Theatre New Jersey in New Brunswick on New Year’s Eve. (Photo by Todd Rosenberg)

State Theatre New Jersey presents “Salute to Vienna – New Year’s Eve Concert” on Saturday, December 31 at 5 p.m. This annual State Theatre tradition features singers, dancers, and a full symphony orchestra. Tickets range from $39-$125. 

“Salute to Vienna” re-creates the famed Neujahrskonzert, hosted each year in Vienna’s legendary Musikverein. The short, effervescent pieces performed in the concert by a full orchestra are brought to life with ballroom dancing and ballet and include the music of Johann Strauss and his contemporaries with selections from operettas, overtures, and the “Blue Danube Waltz.”

Featured artists include the Strauss Symphony of America; conductor Alastair Willis (London); soprano Micaëla Oeste (Berlin); tenor Martin Piskorski (Vienna); dancers from Europaballett St. Pölten (Austria); and champion ballroom dancers.   

The State Theatre New Jersey is at 15 Livingston Avenue in New Brunswick. Visit STNJ.org for tickets and additional information.

On Stage at Lincoln Center

Last we heard about Caia Howcroft, the Princeton fifth-grader was appearing in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” with the New York City Ballet. This month, Caia is back on stage in “George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker,” alternating as a mouse and, shown here backstage, a “polichinelle.” Caia is especially pleased when the Sugar Plum Fairy is played by fellow Princeton native Unity Phelan, who goes out of her way to high-five the dancers after performances and tell them they have done a good job.

Princeton Symphony Orchestra Starts New Year on High Note

SINGING IN THE NEW YEAR: South African opera star Pretty Yende sings famous arias with the Princeton Symphony Orchestra at Richardson Auditorium on January 14 and 15. (Photo by Elena Cherkashyna)

The Princeton Symphony Orchestra (PSO) begins 2023 with South African soprano Pretty Yende. Yende, whose introduction to opera at 16 was through a TV commercial, will perform arias from Gioachino Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville) and Giuseppe Verdi’s La traviata as well as Samuel Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915.

Under the direction of Edward T. Cone Music Director Rossen Milanov, the PSO will play overtures from operas by Rossini and Verdi, plus Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring. Performances are on Saturday, January 14 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, January 15 at 4 p.m. at Richardson Auditorium.

Other guest artists appearing with the PSO in 2023 include pianist Inon Barnatan (February 4-5), guest conductor Sameer Patel and violinist William Harvey (Seven Decisions of Gandhi — world premiere — March 11-12), and violist Roberto Díaz (May 13-14). The PSO’s 2023 Princeton Festival (June 9-25) will include an opera, orchestral concerts, chamber music, Broadway tunes, a Baroque performance, and much more. more

A Swinging Christmas

The Summer Swing Orchestra performs a free concert on Wednesday, December 21 from 7:30-9 p.m. at Flemington United Methodist Church, 116 Main Street, Flemington. The 17-piece ensemble will play arrangements of well-known holiday favorites. Visit summerswingorchestra.com for details.

Managing Director Search Begins As Interim Director Takes Over

NEW AT MCCARTER: Veteran arts leader Susie Medak is interim managing director at McCarter Theatre.

McCarter Board Chair W. Rochelle Calhoun has announced that the McCarter Board’s Executive Committee has voted to hire arts leader Susie Medak to fill the role of interim managing director effective immediately.  Arts Consulting Group (ACG) conducted the search to place Medak in this leadership role for McCarter.

Former Managing Director Michael Rosenberg left McCarter this year to become president and chief executive officer of City Center in New York.

“The board is thrilled to be welcoming Susie Medak as our interim managing director,” said Calhoun. “She’s a nationally-celebrated leader in arts management, who successfully led Berkeley Rep for over 30 years. McCarter has engaged Susie in the past for board learning sessions, and we are so excited to continue the conversations.”

“Susie is a dream choice for this role,” said McCarter’s Artistic Director Sarah Rasmussen. “Susie is a legend in our field with an unparalleled career in arts leadership. I’m so honored that she’s joining us at McCarter, and excited to partner with her. I’m especially delighted that she continues to bring such enthusiasm and joy to her work, and inspired by the way she continues to mentor and inspire new generations of theater leaders. McCarter and our field will benefit from her wisdom and good spirits.” more

Let It Snow

With its onstage snowstorm, the Snow Scene is a highlight of the Philadelphia Ballet’s production of “George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker,” on stage at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia through December 28. Visit philadelphiaballet.org for tickets. (Photo by Alexander Iziliaev)

Arts Council of Princeton Presents ART OF Series

“ART OF” SERIES CONTINUES: Salsa and bachata dance are among the cultural interests celebrated in the Arts Council of Princeton’s ART OF series. Led by local leaders in interests including art, food, culture, and more, ART OF events are social opportunities that encourage participants to get creative.

The Arts Council of Princeton (ACP) presents ART OF, a series of events curated to introduce attendees to the endless creativity and innovation in the Princeton community.

The ART OF series launched in fall 2022 and has since welcomed guests to enjoy educational experiences in topics including wine, horticulture, astrology, and floral arranging. Some ART OF events are free, and every dollar raised from ticketed events benefits the Arts Council’s longstanding community outreach programs, public art initiatives, and year-long community events and projects.

Upcoming is the ART OF Salsa and Bachata on Saturday, January 21 from 7-11 p.m. Attendees are invited to dress in their best red threads and immerse themselves in an evening of Latin dance with instructor Mike Andino of HotSalsaHot Dance Studio. Music is to be provided by DJ Poli, one of Philly’s top Latin DJs. No partner or experience is necessary. Tickets are $125 and include instruction, dance party, beer, wine, and Latin-inspired cuisine. more

Two Exhibits Closing Soon At Grounds For Sculpture

CLOSING SOON: The exhibitions “Robert Lugo: The Village Potter,” left, and “Fragile: Earth” are on view at Grounds For Sculpture in Hamilton through January 8. Both feature works by contemporary artists working in ceramics.

Two exhibitions currently on view at Grounds For Sculpture, presenting new works by 17 contemporary artists working in ceramics, are in their final weeks and will close on January 8.

“As a platform for contemporary art and artists, Grounds For Sculpture amplifies the diverse voices and visions of those working in the field today. Our focused look at the underrepresented medium of ceramics shines a light on artists of color firing a new future in clay,” said Gary Schneider, executive director of Grounds For Sculpture, when introducing the exhibitions in the spring.

The solo exhibition “Roberto Lugo: The Village Potter” debuted all new works by the artist, social activist, spoken word poet, and educator. Reimagining traditional European and Asian porcelain forms and techniques with a 21st-century street sensibility, these multi-cultural mashups were created on site by Lugo during his residency at Grounds For Sculpture last winter. The installation includes Put Yourself in the Picture, a 20-foot-high vessel with an interactive viewing platform, representing the first time the artist has worked at this monumental scale.

In his current practice, Lugo uses a variety of clay bodies, including porcelain, and illuminates its historically aristocratic surface with imagery that creates conversation around key themes in his work: equity, access, and social and racial justice. His surface treatment is a mixture of traditional design, graffiti, and portraiture focusing on representation of iconic people of color from contemporary culture as well as history, from Sojourner Truth to The Notorious BIG and Lugo’s family members including himself and extending to recent events including Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Supreme Court confirmation. The exhibition gallery includes a drop-in maker space that gives visitors the opportunity to experience the materiality of clay as well as a mentorship area with works by artists who influenced Lugo’s work in ceramics.  more

“Walk This Way” Exhibit At Michener Art Museum

“WALK THIS WAY”: An exhibition focused on women who designed, manufactured, sold, and collected footwear — and featuring more than 100 pairs of shoes — is on view through January 15 at the Michener Art Museum in Doylestown, Pa.

Focused on the women who designed, manufactured, sold, and collected footwear, “Walk This Way: Footwear from the Stuart Weitzman Collection of Historic Shoes,” on view through January 15 at the Michener Art Museum in Doylestown, Pa., explores how shoes have transcended their utilitarian purpose to become representations of culture — coveted as objects of desire, designed with artistic consideration, and expressing complicated meanings of femininity, power, and aspiration.

The exhibition presents more than 100 pairs of shoes from the extensive private collection assembled over three decades by iconic designer Stuart Weitzman, and businesswoman and philanthropist Jane Gershon Weitzman. Highlights range from a pair of satin wedding shoes worn in 1838 to a pair of glam-rock platform sandals from 1970s London. In exploring the process of shoemaking, the role of women in one of the first mass production industries, and their participation in the forming of organized labor, the exhibition presents the story of the shoe as it has never been told before. more

December 14, 2022

Thoughts on the Fine Art of Vertigo with W.G. Sebald and Franz Kafka

By Stuart Mitchner

Twenty-one years ago today, W.G. Sebald was driving to Norwich, the city explored in his internationally acclaimed novel The Rings of Saturn. He had just pulled on to the A-146 when his car “failed to follow the curve and drove straight into the opposite lane.” According to the account in Carole Angier’s biography Speak, Silence (Bloomsbury 2021), the horoscope for December 14 “warned that an eclipse of the sun was taking place visible only in North America, but ‘challenging for everyone.’”

Angier’s account has the makings of a passage from Sebald’s first book, Vertigo (New Directions 1999, translated by Michael Hulse) — his failure to follow the curve, his drive straight into the opposite lane, the challenge of the eclipse. Alive and at work, Sebald would drive the moment straight into a prose continuum, another road, or an invisible trajectory, and before you know it you’re staring through a train window with him as he takes you directly into the Arena Chapel in Padua, and suddenly you find yourself in the presence of Giotto’s frescoes, “overwhelmed by the silent lament of the angels, who kept their station above our endless calamities.”

In the distance far below you see Sebald’s car, crushed on the driver’s side, turned “facing the other way” after  crashing head-on into the cab of a 38-ton truck. Not to worry, by now he’s safe in All’estero, the second chapter, flying on the wings of prose through “the roaring traffic to take the very next train to Verona” while meditating on the hint of vertigo in the “disconcerting” afternoon Franz Kafka spent on his way from Venice to Lake Garda in September 1913. Instead of getting off at Verona, he continues to the railway station at Desenzano, knowing his Czech soulmate had stopped there more than 60 years before, and after finding the WC, he stares into the mirror above the  heavy stoneware basin in a room “where scarcely a thing had been altered since the turn of the century,” wondering as he washed his hands if Kafka had gazed into the same mirror. He puts the possibility in play by pointing out nearby graffiti, Il Cacciatore, Italian for “the hunter,” which he reads as a reference to Kafka’s posthumously published story, “The Hunter Gracchus.” After drying his hands, he makes an anonymous contribution, adding the words nella selva nera (“in the snow forest”), his secret sharing of Kafka’s story of a hunter fated to wander all the lands of the earth forever. more

“A Christmas Carol” Returns to Fill McCarter Audiences with Holiday Spirit; New Production Remembers Past Versions While Bringing a Fresh Viewpoint

“A CHRISTMAS CAROL”: Performances are underway for “A Christmas Carol.” Adapted and directed by Lauren Keating, the new production runs through December 24 at McCarter’s Matthews Theatre. Above, from left, the Cratchits — Tiny Tim (Yoyo Huang), Margaret (Gisela Chípe), Belinda (Zuriaya Holliman-York), Peter (Desmond Elyseev), and Bob (Kenneth DeAbrew) — celebrate, as Scrooge (Dee Pelletier) watches. (Photo by Matt Pilsner)

By Donald H. Sanborn III

McCarter has resumed its annual tradition of presenting A Christmas Carol — with a new production adapted and directed by Lauren Keating. This version retains some conceptual and design elements that succeeded in past productions, while bringing a fresh viewpoint.

As Town Topics previously noted, “A woman, actor Dee Pelletier, plays Scrooge (as a male character) for the first time. Keating’s additional casting pays particularly close attention to diversity, based on research she has done on London’s population during Dickens’ time.”

It is worth mentioning that a female actor has played Scrooge in other recent productions. Sally Nystuen Vahle played the role for Dallas Theatre Center, and in 2021 Adrienne Sweeney starred in a production by Minnesota’s Commonweal Theatre. However, Pelletier is the first female actor to fill the role for McCarter.

Although Scrooge is still depicted as male in Keating’s version (the young adult version of the character is portrayed, with suitably intense brusqueness, by male actor Matt Monaco), a few other characters have been “re-gendered.”

The crooked Old Joe, to whom Scrooge’s housekeeper Mrs. Dilber (Polly Lee) sells his belongings (Keating develops this sequence, establishing a rapport between the characters much earlier in the story than Dickens does) is refashioned as the more kindly, wholesome Old Jo (Vilma Silva). The solicitors for charity, who usually are depicted as male, here are named Cate (Julie Ann Earls) and Mary (Legna Cedillo). more

The Queen’s Cartoonists Come to State Theatre NJ

MUSIC AND ANIMATION: The Queen’s Cartoonists perform in front of a live screen where classic cartoons are projected at State Theatre New Jersey on December 23. (Photo by Jamie Jung)

State Theatre New Jersey presents the musical ensemble The Queen’s Cartoonists in “Holiday Hurrah: Yule Love It!” on Friday, December 23 at 8 p.m. The jazz sextet’s show is for audiences of all ages, combining musicianship, multi-instrumentals, comedy, and cartoons.

The Queen’s Cartoonists (TQC) perform live in front of a screen, where cartoons from the golden age of animation, cult cartoon classics, and modern animated films are projected. The band either re-creates a cartoon’s soundtrack note-for-note — performing works from jazz composers like Carl Stalling, Raymond Scott, and Duke Ellington alongside classical giants like Mozart, Rossini, and R. Strauss — or writes their own fresh compositions to accompany the on-screen action. Tying everything together are TQC’s anecdotes about the cartoons and their composers, humor, and elements of a musical circus.  more

One-Hour “Nutcracker” Is Geared to Families

“NUTCRACKER,” FAMILY STYLE: The New Jersey Dance Connection presents its version, geared to all ages, of “The Nutcracker Ballet” December 16-18 at Kelsey Theatre. (Photo courtesy of The Dance Connection)

Theatregoers of all ages are the target audience for The Dance Connection’s family version of The Nutcracker Ballet December 16-18 at Mercer County Community College’s (MCCC’s) Kelsey Theatre, 1200 Old Trenton Road in West Windsor.

This one-hour long ballet is set in 19th century Europe to the score by Tchaikovsky. Fully narrated and abridged, the ballet features dolls and sweets coming to life, mice, toy soldiers, and snowflakes.  more

Choral Celebration

Westminster Choir College of Rider University marked the 30th Anniversary of An Evening of Readings and Carols with performances on December 9 and 10 at Princeton University Chapel. The program is the students’ culminating performance for the fall semester, with performances by Westminster Chapel Choir, Westminster Symphonic Choir, Westminster Jubilee Singers, Westminster Concert Bell Choir, Westminster Choir, and Westminster Alumni Choir.