November 13, 2024

Elon Musk and the Ancient Mariner

By Stuart Mitchner

On Election Day, I began reading Walter Isaacson’s biography of Elon Musk (Simon & Schuster 2023) along with The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, which Samuel Taylor Coleridge first conceived during a walk with William Wordsworth on November 13, 1797.

Early Reading

Coleridge’s tale came to mind while I was reading the chapter about Musk’s early reading habits. As a teenager pondering “the meaning of life and the universe,” Musk found nothing helpful in philosophers like Nietzche, Heidigger, and Schopenhauer (“I don’t recommend reading Nietzche as a teenager”). His salvation was science fiction, novels like Robert Heinlein’s The Moon Is a Hard Mistress and Isaac Asimov’s Foundation Series, about sending settlers to a distant region of the galaxy “to preserve human consciousness in the face of an impending dark age.” More than 30 years later Musk claimed that the Foundation Series was fundamental to the creation of SpaceX, whose stated goal is “to build the technologies necessary to make life multiplanetary.” Says SpaceX Chief Engineer Musk, “This is the first time in the four-billion-year history of Earth that it’s possible to realize that goal and protect the light of consciousness.”  more

Princeton Pro Musica Opens Season with Haydn Oratorio 

By Nancy Plum

Certain musical pieces are tailor-made for specific ensembles. Princeton Pro Musica, now celebrating its fourth decade of music-making, has long excelled at choral/orchestral works requiring precision, block sound and expert counterpoint. Eighteenth-century Austrian composer Franz Joseph Haydn composed numerous sacred masses combining chorus, soloists, and orchestra, but fewer oratorios. The first of these was Die Schöpfung (The Creation), Haydn’s musical interpretation of the creation of the Earth, the animal world, and man. Premiered in 1798, The Creation was an immediate hit in Vienna, receiving instant acclaim and becoming an unofficial anthem of Vienna until falling into obscurity toward the end of the 19th century. Revived in the mid-20th century, The Creation is now a staple of choral societies worldwide and an audience favorite.

Led by Artistic Director Ryan J. Brandau, Princeton Pro Musica presented Haydn’s illustrative oratorio Sunday afternoon at Richardson Auditorium. Together with a chamber orchestra and three vocal soloists, the 100-member chorus performed Haydn’s uplifting music showing solid preparation and command of the music. Conductor Brandau began the long orchestral introduction with restraint, as the earth slowly came into being. The string sections demonstrated an ability to play very quietly, with wind solos depicting life forms emerging amid the murky chaos. Clearly rooted in the oratorio tradition of George Frideric Handel, The Creation also showed the influence of Mozart in lyrical arias and poignant duets.  more

A Teenager is Sent to a Mental Health Facility in “A Life Worth Living”; Lewis Center for the Arts Presents a New Musical by Jeffrey Chen ’25

“A LIFE WORTH LIVING”: Performances are underway for “A Life Worth Living.” Presented by the Lewis Center for the Arts at Princeton University, and directed by Chesney Snow (assisted by Ava Adelaja), the musical runs through November 16 at the Lewis Arts complex’s Wallace Theater. Above, from left: Cecilia (Kailani Melvin), a therapist at a mental health facility, attempts to help Gavin (portrayed by writer and composer Jeffrey Chen) heal from a traumatic past. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski/Lewis Center for the Arts)

By Donald H. Sanborn III

The Lewis Center for the Arts at Princeton University is presenting A Life Worth Living. The new musical has a book, music, and lyrics by Jeffrey Chen, a senior who is majoring in neuroscience, with a minor in musical theater.

A Life Worth Living is described by the Lewis Center’s website as a “dramatic-comedy musical.” Its plot centers on Gavin, a teenager who is involuntarily sent to a residential mental health treatment facility. He reluctantly but steadily forms bonds with the other residents, as the staff works to uncover the past experiences leading to the incident that necessitates his treatment. more

American Repertory Ballet Presents “The Nutcracker”

HOLIDAY BALLET: American Repertory dancers, from left, Lily Krisko, Erikka Reenstierna-Cates, Rachel Quiner, Roland Jones, and Tomoya Suzuki will appear in “The Nutcracker” at McCarter Theatre and other New Jersey venues this season. (Photo by Harald Schrader)

American Repertory Ballet’s production of The Nutcracker is one of the longest running in the nation. Performances will take place from Friday, November 29 through Sunday, December 22, in Princeton, Red Bank, Trenton, and New Brunswick, starting with McCarter Theatre November 29-December 1.

Students from Princeton Ballet School (PBS), the official school of American Repertory Ballet (ARB), participate in the ballet, which tells the story of Clara, a young girl who receives a magical Christmas gift and embarks on an enchanted journey. Clara and her Nutcracker Prince battle larger-than-life mice alongside toy soldiers, and travel through a whirlwind of dancing snowflakes to the Land of Sweets. Greeted by the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier, Clara enjoys a suite of dances before opening her eyes to the familiar sights of her home, wondering if it was all a dream. more

Trombone Shorty, Orleans Avenue Play Brass Band

NEW ORLEANS SOUNDS: The music of Trombone Shorty’s native city is the focus of his appearance at State Theatre New Jersey on November 21.

State Theatre New Jersey presents Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue with support from New Breed Brass Band on Thursday, November 21 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets range from $39-$79.

The show is crafted in the rich music scene of Trombone Shorty’s hometown of New Orleans, La. Evoking the tradition of the second-line parades of the city, the performance fuses jazz, funk, pop, hip hop, and rock music into a celebratory bayou sound.  more

Orchestra Accompaniment at “Spider-Man” Screening

MOVIE WITH MUSIC: “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse in Concert” mixes the famed film with music by a live orchestra on November 14 at State Theatre New Jersey. (Photo by Victor Frankowski)

State Theatre New Jersey presents Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse in Concert on Thursday, November 14 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets range from $29-$99.

Building on the success of the sold-out global shows of the first Oscar-winning Spider-Man animated Spider-Verse film, comes the sequel: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. more

Holiday Movies Planned at the Garden Theatre

The Garden Theatre has announced its programming lineup for the holiday season. Starting on Black Friday and running through Christmas Eve, the selection features cheerful classics, from Jim Henson to Jimmy Stewart to Dr. Seuss to Bruce Willis.

On Black Friday, November 29, Elf will be screened as part of the $5 Family Matinee series, which is free for members. The following day, A Christmas Story, the definitive Christmas film, is on the schedule. This series continues throughout December with The Muppet Christmas Carol, The Polar Express, the 2018 animated The Grinch, and a rare exhibition of the cherished Rankin & Bass work, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, on Christmas Eve. more

Airborne

Roxey Ballet’s production of “The Nutcracker,” now in its 29th season, is onstage at Villa Victoria Theater in Ewing Township November 30 to December 8. The schedule includes a sensory-friendly performance on December 1, school matinees, and a tea dance party. Visit roxeyballet.org/nutcracker for dates, times, and tickets.

Richardson Chamber Players Present “Songs With/out Words”

On Sunday, November 24 at 3 p.m. in Richardson Auditorium, performance faculty from the Princeton University Department of Music comprising the Richardson Chamber Players will present “Songs With/out Words,” a program of songs with and without words written by female composers on both sides of the Atlantic.

Songs for mezzo-soprano and piano by lieder composer Josephine Lang, and for mezzo-soprano and mixed chamber ensemble by Dame Ethel Smyth, bookend the program. Included are works for string quartet, solo piano, and flute, viola, and harp that reference American, Jamaican, and European song and poetry in between. In addition to Lang and Smyth, the program includes music by Florence Price, Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel, and Eleanor Alberga. more

Family Show Followed By Treats in the Lobby

HOLIDAY MUSICAL REVUE: The MTM Players celebrate Christmas at Kelsey Theatre, on the campus of Mercer County Community College, November 29-December 1.

The MTM Players bring the family-friendly musical revue “The Best Time of the Year – Music & Memories of Christmas” to Kelsey Theatre, on the campus of Mercer County Community College in West Windsor, for one weekend and five performances, November 29-December 1.

The show celebrates the holiday season with song, dance, visual projections, snow — and even kazoos — featuring carols and Christmas songs. The hour-long performance is followed by treats and pictures in the lobby with Santa. more

Two Area Choruses Collaborate for Concert

JOINING FORCES: Voices Chorale NJ and the Trenton Children’s Chorus are presenting a concert together to celebrate the holiday season on December 14 at Trinity Church.

A celebration of the holiday season featuring Voices Chorale NJ and the Trenton Children’s Chorus will take place on Saturday, December 14 at 4 p.m., at Trinity Church, 33 Mercer Street.

“Sing Out, My Soul!” features Vivaldi’s Gloria accompanied by a chamber ensemble, as well as contemporary choral compositions and arrangements that invoke the many moods of the holiday season. Following Gloria, which Vivaldi wrote over 300 years ago, the program fast-forwards through the centuries, presenting old and new texts set to music by contemporary composers as well as a Hanukkah prayer, and a song of rejoicing in Latin (Gaudete!).  more

Holiday Pops Concerts Feature Andrea Ross

FESTIVE GATHERING: Members of the Princeton High School Choir are among the performers at the Princeton Symphony Orchestra’s annual Holiday POPS! concerts on December 14, at Richardson Auditorium. (Photo courtesy of PSO Staff)

The Princeton Symphony Orchestra (PSO) is set to celebrate the holiday season with Broadway vocalist Andrea Ross at this year’s Holiday POPS! concerts on Saturday, December 14 at 3 and 6 p.m., at Richardson Auditorium.

Mentored by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Ms. Ross, a soprano, will perform “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” “The Christmas Song,” and more. The Princeton High School Choir lends its collective voice to choral favorites including “Joy to the World” and “O Holy Night,” and leads the audience in the annual carol sing-along. Returning to Princeton from West Virginia’s Wheeling Symphony Orchestra, John Devlin conducts both performances.  more

Covered Bridge Artisans Tour Celebrates 30 Years

“COTTAGE FLOWERS”: Works by Karen Caldwell of Sunflower Glass Studio and others can be viewed November 29 through December 1 on the 30th Annual Covered Bridge Artisans Studio Tour.

This Thanksgiving weekend, the Covered Bridge Artisans will celebrate three decades of artistry, craftsmanship, and community with their 30th Annual Studio Tour. Taking place from November 29 to December 1 from 10 a,m. to 5 p.m. each day, this event invites visitors to explore the studios and workspaces of some of the Delaware River Valley region’s most talented artisans.

This self-guided tour will take place in nine professional artists’ studios in Lambertville, Stockton, Sergeantsville, and New Hope, Pa., areas with 12 additional artists at the Sandy Ridge Church.  more

Eclipse

This acrylic on canvas work by Larry Mitnick is featured in “Making Space,” an exhibition of his paintings at Belle’s Tavern, 183 North Union Street, Lambertville, through the end of December. Mitnick’s work has been exhibited internationally and he is currently a member artist at Artists’ Gallery, 18 Bridge Street, Lambertville.

Dwarf Wedge Mussel

Mary Waltham of Princeton received an honorable mention for this watercolor work at the “11th Annual New Jersey Highlands Juried Art Exhibition,” presented by New Jersey Highlands Coalition at the Maxfield Engine House in Boonton. The exhibit features a mix of photography, paintings, mixed media, prints and sculpture focused on the landscapes, flora, fauna and historic and cultural resources of the Highlands region. A virtual exhibit featuring all of this year’s artists can be viewed at highlandsart.org.

Open Studio Holiday Sale at Willowood Pottery

MASTER POTTER: Caryn Newman, shown here creating a hand-built vase, holds her annual Open Studio Holiday Sale this Saturday and Sunday, November 16 and 17, from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Willowood Pottery, 7 Willowood Drive, Ewing.

Once a year local Master Potter Caryn Newman opens her studio to the public – this year on Saturday and Sunday, November 16 and 17, from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Busy firing work in her kiln from the past six months for this show, Newman said her latest work has some changes.

Decades of pottery-making added up, and she needed a shoulder replacement this past May. After a short break, she got back into the studio and started with hand-building new pieces as she recovered, instead of using the pottery wheel. more

November 6, 2024

PPS Presents Theater, Music, Visual Arts; Neil Simon’s “Rumors” Nov. 14-17 at PHS

“RUMORS” AT PHS: The casts of Neil Simon’s 1988 “elegant farce” are preparing for their November 14 opening at Princeton High School. The play runs through November 17. (Photo courtesy of Julianna Krawiecki)

By Donald Gilpin

In theater, music, and visual arts, Princeton Public Schools (PPS) is presenting a diverse array of events in November and December.

Rumors, a 1988 Neil Simon “elegant farce,” as the author described it, will take the spotlight on the Princeton High School (PHS) stage November 14-17. At Princeton Middle School (PMS) on November 22 and 23, the theme will be self-image and social and emotional learning in Hoodie, a short “play for the times,” according to PMS Theater Director Chaundra Cameron. more

Mixing It Up with Phil Lesh and Ezra Pound on The Day After

By Stuart Mitchner

Writing on Sunday, November 3, I’m trying not to worry about the state of the nation on Wednesday, November 6. The backyard is painted yellow gold with leaves; the bird baths, front and back, are thriving; the new birdfeeders are wildly popular, and we’ve had a month of classic autumn weather — if you don’t count the drought. But I might as well be on “Dover Beach” with Matthew Arnold, the night-wind on my face on a sunny afternoon, the closing lines like one long sentence — “the world which seems to lie before us like a land of dreams, so various, so beautiful, so new, hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light, not certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain; and we are here as on a darkling plain swept with confused alarms of struggle and light, where ignorant armies clash by night.”

How about going with something a little lighter but dark around the edges, like Bob Dylan’s “All Along the Watchtower” (“let us stop talking falsely now, the hour’s getting late”) — or else “Desolation Row,” even if Ezra Pound and T.S. Eliot are “fighting in the captain’s tower.” Funny, as much as Allen Ginsberg admires Dylan, he complains about that line on allenginsberg.org because “Eliot and Pound were friends.” Hey, this is Bob Dylan, this is what he does, he mixes things up, so does Pound, who didn’t ride to the rescue of The Waste Land with gentle suggestions: he struck the lance of his pen deep into the heart of the first page. Otherwise we’d have something called  He Do The Police In Different Voices.

OK, we’ll mix vintage Ezra with some buoyant electric bass from the Grateful Dead’s Phil Lesh, who died late last month. Lesh’s playing on “Dark Star” and “Alligator” kept me going as I tried to read The Cantos and early troubadour poems like “Na Audiart,” which reads like a verse translation of Lesh’s bassline, with the Dead putting the pulse of life into Pound’s refrain “Audiart, Audiart.” more

New Jersey Symphony Opens Princeton Classical Series with Music of Three Centuries

By Nancy Plum

It is not easy to find a connection among composers from Mexico, Austria and Russia, but New Jersey Symphony brought these three cultures together this past weekend with its opening concert of the 2024-25 Princeton series. Led by Music Director Xian Zhang, the Symphony successfully wound a musical thread through the works of contemporary Mexican composer Gabriela Ortiz, 18th-century Austrian Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and 19th-century Russian Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.

The key to the three pieces performed Friday night in Richardson Auditorium seemed to be the composers’ use of winds for innovative orchestral color. In Ortiz’s Kauyumari, wind solos reflected the diverse musical influences which surrounded Ortiz in her native Mexico. The one-movement Kauyumari, commissioned in 2021 by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, depicts the ancient “blue deer” rite of Mexico which allows the Huichol people to communicate with ancestors and reaffirm their role as guardians of the planet. Channeling the sounds of Latin America into a classical work, Ortiz created a piece to capture both the blue deer, with its power to “enter the world of the intangible,” and the reopening of live music following the pandemic.  more

Refugees in the U.S. Search for Family Members in “Anon(ymous)”: Lewis Center Presents a Contemporary, Stylized “Odyssey” at McCarter

Students perform Anon(ymous) by Naomi Iizuka during the final dress rehearsal in the Berlind Theatre at McCarter Theatre Center on Oct. 31, 2024. Photo by Larry Levanti

“ANON(YMOUS)”: Performances are underway for “Anon(ymous).” Presented by the Lewis Center for the Arts at Princeton University; and directed by Bi Jean Ngo (assisted by Matthew Cooperberg), the play runs through November 9 at McCarter’s Berlind Theatre. Above: Anon (Aabid Ismail, left) journeys in search of his family, accompanied by a variety of characters, including the streetwise Pascal (Oriana Nelson, right), a West African refugee. (Photo by Larry Levanti / Lewis Center for the Arts)

By Donald H. Sanborn III

The Lewis Center for the Arts at Princeton University is presenting Anon(ymous) at McCarter. Playwright Naomi Iizuka’s contemporary, stylized retelling of The Odyssey centers on two refugees in the U.S. — Anon and Nemasani — each of whom has been separated from a family member.

Iizuka’s script embraces and offers ample scope for multiple forms: drama, modern dance, and performance art — in short, much of what live theater offers. Bi Jean Ngo, director of the Lewis Center production (assisted by Matthew Cooperberg), takes full advantage of this; the polished staging makes use of often dazzling production values while ensuring that the performances are the primary focus. more

Disney Stage Musical Comes to MCCC’s Kelsey Theatre

BE OUR GUEST: Sally Graham Bethman, left, and Pat Rounds star in “Beauty and the Beast” at Kelsey Theatre November 8-24.

Maurer Productions OnStage presents Disney’s musical Beauty and the Beast November 8-24 at Kelsey Theatre on the campus of Mercer County Community College in West Windsor.

The enduring fairy tale tells the story of Belle, a spirited young woman in a provincial town, and the Beast, a prince trapped under the spell of an enchantress. If the Beast can learn to love and be loved, the curse will end, and he will be transformed into his former self. But time is running out, and if those lessons aren’t learned soon, the Beast and his house will be doomed for all eternity. more

Several Cultural Events On Rider University Stages

Rider University’s arts programs are performing in theaters on the Lawrence Township campus throughout the remainder of the fall season.

On Friday and Saturday, November 8 and 9 at 7:30 p.m., the University’s dance majors present their fall dance concert in the Bart Luedeke Center Theater. The following weekend, Westminster Opera Theatre presents Die Fledermaus in the Yvonne Theater. Shows are Friday and Saturday, November 15 and 16 at 7:30 p.m. more

Paul Anka Presents All the Hits — His Way

HITMAKER: Paul Anka is at the State Theatre New Jersey on November 12.

State Theatre New Jersey presents singer-songwriter Paul Anka: All the Hits — His Way on Tuesday, November 12 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets range from $49-$229.

Born July 30, 1941, in Ottawa, Canada, into a close-knit family, Anka sang in a choir, studied piano, and honed his writing skills with journalism courses, even working as a cub reporter at the Ottawa Citizen. In 1956, he convinced his parents to let him travel to Los Angeles to visit his uncle, where he hitchhiked to a meeting with Modern Records that led to the release of his first single. more

Two String Quartets Perform as an Octet

CHAMBER MUSIC: Members of the Ebene and Belcea String Quartets will join forces for a concert at Richardson Auditorium on November 13. (Photo by Maurice Haas and Julien Mignot)

On Wednesday, November 13 at 7:30 p.m. at Richardson Auditorium, the Ebene and Belcea String Quartets will return to the Princeton University Concerts (PUC) series for the first time since 2022 and 2016, respectively.

Their program, part of the Concert Classics series, includes music of Mendelssohn and Enescu; they will bring it to Carnegie Hall the following evening. more

Benjamin Grosvenor to Appear In Princeton Concert Series

PIANIST RETURNS: Benjamin Grosvenor is back on the Richardson Auditorium stage on November 7 with a program of music by Brahms, Schumann, and Mussorgsky.

Pianist Benjamin Grosvenor will make a long-anticipated return to the Princeton University Concerts (PUC) series on Thursday, November 7, at 7:30 p.m. at Richardson Auditorium on Princeton University’s campus.

Grosvenor last came to PUC in 2017, when he was in his early twenties; now he returns with a program of Johannes Brahms Intermezzi, Op. 117, Robert Schumann Fantasie in C Major, Op. 17, and Modest Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition. more