Jersey Arts Podcast

Rolling Stone has called him "the leading singer-songwriter of the New Folk Movement." New Jersey’s own John Gorka is a world-renowned singer-songwriter who is most comfortable with a guitar in hand.  You may hear him strum the guitar occasionally throughout the piece and not just during his live performances! That's right, this episode includes three live serenades, including &quot...

"Jaws." It was an iconic moment in cinema history. The three-time Academy Award-winning film is credited as the first true “summer blockbuster,” having toppled box office records to become the top-grossing film of 1975. And as we approach its 50th anniversary, George Street Playhouse is bringing the behind-the-scenes story of the film’s making to the stage. FADE IN: The open ocean, 1974....

Grammy Award-winning Melissa Etheridge has been a household name for the last thirty years, but most recently she has released a new album entitled “I’m Not Broken” and executive produced a docuseries of the same name. The album and the series were recorded live at the Topeka Correctional Facility in Kansas as an ode to the strength and perseverance of women. Etheridge isn’t the first singer-songw...

Jazz fans, rejoice! Grammy winning trumpeter, Chris Botti, will be gracing the stage of the Mayo Performing Arts Center this April.  For nearly three decades now, Botti has been one of the most popular instrumentalists in the world, boasting collaborations with stars like Sting, Paul Simon, Barbara Streisand, Lady Gaga, Frank Sinatra, Andrea Bocelli and many more. His most recent album, produced b...

The six-time Tony Award winning show “Dear Evan Hansen” is bringing its North American Tour to the State Theatre in New Brunswick, NJ. The show boasts music and lyrics by EGOT winners - that’s an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and a Tony - Benjamin Pasek and Justin Paul. “Dear Evan Hansen” offers a score that will have you whistling the tunes on your way out of the theater. The show tackles some sensitive t...

Jonatha Brooke has a voice to soothe your soul, and the lyrics to nurture it. First introduced to audiences as a part of the duo, “The Story,” Brooke eventually turned to an illustrious solo career and has been gifting us with her own unique storytelling ever since. Jonatha has quite the discography to boast with 14 albums over the past three decades, most of which were produced under her own inde...

Pinky Patel is the crown adorned TikTok comedian you’ve come to know and love for her no holds barred, quick and quippy style. She speaks directly to audiences from her glam cave though sometimes she calls it - something else. She claimed TikTok stardom while still working her corporate 9 to 5 job and playing PTA mom on the daily. It was the Covid pandemic and a close friend who gave her the push...

Catching the Moon: The Story of a Young Girl’s Baseball Dream is a musical based on the children’s book of the same title written by Crystal Hubbard. It tells the story of Marcenia Lyle, a young, Black girl growing up in the 1930s who went on to become Toni Stone, the first female to play as a regular for an all-male professional baseball team. The Growing Stage in Netcong is only the second theat...

35 years ago–well before orchestras performing film scores became popular–George Daugherty and his husband and producing partner David Wong developed Bugs Bunny at the Symphony . The concept was new at the time: a world-class orchestra would play full cartoon scores live alongside the films. It was an instant hit. Of course, what makes Looney Tunes music different from many of the film scores play...

“Noli Timere” is Latin for “be not afraid,” and the name of the world premiere presentation from Director and Choreographer, Rebecca Lazier and Sculptor, Janet Echelman. The collaboration features eight multidisciplinary performers dancing up to 25 feet in the air within a voluminous, custom-designed Echelman net sculpture. Choreographed to an original score by JORANE, this fusion of contemporary...

Founded by Luke Ferrell in 2022, Ferrell Studios offers exceptional and affordable performing arts education and theatrical productions. They offer a variety of classes and programs, including acting, musical theatre, playwriting, film and television acting, public speaking, and theory and criticism as well as private lessons for those who want to focus on a specific area of study. At Ferrell Stud...

Known for their electrifying renditions of classic holiday music, Twelve Twenty-Four combines the festive spirit with high-energy rock performances that will leave audiences of all ages wanting more. They are the longest running Trans Siberian Orchestra Tribute band having begun in 2002, over twenty years ago! They will soon be thrilling audiences in Millville, NJ at the beautiful Levoy Theater on...

"How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?" A quote from the one and only Sherlock Holmes, by way of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, in "The Sign of the Four." Now, as improbable as it may seem, the truth is - the ever popular Sherlock Holmes died. And then, ten years later he came back to life. I...

Award-winning playwright José Rivera brings both his writing and directing talents to New Jersey Repertory Company’s production, Your Name Means Dream.  Rivera’s play explores the imagined highs and lows of artificial intelligence through the lens of healthcare–telling the story of Aislin, an aging woman who is being taken care of by Stacy, an A.I. entity. Rivera may be most widely-known for his w...

"My Italy Story," written by Joseph Gallo, directed by Charlotte Cohn, and starring Michael Notardonato, is a nostalgic exploration of family, heritage and the ties that bind us. Spurred by pleas to help reunite his fractured family, a young man quits his job as a New York account executive and travels to Vallata — the tiny Italian town of his ancestors. Not until he returns home, howeve...

Art House Productions is collaborating with Kenia Rosete Dance to bring a new modern dance series to Jersey City. The show, titled “FOCUS,” will feature two to four artists per night, who will present their own original choreography. Each artists' piece is a bite-size performance that showcases the dancers’ creative, unique, and innovative voices. Audiences can expect an easy, fun and inspiri...

Theater icon Norm Lewis is known for a lot of things: breaking barriers as Broadway's first African-American Phantom in The Phantom of the Opera; lending his stunning baritone to the roles of Sweeney Todd, Porgy, and Jarvert; playing Senator Edison Davis on the hit TV show Scandal—the list goes on and on. But what you may not know that the Emmy, Grammy, Tony, and SAG Award nominee works just...

Even those who don’t know the name Hoagy Carmichael certainly know his songs. The composer behind “Heart and Soul,” “Georgia on my Mind,” “The Nearness of you,” and “Stardust” is celebrated through the musical "Hoagy Carmichael’s Stardust Road." With only one previous professional production, the musical will find new audiences this September as part of Surflight Theatre’s 75th Anniversa...

Jersey Arts talks to music icon - singer, songwriter, and guitarist Richie Furay, who boasts a 60 year musical career, having played with acclaimed groups such as Buffalo Springfield, Poco, the Souther-Hillman-Furay Band and of course, his own solo ventures. He is an inductee of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as well as the Colorado Music Hall of Fame. But perhaps most importantly, he’s a family m...

“I’m Just a Singer (In a Rock and Roll Band).” “Ride My See-Saw.” “Isn’t Life Strange?” These are just a few of the mega hit titles by The Moody Blues, and John Lodge is their bass guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. He has been performing and recording with The Moody Blues for more than 50 years while also pursuing a successful solo career. He’s even been voted one of the “10 most influential ba...

This episode honors Pride Month, most specifically a particular celebration in Red Bank, NJ called “Pride on the Plaza” hosted by Two River Theater. Pride Month has a storied history, much of it more distressing than celebratory, but that is exactly why Pride Month is so important. Centuries of degradation and segregation led to protests that grew to a cultural revolution designed to protect, and...

The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey is New Jersey's largest professional theatre company dedicated solely to Shakespeare's canon and other classic masterworks. Previously under the leadership of artistic director Bonnie J. Monte since 1990, the theater has since welcomed Brian Crowe as the new Artistic Director as of January of 2024. Brian has been with the organization for 29 years, f...

You may know Peter Filichia from his 19 years as The Star Ledger’s theater critic or as a columnist for Masterworks Broadway, author of several books, Broadway Radio personality, or playwright. Filichia has worked in and around the theater for decades, he’s seen shows in 47 states and 20 foreign countries (he keeps a list), and after nearly 30 years of hosting the Theatre World Awards, he will be...

If you’re a Stevie Wonder fan, you have to give jazz pianist and bandleader James Austin, Jr’s music a listen. His 2018 debut album, Songs in the Key of Wonder, reinterprets Stevie Wonder’s beloved catalog with a Jazz spin, creating beautiful new tracks. Originally from Chicago and based in New Jersey, James began playing piano at age 3, went on to study under acclaimed jazz teacher Barry Harris,...

First time playwright Erik Kahn has managed to showcase the beauty of overcoming one’s circumstances. Set on August 31st of 1939, his play “Canned Goods” details the little known false flag operation that preceded the start of the Second World War. Three men were code named “Canned Goods” by Himmler and were used by the SS to justify Hitler’s invasion of Poland. Heartening in its own right, the pl...