Imagine yourself in an intimate place, absorbing the glorious sound of music or laughing to the comedian’s antics while surrounded by the inspiring colors and forms of works of art! The Upper Gallery has 12-foot ceilings, superb acoustics, and a seating capacity of 100.
Improv
The Improvables
Adult Improv Saturday, September 11, 8 p.m.
Family Improv Saturday, October 9, 8 p.m.
Performing improv comedy regularly at the Watchung Art Center since 2003, The Improvables provide audiences with outlandish humor, surprises, and an all-around great time.
Each show is a unique experience and consists of a series of “games” in which the performers have to act out various scenarios without knowing in advance what they are going to say or how things are going to turn out. The audience often sets the scenes for the players on-the-spot and may be pulled up to join in the fun!
Special family-friendly improv performances are good, clean fun for families with kids (ages 10 and older). What a unique way to spend time with the kids taking a dose of that much needed laughter!
Seating is limited so purchase your tickets in advance and let the amusement begin! Tickets are $8. You may purchase tickets securely using PayPal from our Ticket Reservation page. For more information call 908-753-0190 or click here to e-mail us.
Classicals at the Circle
Rising Stars Piano Recital
Sunday, September 26, 4 p.m.
Two outstanding senior year student from Watchung Hill High School, and Westfield High School, Fei-Fei Kong and Bob Steinfeld, will present a joint piano recital to benefit Watchung Arts Center and charity: water*. Both Mr. Steinfeld and Ms. Kong were among the selected winners in the prestigious National Young Artists Showcase Competition of the National League of Performing Arts, resulting in a performance at the Weill Recital Hall of Carnegie Hall.
Fei-Fei Kong received First Place in the piano division in the 2009 International Youth Arts Recognition and Talent Search Program held in Beijing, China, as well as the second place in both the art & calligraphy.
In addition to the numerous awards he received for his piano performances, Bob Steinfeld is an accomplished percussionist, a tenor and a composer. He is a member in the percussion section of the Greater Newark Youth Orchestra.
These two outstanding young musicians will perform music by Beethoven, Rachmaninoff, Granados and Prokofiev, among others, dedicating their talent to further the worthy causes of supporting our Watchung Arts Center and bringing clean water to the development countries.
Tickets are $20 ($18 for WAC members, $15 for students). You may purchase tickets securely using PayPal from our Ticket Reservation page. For more information call 908-753-0190 or e-mail us.
*charity: water is a non-profit organization bringing clean and safe drinking water to developing nations. Founded in 2005, charity: water is currently working on water projects in 17 nations around the world. 100% of all public donations to charity: water go directly to funding these projects.
Kathleen Supové: The Exploding Piano
Sunday, October 10, 4 p.m.
The virtuoso piano travels into the 21st Century with this program of works for piano alone, as well as piano and soundtrack. It’s a wild, unusual, and uplifting ride with ear-opening sounds and plenty of humor. A new work, “Up, Up and Away!” by New Jersey composer Amanda Harberg will be premiered, with the composer in attendance. Sounds come from a variety of sources including infomercials, Sufi mysticism, and writings on string theory!
Kathleen Supové is one of America’s
most acclaimed and versatile contemporary music
pianists, known for continually redefining what it means to be a pianist/keyboardist/performance
artist in today’s world. In addition to her compelling virtuosity, she is also known for her
boundary-breaking ways of breaking the wall between performer and audience. After winning top prizes
in the Gaudeamus International Competition for Interpretation of Contemporary Music, she began her
career as a guest artist at the prestigious Darmstadt Festival in Germany. Since then, Ms. Supové
has presented solo concerts entitled The Exploding Piano, in which she has championed the music of
countless contemporary composers—minimalists, postminimalists, and experimentalists.
Tickets are $18 (members $16, students $8). You may purchase tickets securely using PayPal from our Ticket Reservation page. For more information call 908-753-0190 or e-mail us.
Indian Classical
A Shehnai-Vocals Evening
featuring Pt. Shailesh Bhagwat, Shri Pranab Kumar Biswas, with Shri Anil Khare and Rohan Prabhudesai
Friday, October 29, 8 p.m.
Watchung Arts Center presents the extraordinary talents of Ustad Bismillah Khan’s favorite disciple, Pt. Shailesh Bhagwat on Shehnai and Shri Pranab Kumar Biswas’s vocals. Pt. Shailesh Bhagwat was under the tutelage of Ustad Bismillah Khan for 37 years and is now his best-known disciple. This is his first trip to the US, a long-awaited, rare opportunity to listen to the haunting tone of what may be the most revered musical instrument of India. Please visit www.shehnaai.com to learn more about the shehnai and Ustad Bismillah Khan.
Shri Pranab Kimar Biswas received his musical training from, among others, Shri Dilip Roy, Ustad Rashid Khan, Ustad Nissar Husain and Pt. Rajan Sajan Mishra. His voice has a rich, soulful quality with a commanding reach and range that spans three octaves, and exhibits a unique combination of sweetness and power. More information on this wonderful singer can be found at http://pranabkumar.co.in.
Both the artists will be supported by Shri Anil Khare on tabla and
Rohan Prabhudesai on harmonium, making this a rich, memorable evening
showcasing two grand forms of Indian classical music, presented by artists of the highest order.
Tickets are $20 (members $18, students $8). You may purchase tickets securely using PayPal from our Ticket Reservation page. For more information call 908-753-0190 or click here to e-mail us.
Musical Benefit
A Musical Evening with Mike DeParto
Friday, September 24, 8 p.m.
Join Watchung resident Mike DeParto for a special musical event reminiscent of those relaxed Summer nights just passed. Mike will be performing a broad range of songs both popular and obscure that have influenced him over the years. Refreshments will be served for this casual night of live music and vocals with friends.
Tickets are $20. All proceeds will help support the many fine programs presented by the Watchung Arts Center. You may purchase tickets securely using PayPal from our Ticket Reservation page. For more information call 908-753-0190 or click here to e-mail us.
Tibetan Music and Dance
Tibetan Finissage
Saturday, September 25, 7 p.m.
Closing Festivities for the New Dreams Tibetan Art Show. This will be a joyous occasion filled with Tibetan Music and Dance. Joining the gaiety of this unique and lively closing will be the New Dreams artist himself, Mr. Samten Dakpa.
Tickets are $15. You may purchase tickets securely using PayPal from our Ticket Reservation page. For more information call 908-753-0190 or click here to e-mail us.
“Powerful Women of Song”
Tracy Grammer
Saturday, October 2, 8 p.m.
Tracy Grammer rose to acclaim as half of the acoustic duo, Dave Carter & Tracy Grammer. The duo released three internationally renowned albums and toured with Joan Baez, both as featured artists and band members. After Carter’s death in 2002, Tracy Grammer finished the tour solo, a testament to her strength as a solo artist, and to the enduring appeal of Carter’s songwriting, the release of her album ‘Flower of Avalon’ in January 2006 showed up on “Best Of” lists around the country. “Working with Dave Carter was the first step on what I hope is going to be a long and fruitful road for me: the endless quest for authenticity through music,” says Grammer. She is a soulful American storyteller with a beauty and clarity in her warm and versatile voice.
Tickets are $18 online, $23 at the door. Ticket sales have not yet begun. We will post the link as soon as it is available.
Jazz
Beacon Hill Jazz Band
Saturday, October 16, 8 p.m.
Marty Eigen’s Beacon Hill Jazz Band will open its sixth season at the Art Center featuring its new guitarist, the fabulous Flip Peters. Any of you who have attended one of the group’s concerts in the past, know that you are in for a treat. Those who have never been to a Beacon Hill Jazz concert have been missing an entertainment extravaganza. If you are a music lover, come and enjoy!
The band always provides a great evening of entertainment with exciting new music; as well as your favorites from past concerts. The band includes The Beacon Hill Vocal Trio with lead singer Nancy Nelson and piano great, Fred Fischer. All the rest of the dynamic crew will be there to entertain your socks off! After the concert you are welcome to mingle with the performers at the always lively “Meet-the-Musicians” Reception, hosted by WAC’s Claus Cardinal.
Tickets are $18 ($15 for WAC members, $8 for students). You may purchase tickets securely using PayPal from our Ticket Reservation page. For more information call 908-753-0190 or e-mail us.
Stage Performance
Jennifer DiOrio’s Offsides
Friday, October 22, 8 p.m.
Saturday, October 23, 8 p.m.
Sunday, October 24, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.
Offsides, written by emerging playwright/screenwriter Jennifer DiOrio and directed by NY-based writer/actor/director Alberto Bonilla, is a coming-of-age melodrama set in suburban NJ in 1990. The play reached the quarterfinals of the 2009 Cynosure Screenwriting Awards Competition (see www.broadmindent.com/id26.html).
Offsides is a multi-generational story that centers on Marissa DiGiacomo, a top student and star soccer player who is at a crossroads. She will lose it all if she makes the wrong decision. Her father, a role model for her on the field, has made a series of bad decisions in his own life. One of these decisions could change everything.
The story came to Ms. DiOrio in a dream in 1996. Immediately, she wrote a journal entry about it and planned to write a screenplay, but life took over and she wasn’t able to write the complete script until 2008. Eventually, several local theater directors read the script and suggested that Ms. DiOrio adapt it for the stage. And that’s what she did. This stage adaptation has something for everyone: drama, humor, uplifting moments, and romance.
Tickets are $15. You may purchase tickets securely using PayPal from our Ticket Reservation page. For more information call 908-753-0190 or click here to e-mail us.