STATEWIDE – State of the Arts, NJN’s award-winning, half-hour arts magazine, invites viewers to explore the artistic and cultural sides of New Jersey. On Friday, November 19, at 8:30 pm and again at 11:30 pm, State of the Arts presents Gray Eminence featuring legendary artists and musicians with careers that span generations, telling the story of artists whose years of living on this earth reflect their values and influence.

• Milton Babbitt
Milton Babbitt played jazz and wrote Broadway show music before dedicating himself to composing with the mid-twentieth century serial technique. Babbitt took the form to new heights, applying serialism to rhythm, timbre, dynamics and pitch. He is a founder and member of the Committee of Direction for the Electronic Music Center of Columbia-Princeton Universities and has taught at both Princeton University and the Juilliard School of Music. Now in his late eighties, Babbitt reflects back on his career. Also interviewed is pianist Robert Taub, who plays a Babbitt composition. According to Taub, Babbitt is receiving more commissions now than ever before.

• Jerry Herman
Jerry Herman, the legendary Broadway composer and lyricist (Hello Dolly, Mame, Mack and Mabel, La Cage Aux Folles) first fell in love with the musical theater as a boy growing up in Jersey City—and the love affair continues. This month, as a revival of his La Cage opens on Broadway, State of the Arts previews scenes from an upcoming documentary about Jerry Herman, produced by Amber Edwards: Jerry Herman – The Best of Times. Now in his mid-70s, Herman’s enthusiasm and joy in his music is undiminished as is demonstrated by his coaching of young singers in a rehearsal studio. Additional commentary from longtime friends and colleagues Carol Channing, Charles Nelson Reilly, director Arthur Laurents, lyricist Fred Ebb and composer Charles Strouse helps reveal the craftsmanship behind these seemingly simple, ebullient songs.

• American Abstract Artists
In the 1930s in New York City, a group calling themselves American Abstract Artists (AAA) formed to counter the popular view that abstract painting and sculpture were only happening in Europe. Discouraged by the lack of representation of American artists in a survey of Cubism and abstraction at the Museum of Modern Art, the AAA organized their first show with 39 artists in April 1937. Their pamphlets, lectures, forums and annual exhibitions increased the appreciation and popularity of American abstract art. The group dissolved as the United States was drawn into World War II but began to reform again around 1950 and continue to act as stewards of abstract art in America. Interviews with several senior members, including Princeton painter Peter Stroud, focus on the history and the future of abstract art.

• Tom Malloy
Tom Malloy, a Trenton-based artist, began his career when most people would think of retiring. The uniqueness of his watercolors, depicting landscapes and city scenes, attracts a loyal audience of collectors. State of the Arts visits Malloy in his studio, finding out how the artist incorporates his memories into his work.

State of the Arts is your ticket to sit front and center and enjoy the New Jersey arts. Start your weekend with STARTS – a first-rate, in-depth focus on the arts and the winner of 22 regional Emmy Awards. Recent honors include a 2004 Mid-Atlantic Emmy as well as an honorable mention in the Columbus International Film & Video Festival.

State of the Arts is produced by series producer Susan Wallner and executive producer Nila Aronow. Funding is provided by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation.