January - March / 06

		Midsummer Night’s Dream There’s nothing traditional about the “Midsummer Night’s Dream” now playing at the McCarter Theater – with an original music score, played live, by the rock trio Groovelily, and a forest full of hunky, scantily clad fairies who climb up and down metal poles while singing and dancing. This imaginative concept, directed by Tina Landau, is a co-production of the McCarter Theater in Princeton, where it plays through April 9th; and the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, where it re-opens April 19th through May 21st. Visit www.mccarter.org and www.papermill.org
		Thomas George Princeton-based artist Thomas George has spent a lifetime studying – and rendering – nature. He has traveled around the world capturing shapes and forms that intrigue him, and, at age 78, is still making new work. “Thomas George: New Work, Drawings and Pastels,” is on view through April 6 at the Rider University Art Gallery. Visit www.rider.edu/~gallery/
		The Pizzarellis New Jersey’s “First Family of Cool”, The Pizzarellis, include jazz guitar legend Bucky Pizzarelli, his son John Pizzarelli’s Trio (guitarist and vocalist John, bassist Martin Pizzarelli, and pianist Ray Kennedy) and John's wife, the cabaret singer Jessica Molaskey. John Pizzarelli likens this configuration to "The von Trapp family on martinis." Making music together is a multi-generation tradition in this family, and they do it with style and playfulness. March 25th at the Patriot Theater in Trenton. Visit www.thewarmemorial.com
		Christine Andreas Broadway leading lady and Camden native Christine Andreas pays tribute to the musical legends who inspired her as a child, in her cabaret show which she performs at the McCarter Theater in Princeton on March 18th. Visit www.mccarter.org and www.christineandreas.com
		Dar Williams Folk-pop singer-songwriter Dar Williams likes to blend the personal with the political. Her latest recording, “My Better Self”, combines songs of love and hate with tales about some of the many social and environmental issues dear to her heart. She performs some of this new material live on March 12th at the Scottish Rite Auditorium in Collingswood. Visit www.ccparks.com
		The Pillowman Not for the young, squeamish, or easily frightened, “The Pillowman” is a scary, viciously funny new comedy-drama about a children’s book writer in a totalitarian state who is interrogated about the gruesome content of his short stories, and their similarities to a number of bizarre incidents occuring in his town. Through March 19th at the George Street Playhouse. Visit www.georgestplayhouse.org
		Edward Gorokhovsky While the Cold War raged, many Soviet artists went underground, rather than forcibly churn out patriotic Social Realist propaganda for the government. They became known as Non-Conformists, and the largest collection of Non-Conformist art in the world is at the Zimmerli Museum at Rutgers, New Brunswick. Now on view is work by Edward Gorokhovsky, whose paintings and silkscreens eloquently protest the disappearance of individuality in a totalitarian society. On view through March 16. Visit www.zimmerlimuseum.rutgers.edu
		Playing Cards Playing cards that can’t be shuffled or dealt, and rugs that can’t be walked on? The Hunterdon Art Museum presents an exhibition of fifty-five hooked rugs designed as playing cards in this traveling international invitational of fiber art, curated by Linda Rae Coughlin. “Art Rugs: The Art of Playing Cards” is on view through March 5th. Visit www.hunterdonartmuseum.org
		Leon Bates Pianist Leon Bates likes to break down stereotypes. For example, most people assume that, as an African-American, he must be a jazz musician. But Bates is an internationally acclaimed classical artist, specializing in Gershwin and Rachmaninov. And most people assume that classical musicians aren’t athletic... but Bates is a serious body builder who believes the discipline of lifting weights translates to his piano playing. He performs a concert on Sunday, March 5, at Two River Theater, in Red Bank. Visit www.algonquinarts.com
		Chakaia Booker Chakaia Booker, the self-proclaimed "Rubber Queen" of the art world, began making art out of old tires in the mid-1990s, and has since recycled countless cast-away Goodyears and Firestones into evocative, sometimes ominous looking sculptures. Born in Newark and raised in East Orange, Booker is no stranger to the urban industrial landscape; and her imaginative transformations of ordinary rubbish remind us that art can come from the most surprising sources. Through February 17th at the Richard Stockton College Art Gallery in Pomona. Visit intraweb.stockton.edu
		Vladimir Feltsman's Mozart What would it have been like to hear Mozart live in concert? Pianist Vladimir Feltsman will compare the modern piano to the 18th century fortepiano, in a weekend of all Mozart programs with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. And as Mozart himself would have done, Feltsman will conduct as he plays. January 27 - 29, in Princeton, Newark, and New Brunswick. Visit www.njsymphony.org
		Robert Maggio Composer Robert Maggio has created a sonic valentine to his new hometown of Lambertville, in a piece commissioned by the Riverside Symphonia. “At the River” incorporates interviews with residents, random sounds around town, and live orchestral music to evoke the pastorale character of this small river town. Visit www.riversidesymphonia.org
		Year of the Dog People born in the Year of the Dog are loyal and honest, but also stubborn and eccentric. To celebrate The Year of the Dog, in 2006, the Nai Ni Chen Dance Company will present a program of traditional and contemporary dance that pays homage to the icons of ancient China, and also marches boldly into a cross-cultural future. January 25th through 28th at NJPAC in Newark. Visit www.nainichen.org