July - September / 06

		Second Line This world premiere play by Seret Scott follows two middle class black college students who meet and fall in love during the stormy events of the 1960s. As part of the first generation of African-Americans to consider a college education their due, they faced a new set of decisions. Should they enter mainstream American business, join the Civil Rights Movement, or take a stand on the Vietnam War? “Second Line” examines the consequences of those choices. October 5 - 29, at the Passage Theater in Trenton. Visit www.passagetheatre.org
		Hellenic Dancers “Zorba the Greek” introduced lots of Americans to Greek folk culture, but the Hellenic Dancers of New Jersey go well beyond that popular 1964 movie. Since 1972, the group has been researching, preserving, and performing traditional folk dances that portray rites of passage like birth, marriage, war, death, the harvest, and the spring carnival. They’ll give a free performance on September 30th at the New Jersey Veterans Home at Menlo Park Outdoor Amphitheater in Edison. Visit co.middlesex.nj.us/culturalheritage and www.hellenicdancersofnj.org
		Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival The biennial Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival is the largest poetry event in North America – a long autumn weekend jammed with panel discussions, lectures, and wall-to-wall readings, that feature both emerging and established poets. Former poet laureate Billy Collins, a Dodge regular, says that “The spectacle of crowds of people shouldering past one another in all directions, the long lines of book-buyers, the rapt attention to readers, the outbursts of applause, and even standing ovations are enough to convince you that poetry has somehow been restored to its ancient prominence and might even be a force to be reckoned with.” September 28 - October 1st at Waterloo Village in Stanhope. Visit www.grdodge.org/poetry
		Ain’t Misbehavin’ “Ain’t Misbehavin’”, a celebration of the music of the inimitable Fats Waller, recreates the sass and glamour of 1930s nightlife in Harlem -- where jazz, swing, ragtime, and rhythm and blues ignited the cultural explosion of the Harlem Renaissance. And Fats Waller, with his outsized personality and gigantic talent, was at the center of it all. At Two River Theater in Red Bank September 27 through October 22. Visit www.trtc.org
		Wheaton Arts and Cultural Center At Wheaton Arts and Cultural Center in Millville, you can browse the Museum of American Glass’ collection of thousands of glass art objects, make a paperweight of your own, and watch contemporary glass artists create new work. On November 10th, Wheaton presents the Creative Glass Center of America Open Studio, showcasing the work of this session’s fellowship winners. They will show images of their work and do a hot glass demonstration. Free admission. Visit www.wheatonvillage.org
		Morris Museum The female figure is the subject of two shows at the Morris Museum this summer: New Jersey sculptor Sassona Norton’s larger than life bronzes, which recall the expressive and emotional nature of works by Auguste Rodin; and “Echoes of the Past: Styles in Women’s Costume” illustrates how certain forms and fashions telegraph feminine status. On view through September 10th. Visit www.morrismuseum.org Sculpture: "Unquenchable Thirst" by Sassona Norton, Bronze, 2004, 23 1/2" x 11" x 15"
		Apostasy Playwright Gino DiIorio pairs a terminally ill Jewish businesswoman with a charismatic black Christian televangelist, in a star-crossed love affair that raises questions about faith, self-deception, and what happens when we die. At New Jersey Rep in Long Branch through August 13th. Visit www.njrep.org
		The Cherry Orchard “The Cherry Orchard”, which many consider the crowning achievement of the Russian playwright Anton Chekhov, tells the story of a wealthy Russian family struggling to hang onto their estate - and their beloved cherry orchard - in the wake of social and political upheaval. But despite the serious subject matter - and the poignant end - Chekhov maintained the play was not a heavy drama, but a comedy. Visit www.njshakespeare.org
		Antonio Puri and LiQin Tan “Path of Cosmologies & Technology: The Collaborative Work of Antonio Puri and LiQin Tan” unites an abstract painter (Puri) and a 3-D computer animator to create painterly, animated works of art that are alive with motion and color. At the Noyes Museum through September 3, 2006. Visit www.noyesmuseum.org