Montclair Museum Offering Free Admission for Bloomfield College Students

Students can visit museum for free until “Bloomfield Avenue Hotline” is taken down in June.

In honor of a recently installed arty connection between the two institutions, the Montclair Museum is offering free admission to Bloomfield College students during the run of the Bloomfield Avenue Prize. Earlier this month, two yellow phone booths were installed at the museum and the college as part of “Bloomfield Avenue Hotline.” With the phones, users can hear pre-recorded messages based on conversations artists Karina Aguila Skvirsky and Liselot van der Heijden have had with members from each community or leave messages that can be heard by others. A representative of the Museum told Patch that students need to do is bring a valid ID. The exhibit will run through June 16.

• Photos (1)

Twinderella Comes To Studio Players Saturday

This is a show by and for kids!

No doubt you've heard the story of Cinderella. Now there's the story of Twinderella. Part of the Magic Trunk For Kids series, this is an inventive new show by and for kids. Indeed, all the actors, directors, and stage managers are—you guessed it—kids. Twinderella is about Bob, Cinderella's long-lost twin brother who's living in the same kingdom with different wicked stepfamilies. With the help of the Fairy Godmother, the Godfather (who's no fairy!), and a lot of luck, Cinderella and Bob find a way to attend the kingdom's festivities! Twinderella will delight audiences of all ages. The show is at Studio Players on Feb. 18, 19, 25, and 16.  These Saturday and Sunday performances begin at 1:30 PM and 3:30 PM.   Studio Players is located at 14…

• Photos (6)

The Montclair Operetta Club Returns with ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’

The Montclair Operetta Club (MOC) opens its 87th year with the rock opera, ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ at the Westminster Arts Center

The Montclair Operetta Club's Jesus Christ Superstar scored big with audiences this weekend, as the company brought the classic Andrew Lloyd Weber musical to the stage with a local cast that did it proud. Operetta Club President Richard O’Connor said Superstar was a last-minute, surprise addition to the fall theater line up.  “Our season was supposed to have been ‘Anything Goes’ and ‘Evita’," he admitted.  "I had a contract for the rights to ‘Anything Goes’ and . . . the next day in my email I had a rescission of those rights. So I lost our fall show."  Because local theatres cannot perform shows during their Broadway runs, Evita was also axed.  "After finding out that there was an “Evita” revival on the horizon, the original season was …

• Photos (9)

Senior Citizens Art Show Cooks Up More Talent Than Ever Before

The 2011 Essex County Senior Citizens Juried Art Show brings out the most senior citizen artists in recent history.

Gray hairs and golden years can sometimes be the perfect recipe to create an artist. Retirees often have the time and fascination to commit to a passion that was lost to their youth. That passion and talent was never more evident than at the 2011 Essex County Senior Citizens Juried Art Show in Cedar Grove, where Essex County Executive, Joseph N. DiVincenzo, Jr., awarded top prizes to 34 out of the 124 entrants. After a warm welcome and thanks, DiVencenzo (who noted, in his speech, that Angelo Casarola’s painting, “The Catch” chronicled last year’s winning Superbowl play,) went on to hand out first place, second place and Honorable Mentions to the contestants. Kate Hartwyk, Director of Programs and Grants for the Division of Cultural and …

• Photos (8)

Young Bloomfield Artists, Actors and Musicians Thrive In Summer Workshop

The Bloomfield Summer Arts Workshop drew 164 students interested in choir, instrumental music, drama, painting, sculpture and photography

The rumbling of snare drums and the jazz stylings of a choir were just some of the sweet sounds being made by students over at Bloomfield Middle School. A total of 164 students in fifth-grade through high school have been getting an artistic education over the past month through the Bloomfield school district's summer arts workshop. In addition to music, the students also have the option of studying drama, sculpture, painting and photography. The summer workshop has held five daytime recitals and performed a dinner show called "Macaroni & Music," said Juan Leonardo, supervisor of fine, visual and performing arts. The workshop's final show - a piano recital, concert and art expose - will be held 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the middle school, 60 …

• Photos (4)

Open Mic Night Brings Out the Talent

With the guidance of Debra D’Andrea, students and alumni of Bloomfield High put on a fund-raising open mic.

For anyone who may have had doubts Bloomfield is bursting with talented children, the Bloomfield High School’s Book Club, Books4Life, proved it with their open microphone night last Thursday at the Oakeside Manor. Why would a high school book club schedule this for the middle of the summer? It’s part of what this unorthodox organization does to raise funds through bake sales and read-a-thons in addition to performances like this. “We started a book club and it just skyrocketed. I think the reason that the kids are so connected is because we do connect to the arts. These kids are poets and musicians and artists,” said Debra D’Andrea, former media specialist at Bloomfield High and adviser to the book club. By 7 p.m., the children were …

• Photos (9)
• Videos (2)

Local Artist Overcomes Adversity

Local artist, Natalie Alleyne, becomes a successful artist despite difficult times early on in her life.

Artists have always had trouble making a living doing what they love. Unlike most of the populace, they have to hold a day job to afford to do what they really want. This takes conviction and the spirit to never give up. Local artist, Natalie Alleyne, is lucky to have both or she never would have made it to where she is today. Alleyne graduated the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan in 1980 and soon moved to St. Martin after a post-graduation vacation there. The tropics influenced her with the sights, sounds and people that were all new and exciting. “The island life, the colors, the texture, it very much resounds in my work,” says Alleyne. This influence, coupled with her love of Spanish painter, Picasso, can be seen in many of her pieces…

• Photos (4)

ArtSpeak

Fine Arts and Crafts Return to Brookdale Park

Rose Squared Productions and the Essex County Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs present the 23rd annual Spring Fine Arts and Crafts.

As summer warms up the Garden State most New Jersey natives don’t really need much reason to go out and enjoy the season. But for those who still cling to their flat screens and their surround sound stereo systems, Howard and Janet Rose of Rose Squared Productions offer Fine Arts and Crafts at Brookdale Park as yet another reason to get off the couch and experience what the outside world has to offer. With “over 160 juried professional artists, photographers and craft artisans from throughout the country” attending, according to www.rosesquared.com, the event presents something for nearly everyone. Paintings, clothes, pottery, sculptures and jewelry, all in tented booths, lined the walkway leading towards the heart of Brookdale Park. …

• Photos (7)

ArtSpeak

Broadway Performing Arts Holds First Adult Hip-Hop Class

Broadway Performing Arts brings their adult hip-hop class to Bloomfield grown-ups

“Even if you’re afraid of looking like a fool, do it. You never know what’s going to happen,” said Jennifer Lehansky, one of the students at Broadway Performing Arts’ new hip hop class. She, of course, was being modest given the prowess the class showed during their first adult lesson. They seemed to be one step away from backing up Beyoncé. But their moves and speedy understanding were no mistake. The members of this class were not mere beginners. Lehansky had been taking tap and ballet at the school for years while Hailey Aromando and Dashana Francis have been doing hip-hop since childhood. This was simply the next step in their performing arts education. With this in mind, it becomes clear why the students seemed to pick up such complex…

• Photos (5)

ArtSpeak

'Gypsy' Flaunts It All at Westminster

Montclair Operetta Club presents musical “Gypsy” in stunning performance

Director Bob Cline said it best when asked what he thought of the opening night of Gypsy at the Bloomfield College Westminster Arts Center. “I feel really blessed to have these three leads.” Indeed, he is. Last night marked the first of five performances of the musical, with lyrics written by Broadway luminary Stephen Sondheim, presented by the Montclair Operetta Club. Bianca Sutlovich (as Mama Rose), Jacqueline Taylor (as Louise) and Richard Colonna (as Herbie) created the world Gypsy lives and breathes in and command the stage with impressive prowess. These three gave performances that truly transport an audience.  The story of Gypsy centers on a mother, Rose, struggling to raise her two daughters on the stages of vaudeville. She fights …

• Photos (5)