The Spitfire Grill Opens at the Westminster Arts Center

4th Wall Theater kicks off its 15th anniversary year with the musical, The Spitfire Grill.

“Chick flicks” get a bad name. The term, used to denote a “touchy-feely” movie with primarily females in the lead, usually means you’re in for a lot of women bonding and crying together. But what’s wrong with that? “Thelma & Louise”? “A League of Their Own”? “Terms of Endearment”? Some really excellent films can definitely be dubbed “chick flicks”. Kicking off their 15th anniversary, 4th Wall Theater would like you to add “The Spitfire Grill” to that list of great films. Only this one is on the stage. Adapted from the Lee David Zlotoff film of the same name, the story begins with Percy Talbott (Alexis Field) leaving prison and arriving in a small Midwest town called Gilead. She quickly gets a job working for Hannah Ferguson (Jodi Freeman …

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This Weekend: ‘The Revenge of Hamlet’

The Rogues Company presents “The Revenge of Hamlet”, a post-World War II update on Shakespeare’s play, at the Westminster Arts Center.

Hamlet is disaffected youth. Hamlet is contradiction to authority. Hamlet is rebellion without a cause. And so is the vision of director and actor James R. Karcher. With his version of Hamlet, titled “The Revenge of Hamlet,” playing this weekend at the Westminster Arts Center at Bloomfield College, Karcher takes William Shakespeare’s play to the post-World War II era. Along with that period change comes a new version of the story. “I didn’t want to do the same Hamlet,” said Karcher after Thursday’s opening night. “These guys that came out of that school – Brando, James Dean, Montgomery Clift, Paul Newman – all those guys, in a way, were doing their own version of Hamlet in their movies; not just melancholy but the brooder, the intense …

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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 …

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A Midsummer's Weekend with the Bard

Shakespeare opportunities for the weekend

“Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears ….”  While Hamlet is not one of the plays being performed locally this weekend, several other Shakespearean works will be in the vicinity. Love’s Labour’s Lost will be performed outdoors in the gardens of the Macculloch Hall Historical Museum, while A Midsummer Night's Dream can be enjoyed in a traditional setting at the Greek amphitheater at the College of St. Elizabeth. The lesser known Timon of Athens will be revived in Madison at The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey. These plays have been popular for more than 200 years, for “Pleasure and action make the hours seem short.” –Othello (Act II Scene III). Love’s Labour’s Lost Where/When: Macculloch Hall Historical Museum, 45 Macculloch Ave…

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ArtSpeak

‘A Man of No Importance’ Offers an Alternative to Summer Entertainment

A Man of No Importance plays at the Westminster Arts Center this June.

When superheroes have saturated the movie theaters and have even started swinging in and spinning webs on Broadway, where can one turn to find an alternative to typical summer fare? The 4th Wall Theater company answers that question and sates the hunger of New Jersey’s theater-goers with its production of “A Man of No Importance”. Playing until June 18th, this one is not to be missed. However, that recommendation comes with a caveat. This is not a “light” musical. If you are familiar with this play then you already know that it is an emotional mix of humor, pathos, and the bittersweet mess that is life. If you are not familiar with the story then I will try not to give away the twists and turns that stunned me upon my first viewing. In a …

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Orlando Callegari, Jr.

2:19 pm on Friday, June 24, 2011

Thanks a lot. I had never seen the show before but I'm certainly glad I got the chance to.   more ›

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 …

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