Porgy and Bess - It's Finally Here

The 1935 opera The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess is an opera that is considered part of standard operatic repertoire. And it has also eluded us here at the State Theatre for a couple of years now. It seems like forever that we have been trying to book this show, because no matter what we did, inevitably something always went wrong -- we didn't have an available date, the timing was just off, etc, etc. And now after years of follow-up and determination, we are finally presenting Porgy and Bess on March 25. And, even better, it is the full-scale production of the opera. You may know Porgy and Bess from all of the iconic Gershwin songs including “Summertime,” “I Got Plenty O’ Nuttin’,” and “It Ain’t Necessarily So." And now, you can see it brought to life, right here in central Jersey.

I hope to see you there. I know I certainly can't wait (anymore).
—Kelly Skinner, Director of Public Relations

“Backstage Access” - From The Belly of The Beast

This past Thursday the children’s character Waldo, from the Where’s Waldo book series took over the State Theatre. Rutgers University Programming Association (RUPA) held a charity event to not only collect books for the local New Brunswick school district, but attempted to break the Guinness World Record of the most amount of people dressed as Waldo in one location. Starting at 7pm students lined Livingston Avenue and around the corner to George Street to donate their books and receive a costume, provided by RUPA. As the students came into the theater various student performance organizations took the stage including the band The “N” result, The Jugglers Club, The Iota Phi Theta Step team, and the Livingston Theatre Company. In the end the students almost doubled the record with 1,052 Waldo’s and over 3,000 books for the New Brunswick Schools. Here are some great videos, pictures, and articles of the event:

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/ireports/2009/04/04/irpt.wheres.waldo.cnn?iref=videosearch

http://www.flickr.com/photos/emidesu/3408706534/

http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/weird/Hundreds-Dress-as-Wheres-Waldo-at-Rutgers.html

Saturday night, was a totally different experience. We presented the classic Mikado, performed by G&S repertory company, Opera A La Carte. Arguably the most famous operetta ever written and obviously still wowing audiences since its debut in 1885 had our audience smiling for two and a half hours. Here’s an interesting piece of info…The idea for The Mikado first sprang into W.S. Gilbert's mind when an old Japanese sword, which had been hanging on the wall of his study for years, suddenly fell from its place. Gilbert took this as an omen and determined to leave his own country alone for a while and turn his biting satire instead towards the East. He did not have to look far to research the subject of his new play. He found all the material he wanted in Knightsbridge, a little village of Japanese immigrants within a mile of his own home in South Kensington. Hopefully, they will back to visit us soon with one of their other productions.

(A really proud moment Saturday night for us here at the State actually happened in Cleveland. Our head sound engineer, Willie Weist, who is also the keyboardist/music director for Little Anthony and The Imperials played live on the national broadcast of The Rock and Roll hall of Fame induction ceremonies!)

Sunday and Monday we were host to the National Acrobats of China. Not a lot of fun backstage for me since no one spoke English but there was certainly not a dull moment onstage. It was quite apparent that this group practices relentlessly as there were no mistakes. Some of the routines just seem impossible to do…riding on top of someone’s shoulders on a bicycle and jumping to the next person’s shoulders in front of them on another bicycle, just crazy stuff. The age ranges of the audiences were from 0 to very old and everyone loved it. I can tell you that backstage they have a book that if you make a mistake you get written up. Now judging on how serious they are about not getting written up , well I am not sure of the penalty, but their tour manager told me that at one show one acrobat went flying off the stage to catch his hat and jumped up like a center fielder yelling I got it!

Not a lot of crazy things backstage this weekend but check back later this month when I report on Willie Nelson, Joe Cocker, Brian Regan , and k.d. lang. Thanks and remember come out and see a show!

--Larry S. Dember, Director of Production

The State Theatre is located at 15 Livingston Avenue in New Brunswick, NJ. For information or to purchase tickets call 732-246-SHOW(7469) or visit http://www.statetheatrenj.org/.

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Rocking Opera Like No Other Group - East Village Opera Company

Opera? Rock? How about Opera rocked? Yes, music fans, there is a new genre of music where 300 year old arias are being re-imagined and re-worked as Rock songs. And the group leading the way is East Village Opera Company. With their leather pants and kick-ass performances, East Village is making waves across the music industry with their unique and explosive new sound. They even have the Grammy nominations to prove it! And, classical and rock fans alike are loving it!

Check out the video below and see for yourself!



East Village Opera Company performs live at the State Theatre in New Brunswick, NJ, on Friday, April 3 at 8pm.

The State Theatre is located at 15 Livingston Avenue in New Brunswick, NJ. For information or to purchase tickets call 732-246-SHOW(7469) or visit http://www.statetheatrenj.org/.

Check us out on Twitter, Facebook, and Myspace.