Jersey Arts Resolutions, Part 2.

Hope you had a lovely New Year’s celebration, Arts Lovers! Here’s some  New Year’s thoughts from John, Colleen, and Jonathan. Read on for more about branching out, taking personal stakes in the art in our lives, and the role of arts in communities.–CV

JOHN BECK, Our Dance Blogger:

I think my biggest resolution is to get out and see more- more dance, more galleries, more poetry. This first year in New Jersey has been a whirl, and now that I’m finally feeling settled (more or less), I’m starting to realize how much art I’ve been missing.  I work down the street from Paper Mill Playhouse, and I live in Morristown, walking distance from the Community Theatre and the Morris Museum.  So I resolve to make time in my schedule for more of the great things my community has to offer… right in between cooking a healthier dinner and my trip to the gym!

“I’ll Have A Brandi Carlile With A Side Of Mayo, Please.”

Check out Cat’s CV5 Interview with Brandi Carlile here. –editor Jon.

It was like the thrill of having seen seven stellar concerts all in one night. Have you ever seen an opening band that fit so well with the headliner it reminded you of the time of how perfectly put together you felt when you decided to match your underwear with your exterior clothing? Okay, so picture that with a flawless story arc in concert form.  May I create a loose analogy…again: if small streams of rippling water were a concert — you know, the one’s you find in those magical spots among the trees when hiking in the mountains—those streams would be Brandi Carlile’s performance. I felt the walls change and my environment collapse and rebuild itself song to song. The set list was smart, and the arc of honest emotion and closure at the end of the concert was comfortable, energizing, and fun. The Mayo Center, in other words, delivered.

The CV 5: Interview with Brandi Carlile.

Our singer-songwriter blogger Cat Cosentino sat down with Brandi Carlile last Thursday, shortly before her performance at The Community Theatre at Mayo Center for the Performing Arts in Morristown. Here’s a bit of their conversation. Enjoy!

Where did you and the Twins, Phil and Tim (Hanseroth), first meet? And can you remember the first time you played publicly together?

“We met in Seattle, we bumped into each other at this little recording studio. We were making demos with each of our respective bands and we started to hit it off, became fast friends, started singing together. The first time we gigged out was at a place called The Tracter. And Phil wasn’t in the band yet, it was just Tim. Phil was in the audience, Tim was on stage. I think we did some sort of Third Eye Blind cover.”

Fun fact–Phil and Tim Hanseroth are former members of The Fighting Machinists, and co-produced Brandi Carlile’s self titled album with her. Tim plays guitar, Phil plays bass, and they’re identical twins who are Seattle natives. Tim and Brandi also have matching tattoos!–editor Jon

What affects you more as a singer/songwriter: home or the places you travel to?

“Mmm, that’s a real good question. One of the best actually. Whichever is the most tumultuous. Whichever one is more of the ‘struggle ‘ effects me more at any given time. If I’m struggling the most with home and family and interpersonal relationships, I write about that…but if I’m struggling more with being gone and being confronted with myself I write about that.”    Me: AND THIS COMES IN WAVES?:  “Yeah, absolutely , it comes in cycles.”

Do you listen to music as often as you write it?

“More.  And I get obsessively focused on one thing for a long time. I’ll get turned on to an artist or a band and I will listen to the record hundreds of times over and over and over again before even switching to another record. “

How does it feel to be in the first round of the reincarnation of Lilith Fair, having been a part of it in the past?

“It felt incredible, and I knew it was going to be a big deal but when I got there and was actually sort of seated next to Sara in a press conference and answering questions about how Lilith Fair has affected my generation, it felt like a really big deal. It was a really beautiful idea and I hope they do it again next year.”

Is there a song that you sing that touches you so deeply that it changes the way you breathe, the way you think, and the way your heart feels on stage? One that transports you to a different place?

“Yeah, absolutely. It changes. It’s usually about the same few songs. The song that does that universally, all the time, is a cover tune, and its “Hallelujah,” and I don’t do it very often because it has been done so many times, but in a really beautiful place with a really great crowd sometimes I’ll just do it. And I always do it with a symphony, too. As far as my personal songs go, I think I feel more transcended by a song called “I Will.”

Check out Cat’s concert recap here.

Generation NEXT at ABBA Mania: Thank You for the Music

Polyester: The official F-ABBA-ric. Get it? Get it?

As a theater nerd through and through I kind of live for things like talk back sessions.  On top of the fun of seeing a show, you get the opportunity to ask any question that pops into your head about said show (which always provides for some amusing moments.)  So you can imagine my excitement when the Generation Next post-show event was a discussion with ABBA Mania creator and band member Mark Thomas!

Mark was so gracious in answering all of our questions from “What happens when a member of your group gets sick?” (they have an understudy on tour with them) to “Are there ABBA Mania groupies?” (they have an especially nice following in the U.K., but sorry ladies, he’s married!)  And then there is my favorite factoid of the evening: in addition to performing the pop hits of ABBA, Mark is actually a trained jazz drummer!  Very talented guy.

Before I sign off, friends in cyberspace, let me leave you with this nugget of knowledge: Generation Next events are some of the best deals in town.  For a $25 ticket I saw a show, attended a post-show event, AND got a free drink (gentlemen take note, this is a brilliant date idea!).  And, of course, where else can you meet a jazz drummer who also plays Bjorn of ABBA?

Generation NEXT at the Bickford 3: The Review!

I Love You, You're Perfect...Now Pizza.

(Sorry this show is just so good; I really couldn’t edit this down!)

There are some genuinely tender moments in this show, especially Christine Marie Heath’s rendition of “I will be loved tonight” and Marc G. Dalio’s performance as an old man looking across the table to his wife of many years and singing “Shouldn’t I be less in love with you?”

Even though the ages in the theater seemed to range from 21 to 75, there wasn’t one member who laughed particularly louder at a comic scene or sighed at a touching moment.  There really is something for everyone.

My moment would have to be the single woman trying to get off the phone with her anxious mother wanting to know if the man she went on a date with the other night has called yet.  She chides her mother with “he said he’d call tonight so of course he won’t call tonight” line.  Every single woman knows the x 3 rule when it comes to a guy.  (Take the day he says he’ll call you and add three days and that’s the actual time you will hear from him.  It’s as valid as the Pythagoras Theorem).  So imagine the woman’s surprise, along with the audience’s, when the man actually calls her!

The stage erupts into a musical spectacular of “He Called Me,” complete with a dancing duo of Italian pizza delivery men.  When the man calls her again, the spectacular abruptly ends as she turns to the audience with a sigh to say “He’s needy.”   And alas, the relationship ends before it can even begin.  I hate to admit it but I am guilty of such a judgment.  So I guess after seeing the other side, I will have to respectfully retract my former statement that “boys are stupid” and merely conclude that it is not about finding that perfect person but finding a person who embraces your “baggage” and inner-weirdness.

When I find mine, he will take me to see theatre.

Generation NEXT at the Bickford Theatre 2: The Show!

Maris, Cynthia of DJA, and Laura of NJYP

So much to blog, so little space. As expected, Generation NEXT nailed their opening season with this event! Let me begin with the actual musical, especially since this is its final weekend of performances.

My friend and I were hoping for a night of uncontrollable, gut-busting laughter and we were not disappointed. In fact, first audience applause erupted within the first 2 minutes of the start of the show which has to be some sort of record, at least for my Theater Geekdom standards.

Act I of the show is a series of short vignettes that follow the absurdity and awkwardness of dating rituals both for men and women. Why do we spend hours of preparation on a blind date that has a very good chance of only lasting a few minutes? Why not just skip the awkward first, second, and third dates to fast forward to the sex? Or even better, the thrill of the first fight followed by the even-hotter make-up sex? In “We had it All,” the two actors are able to go through an entire relationship within a 2 minute song. (I can think of a few of my own relationships that I wish had lasted that long.)

Act II highlights the post-dating phase of our lives from raising children to growing old together. Memorable moments include a scene where the single friend comes to visit the newly proud parents only to find his once-upon-a-time cool friend only to find he has been replaced by an alien version of himself who only says words like “poopy-woopy” and “gabba babba boo.” We have all lost that friend to “the baby cult.”

Next up: More on the show…