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Archive for the ‘Set in New Jersey!’ Category

Five Dials Number 35: Richard McGuire Makes a Book (9 February 2015)

Posted in Fantastic Negrito, Five Dials, Graphic Novel, Joel Smith, Raw, Richard McGuire, Set in New Jersey!, Tiny Desk Concert, Tiny Desk Contest on April 19, 2015| Leave a Comment »

page_1_thumb_largeSOUNDTRACK: FANTASTIC NEGRITO-Tiny Desk Concert #425 (March 9, 2015).

fannegFantastic Negrito won the Tiny Desk Concert.  And now he gets a chance to play behind the desk for real.

He plays three songs (and looks amazingly dapper).  “Lost in a Crowd” is the song that won, and it sounds even better here–that live vibe really makes it shine.  I love that the drummer plays on a box, just like in the video.

He introduces this song by talking about the coma he was in (his life story is fascinating) and how everything was topsy turvy.  “Night Has Turned To Day” has a real soulful quality, with Negrito hitting some real James Brown wails.  I also like the way he gets the band to do “two times.”

“An Honest Man” is another great song with a fantastic blue chorus.  I also enjoyed the lyric: “I’m in love agin this time it’s not with my hand.”

The band sounds great–acoustic guitar, upright bass and keyboards, and yes, the drummer does get to move to the kit for the last two songs.

While I’m sure there were lots of other great bands deserving to win a Tiny Desk show, I think they made a good choice with Negrito.  he plays a style of music I wouldn’t normally listen to, and he does a great job with it.  I hope he gets a record out.

[READ: April 7, 2015] Five Dials Number 35

Five Dials Number 35 differs in many, many, many ways from the other issues.

First, it is almost entirely art.  Second it is devoted entirely to one artist.  In light of this, many of the pictures are full page sideways which means that the printing is different (this one is really best looked at online).

On page 54, there is an essay about the making of From Here to Here.  (more…)

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Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery (McCarter Theatre, Princeton NJ, March 13, 2015)

Posted in Baskerville, Funny (ha ha), Gregory Wooddell, Jane Pfitsch, Ken Ludwig, Lucas Hall, McCarter Theatre, Meta, Michael Glenn, Princeton, NJ, Set in New Jersey!, Sherlock Holmes, Stanley Bahorek on March 14, 2015| Leave a Comment »

bask[ATTENDED: March 13, 2015] Baskerville

We saw ads for this show some time last year during a Princeton street festival.  The folks at the McCarter booth really talked up the show and said our kids would love it.  In recent days the play has been getting rave reviews.  Needless to say we were pretty excited to go.

Well, the play was awesome.  I’m not sure that the kids loved it. Clark said he liked parts of it but found the mystery a bit hard to follow. And Tabby was kind of scared by the dark scenes and loud noises.  But everyone seemed to have a good time–even if it did end at 10PM.

And the play it self was really fantastic.  Going in we knew literally nothing about the play except that it had something to do with Sherlock Holmes.  I assumed it was the Hound of the Baskervilles story but I wasn’t sure if there was a twist on it at all.

And I certainly didn’t know anything about the way the play was structured.  In the brief write up in the booklet it seemed like the story might have a meta- component. And it did, but not in the way I expected.  For the meta component was that they really played up the constraints of the theater and wound up making jokes about the stage and how actors often play multiple roles.  For example, they said things like “that rabbit” and then a stuffed and mounted rabbit would wheel across the stage.  Or that he needed his hat and a trap door would open and a hat would be thrown to him.  And the hilarious way the flowers arrived was outstanding–I’m still not exactly sure how they did it. (more…)

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Cirque Alfonse: Timber! (RVCC Arts, Branchburg NJ, March 6, 2015)

Posted in Acrobats, Branchburg, NJ, C., Cirque Alfonse, Peking Acrobats, RVCC Arts, Set in New Jersey!, T. on March 7, 2015| Leave a Comment »

cirque_alfonse_timber_2[ATTENDED: March 6, 2015] Timber!

Anyone who reads this blog knows that we love our cirques.   From China, from Montreal, from wherever.  So if  you tell me that you’ve invited circus performers who are doing lumberjack skills, you know I’m there.

One thing I loved about this show was just how different it was from most of the shows we’ve seen.  Unlike the Chinese acrobats who are dainty or sleek and strong, or some of the other Montreal cirques which are polished, these acrobats, the troupe of Cirque Alfonse, were big burly bearded men in flannel shirts and long johns and a couple of women (one very strong and the other a lithe dancer). They spoke and sang only in French and created a set that was very much reminiscent of a Québécois logging camp.

timber4One of the best things about the show was the live music.  Most of the acrobats also played instruments–guitars, banjos, a saw, and various percussion.  There was something about the performers being up there that made the show more exciting–especially later in the show when the guy busted out an electric guitar which seemed to update the danger level somewhat.  I do admit that since I don’t know French at all, I have no idea what the songs (some had words) were about.

There was much humor (an outhouse as part of the set) and of course, plenty of visual humor–usually surrounding how they set up their tricks. (more…)

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Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (State Theatre, New Brunswick, NJ, December 27, 2014)

Posted in Bible, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, New Brunswick, NJ, Religion, Set in New Jersey!, State Theatre, Theater on December 27, 2014| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: December 27, 2014] Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

josephSarah and her mom love Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.  So when I saw that it was playing at the State Theatre for $7/ticket (as part of the Plays in the Park program) I decided to get tickets for all five of us (why not subject the kids to musicals as well?).

I knew the music a little from Sarah playing it, but I didn’t know it that well.  I always thought it was very funny that someone made a huge production out of what is a rather short Bible story.  But it’s a good story and one that I remember from my religion classes, so it seemed like a good afternoon of fun.

And it was.  This was the company’s 20th production of the show (who knew?).  And many of the people had been with the show for many many years.  So it was like a well-oiled machine.

The only thing that we all agreed we didn’t like so much was Joseph (Michael Ferlita). Not that he was bad, but that he was a bass.  And Joseph isn’t a bass.  It was weird, and at times hard to understand–it came across as more operatic than musical-y.  The rest of the performers were very good (as was the orchestra).  I was also delighted that the many of the men were kind of chunky–something you don’t often see on stage. (more…)

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Aparna Nacherla (State Theatre, New Brunswick, NJ, December 14, 2014) [JOHN OLIVER]

Posted in Aparna Nancherla, Funny (ha ha), John Oliver, NASA, New Brunswick, NJ, Pets, Set in New Jersey!, Space Force, State Theatre, Travel on December 14, 2014| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: December 14, 2014] Aparna Nacherla

nanI’m updating this post in July of 2020, because Aparna Nancherla deserves her own post.  When we saw her, she was hilarious.  Since then she has gained some noterirty and I am always pleased to see her on TV shows (most recently in the Steve Carell-created Space Force).

This is what I wrote about her in my post for John Oliver, but I wanted her to have her own heading.

S. and I were excited to see John Oliver.

The show opened with an Indian woman stand up.  Nothing is more thankless than being an opening act for a comedian.  For starters, we didn’t know there would be an opening act.  Then we didn’t find out until we saw in tiny letters on the tiny marquee in the foyer that there would be an opening act.  And we pushed through the doors so quickly that I never saw her name.  And of course they announced it, but I don’t remember what they said her name was.  And even worse I can’t seem to find it online anywhere (searching for “Indian female comedian” did not help).  And we never got a program (if it was indeed listed in there). (more…)

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John Oliver (State Theatre, New Brunswick, NJ, December 14, 2014)

Posted in Aparna Nancherla, Community, Funny (ha ha), John Oliver, Jon Stewart, NASA, New Brunswick, NJ, Pets, Set in New Jersey!, State Theatre, The Daily Show, Travel on December 14, 2014| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: December 14, 2014] John Oliver

oliverI have loved John Oliver for a long time.  I have been delighted to see him go from the British guy on the Daily Show (when he replaced Jon Stewart, he was really fantastic) to the British guy on Community and now the British guy with his own HBO show (which I have never seen since I don’t get HBO).  When I saw that he was doing standup in New Brunswick I had to go.  Our friends Eleanor and Liz went with us and we had a lovely night in good ol’ New Brunswick (strangely enough there was literally no one in the parking garage where we parked yet every restaurant was packed).

Sarah and I were worried that the stand up would reference his show, but it didn’t.  It was topical and funny and weird and funny and political and funny and very very funny.

The show opened with an Indian woman stand up.  Nothing is more thankless than being an opening act for a comedian.  For starters, we didn’t know there would be an opening act.  Then we didn’t find out until we saw in tiny letters on the tiny marquee in the foyer that there would be an opening act.  And we pushed through the doors so quickly that I never saw her name.  And of course they announced it, but I don’t remember what they said her name was.  And even worse I can’t seem to find it online anywhere (searching for “Indian female comedian” did not help believe it or not).  And we never got a program (if it was indeed listed in there).

[UPDATE: April 9, 2015] So I wrote to The State Theater and learned that our mystery comedian’s name is Aparna Nancherla.  You can see a clip of her on Conan where she tells the dog poop joke (and yes it is still funny).  But stay for the end to see the insane size difference between the two.

But she was very funny.  Her jokes were observational with some delightful nearly whispered punchlines that undermined her set ups.  She did an amusing but about drug store receipts.  There was a funny bit about going to customs in Australia and having to explain her occupation of “comedian.”  But a lot of her jokes were about making it in New York City.  There was a rather amusing dog poop joke and a very funny human poop joke.  The human poop joke was more about apartment hunting with a hilarious and disgusting premise that she claimed was a requirement for living in a new apartment (it was hilarious whether true or not). (more…)

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The Understudy (McCarter Theatre, Princeton NJ, October 15, 2014)

Posted in Adam Green, Danielle Skraastad, Funny (ha ha), JD Taylor, McCarter Theatre, Meta, Princeton, NJ, Romance, Set in New Jersey!, Spamalot, The Understudy, Theresa Rebeck on October 18, 2014| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: October 15, 2014] The Understudy

understudyI feel like we haven’t been attending as much live theater this year (this year was more about concerts), but I was happy that McCarter was showing this comedy (they just showed Antony & Cleopatra which I just was never quite in the mood for).  I got good seats and off we went.

I didn’t realize this was a preview performance (and what exactly that means I’m not sure–we saw a preview performance of Spamalot on Broadway and it was wonderful).  With our programs was a survey of things we liked/didn’t like or suggestions we might have about the show.  I though the show was wonderful and wouldn’t change anything.

The premise of the play is fantastic, especially if you like plays about the theater and acting.  The story is that one of the lead actors and his understudy are going to have a rehearsal of their upcoming play.  There are only three characters: the lead, the understudy and the stage manager.  Any behind the scenes type of story is bound to be funny, and so this was.  But what elevated this story to levels beyond a simple behind the scenes comedy was that the play the the actors are rehearsing for is a recently uncovered play written by Franz Kafka called The Man Who Disappeared.

The play is looking to be a huge success (Broadway loves Kafka!) especially since it stars two movie stars (there’s jokes about movie stars being on Broadway).  The main lead of the Kafka play is never seen, but we learn that he makes $20 million per picture.  The second lead is Jake–his recent film made $68 million in the first weekend and he is considered a major draw.  The understudy is Harry, a down on his luck artiste who is really happy to just get paid, even if he will likely never go on.  The third character is Roxanne.  She is the stage manager and she has a very compelling back story that is slowly revealed.

The fourth “character” is Laura. We never see Laura, but she is in charge of the lights and set during this rehearsal.  She is apparently high and is constantly causing trouble–missing light cues, bringing down incorrect sets.  For a nonexistent person, she is a highlight of the show. (more…)

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MOMIX Dreamcatcher (State Theatre, New Brunswick, NJ, September 18, 2014)

Posted in Acrobats, Dance, Dead Can Dance, Momix, Moses Pendelton, New Brunswick, NJ, Set in New Jersey!, State Theatre on September 19, 2014| Leave a Comment »

dreamcactehr[ATTENDED: September 18, 2014] MOMIX Dreamcatcher

Sarah and I have enjoyed Momix twice in the last two years. So when we saw they were coming back with a new show called Dreamcatcher, we were right there at the box office.

As it turns out Dreamcatcher is a “greatest hits’ collection, not unlike Momix Remix, the first one we saw.  Since last year we saw the show Botanica, which has a few greatest hits of its own, that means we have seen some of these performances three times now.  That was a little disappointing. On the plus side, this is the first time we had seats in the balcony.  Our first time we had middle of the floor level, which was very cool.  Second time we were very close to the stage which was interesting for different reasons.  But from the balcony, you can see the patterns that the dancers make and you can’t see the dancers in the pieces where they are “hidden.”  (When we were close I could see the dancers, which was interesting in and of itself, but it did remove some of the magic).

I wish that I had included a “setlist” from the previous shows, to see just how many we have seen multiple times (there were a couple that were similar but definitely different in some aspect or another).  So this time I will be placing the setlist at the bottom. (more…)

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Modest Mouse (Starland Ballroom, Sayreville, NJ, August 7, 2014)

Posted in Mimicking Birds, Modest Mouse, Sayreville, NJ, Set in New Jersey!, Starland Ballroom on August 9, 2014| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 7, 2014] Modest Mouse

It’s terribly frustrating when you think you’re getting good pictures but your phone’s viewscreen is evidently ten times better than its aperture.

I have liked Modest Mouse for a pretty long time.  I think I first heard them with The Moon & Antarctica, but I also really loved This is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About (and I recall listening to it a lot while driving from New Jersey to Boston).  But I hadn’t realized that they hadn’t put out a new album in years.  They had an EP in 2009, but their last full length, We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank was in 2007.

Recently on the show At Midnight, Tom Lennon, made a great joke about Modest Mouse.  The setup was Portland Pranks, and his joke was that people replaced all of the early Modest Mouse albums with their new ones.  This made me laugh because it’s very funny, but when I thought about it (and how often I’ve heard it), it made me laugh because Modest Mouse have 5 full length albums out.  And I think the first three are deemed classic.  But I’m also guilty of liking their early stuff more too.  (Although “Float On,” for all of its poppiness is a pretty fantastic song (so of course they didn’t play it)).

But man, did they play a wide variety of music.  Starting with a song from Lonesome Crowded West (the first of 3) and then playing a song from Moon & Antarctica (the first of 4), before playing something from We Were Dead (the first of four as well).  I had wondered why they were touring now since they don’t have a new release out.  But they played four new unreleased songs and, man were they different. (more…)

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Mimicking Birds (Starland Ballroom, Sayreville, NJ, August 7, 2014) [MODEST MOUSE]

Posted in Happy Birthday, Mimicking Birds, Modest Mouse, Sayreville, NJ, Set in New Jersey!, Starland Ballroom on August 8, 2014| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 7, 2014] Mimicking Birds

I was excited to get tickets for Modest Mouse, a band I have liked for years but had never seen.  And I was pleased to see that Mimicking Birds was opening.  They’re a band I knew a little (I liked one song and had listened to their albums online).  I liked their newer album more than the first, which was a little generic folkie to me.

We had just come home from vacation, and I had the 45 min drive to Sayreville ahead of me.  So I called the theater and they told me Mimicking Birds would go on at 8:15.  Last time, they estimated very early, so I left late, figured I’d get there at 8:15 and waltz in to see my friend Jay who I haven’t seen since we left the same job almost 2 years ago.

Well, a little detour on the way down delayed me somewhat, but nothing prepared me for the huge line waiting outside the place.  It seems that will-call is the more sensible way to go than actually bringing your tickets, as you don’t have to wait in line–weird.  So, I wound up missing half of their set and then spent the first song I heard looking for Jay.  When we finally met, I was able to hear the very end of their set, including singing a happy birthday to the bassist. (more…)

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