A 'Discover Jersey Arts' Look Back at 2023
As we near the end of the 2023 calendar year, the Discover Jersey Arts team decided to take a look back at the things we've accomplished. We've published a wealth of content this year, but these five pieces are the ones we're most proud of—these exemplify the Discover Jersey Arts mission most.
We want to tell exciting, unique stories that will pull you in and seat you in the theatre, dance hall, concert venue, or museum floor. We aim to provide a platform for voices to be heard in a space where they may not normally be seen, and above all else, we're here to help you discover (New) Jersey arts.
On March 1, we published a video feature on the Passage Theatre and Rider University co-production called "Clean Slate" at the Mill Hill Playhouse in Trenton. With a story about disaffected teens being sent to a rehabilitation camp, this production saw the actors playing roles in creating the characters and making the play their own.
The director and playwright, Ryanne Domingues and David Lee White worked with the actors to create many of the themes that were brought into the characters' stories. Composer and Lyricist Kate Brennan says that this is part of their program, "Theatre for Evolving Artists."
"What our work aims to do is to provide meaningful and diverse roles for young artists that are representative of their own experiences while giving them the opportunity to mentor with professionals in real time," she explains.
Building on top of an already robust theatre scene in New Jersey, the "Theatre for Evolving Artists" program aims to make the stage more accessible for those who want to take their careers to the next level.
Harriet Tubman Monument at Harriet Tubman Square in Newark. Photo by Rachel Fawn Alban.
On March 9, in Newark, New Jersey, the city unveiled its long-awaited Harriet Tubman monument, which provides the community with visual, audio, and tactile components. Following the date of its unveiling, the city spent the next four days in celebration with community events and performances taking place in the aptly named Harriet Tubman Square.
Designed by Jamaican-born, Montclair-based Nina Cooke John, the "Shadow of a Face" monument was selected by a 14-member Harriet Tubman Monument Selection Committee out of dozens of submissions from across the country.
"We could have just done a statue – but with this project, we wanted to reimagine what public art could be," said fayemi shakur, Newark's Arts and Cultural Affairs Director, who oversaw the project. "Nina's design was chosen because of her intentional, thoughtful ideas about engaging the community. We also considered the challenges that other cities have had with community engagement."
Designer Nina Cooke John and assistant Adebunmi Gbadebo stand with the Harriet Tubman Monument. Photo by Rachel Fawn Alban.
"I've been in the museum sector for 20 years and I've done [an] infinite number of exhibitions and programs, but I've never experienced something that was so transformative for a community," Dr. Silvia Filippini Fantoni, Deputy Director of Learning & Engagement, Newark Museum of Art said. "I never felt a sense of community as strong as I feel in this place."
The monument is a reminder of Tubman's role in the Abolitionist movement and the sacrifices she made for her people. The hope is that "Shadow of a Face" engages the community to think critically about how they can work together to achieve a future filled with freedom and liberation.
Incorporating such an important piece of history into the Newark community is a tremendous honor. Considering the artist behind the monument hails from nearby Montclair, it truly feels like a statewide effort to enrich the arts of New Jersey by adding a historical touch.
Bethany Miranda animates the right arm of Nicky while Will Platt animates the left one, and the puppet’s head and torso, and says his lines during a rehearsal. Photo by Cie Stroud.
In August, the raunchy puppets from "Avenue Q" took the stage at Algonquin Arts Theater in Manasquan, where we spoke to the cast and crew about the unique performance involving actors and puppets on an equal playing field.
"What the puppet can't do, the actor can," explained Chris Coleman (Boy Bear), whose character is one-half of the devilish duo, the Bad Idea Bears. Similarly, the puppets can do things that the actors can't, like have their heads knocked off and sewn back on – and they can fly.
Often described as Sesame Street for adults, the musical comedy is more than its vulgarity. Director Sean Openshaw, who performed in a production of "Avenue Q" 10 years ago, says that many talented actors come out when there's a casting for the Tony Triple Crown-winning production because of the difficult subjects, amount of comedy, and medium of puppetry.
"Nothing (in the show) is done for the sake of vulgarity," he says. "Life is not black and white. We all experience these feelings. Through the voice of a puppet, it's palatable."
Speaking of voices, this year, we've brought on two monumental figures in the New Jersey arts scene to speak with us on the Jersey Arts Podcast—Gloria Gaynor and Patricia Quinn.
The 2x Grammy Award-winning Newark native, Gloria Gaynor, spoke with us in preparation for her September 16 performance at bergenPAC. She tells the story of how she became such an accomplished singer, the artists that inspired her, and why New Jersey's water is the reason she's stayed in the Garden State for so long.
When asked about how she began her singing career by Jersey Arts podcast co-host and Discovery Jersey Arts contributor Maddie Orton, she explained that no one even knew she could sing. “I grew up with five brothers who also sang,” she said. “They never got to sing professionally but they sang around the house, they sang around the neighborhood, they sang in school, and I didn’t sing with them because I was a girl. Nobody even knew I could sing.”
It wasn’t until she met her friend while working at the (what was then) Bamberger’s department store in Newark that she caught her lucky break. All she wanted was for her voice to be heard, so while babysitting her friend’s daughter, she sang to the footsteps she heard coming from upstairs.
She babysat for her friend for a couple of weeks, and she continued to sing for those footsteps every day, until one day, she stopped into a nightclub with her brother. The nightclub owner walked up to the stage, took the mic away from the band, and called Gaynor up to the stage to sing with them—she would later find out that the nightclub owner was the man whose footsteps she was singing to.
Patricia Quinn, who played Magenta in the original stage play of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" as well as in the film adaptation, spoke with us well into the spooky season of October. As the movie celebrates its 48th anniversary, Quinn clued us in on the origins of the cult classic and the lasting impact it has.
On October 25 at the Bergen Performing Arts Center in Englewood, NJ, Rocky Horror Picture fans were treated to a screening of the original, unedited film alongside a live shadow cast, where Quinn did special VIP meet & greets.
Podcast co-host and Discover Jersey Arts contributor Gina Marie Rodriguez spoke to Quinn about an article published in 2020, where the author wrote “I know a lot of people whose lives were saved by this movie, especially for those in the LGBT+ community. It’s a place where they could be themselves and find people who were their family.”
When asked about the impact that “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” has had and continues to have, especially among the LGBT+ community, Quinn talked about how “extraordinary” it was. “We certainly didn’t set out to be a lifesaver,” she said. “We were doing sex, drugs, and rock and roll.” What people have been able to pull from the movie as time went on is “beyond belief.”
These are just some of the amazing stories we've been able to tell this year—and New Jersey has been at the center of them all. The Discover Jersey Arts team is proud of the work we've been able to accomplish in 2023, and we aim to take it above and beyond in 2024.
LINKS
Passage Theatre Company
Visit Harriet Tubman Square
Algonquin Arts Theatre
bergenPAC
