Backstage New Brunswick » State Theatre

This Time of Year

vmcdo — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 14:37:13 +0000

New Brunswick knows just how to celebrate the holidays. The city’s festivities are diverse and extensive.
This past weekend we celebrated the 18th annual tree lighting celebration in monument square with a collection of performers, chili, Mayor Cahill as well as a special guest from Santa and Mrs. Clause. The free event brought out crowd of almost a 1,000. We welcomed the holidays with the magnificent illumination of the tree as well as carriage rides. Cheers to Pam Stefanek, ED, City Market for making another year special.
If you missed the tree ceremony, no fret, this month is packed with holiday celebrations.
Enjoy American Repertory Ballet’s 47th year of The Nutcracker at the grand State Theater, Regional Arts Center, as well as performances by Linda Elder and Eileen Ivers. Celebrate a multicultural cabaret with Crossroads Theater Company’s Holiday Jubilee! There is so much to be offered this season. But, the holidays are not always about red nose reindeer, singing ornaments and warm eggnog. This time of year is the season of joy generosity. The State Theater embraces that by finding a new way to bring arts to charity:

‘On Saturday, December 4, a hand-picked group of teenagers made simultaneous debuts with the State Theatre and the Brooklyn-based STREB company. These 12 high school students, from Emily Fisher Charter School in Trenton, are part of an innovative new project known as SLAM Remote.

SLAM Remote used interactive video technology to connect performers and audiences in two different venues: in this case, Crossroads Theatre in New Brunswick and the STREB Lab for Action Mechanics (SLAM) in Brooklyn. Audiences in both locations saw part of the show performed right in front of them, and part of the show onscreen via live-time streaming. At the Brooklyn site, the STREB ensemble launched into their high-flying, death-defying routines. Midway through the performance, the action switched to Crossroads and the student group from Emily Fisher Charter School.

In preparation for the big event, instructors from STREB travel to Trenton in November for a series of five workshops. The Emily Fisher students learned the basics of STREB’s “Pop Action” technique, then created their performance piece.
A longtime State Theater favorite, STREB is famous for their “extreme action” performances—a unique fusion of cutting-edge technology, dance, sports, gymnastics, and the American circus. Their performances are equally famous for creating a dynamic interaction between the audience and performers. SLAM Remote is their latest experiment in creating an artist-audience interface for this age of technology.’ (K.B)

FREE Program for College Students

Kelly Skinner — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 05:45:57 +0000

Here at the State Theatre we present a variety of free programs for different ages as part of our mission to better serve and enrich the lives of the surrounding community. We do everything we can to make sure people know about these programs. So, with that said, below is some information from our Education department on a FREE program that we offer to college students. If you are a college student or if you know any, please read or pass this on.

Thank you for supporting the arts!

Are you a college student? Do you like free food, entertainment, and social networking? Then be sure to check out Scientists Exploring the Arts, a unique program inspired by the relationship between performing arts and science. Although you may be wondering what these two seemingly different disciplines could possibly have in common, there are actually several elements that are essential to both: creativity, innovation, problem solving, teamwork, and process. As a way to celebrate and explore these similarities, the State Theatre has partnered with National Starch, LLC. to bring college students Scientists Exploring the Arts. “National Starch is excited to be co-sponsoring this unique event with the State Theatre. The pre-performance lectures and the shows have been outstanding and have provided a memorable evening for all,” commented Joseph Light, Head of Global Development, Customer Solutions & Product Innovation Groups for National Starch and State Theatre Trustee. “I like to think of it as left brain meets right brain…Who says the arts and sciences can’t work together?!” added State Theatre President & CEO Wes Brustad.

The program is totally FREE and open to college students (both graduate and undergraduate) majoring in the one of the following: food science, molecular gastronomy, nutrition, chemistry, chemical engineering, statistics, environmental science, food sensory evaluation, material science, business (finance, sales), marketing, computer science, and communications. The program includes a ticket to the performance at the State Theatre in New Brunswick, a pre-performance “Exploration” with an arts educator, and a pre-performance dinner, where there will be opportunities for networking with National Starch employees and other students. Registration is on a first-come, first-serve basis, so apply early to reserve your spot! Contact Jennifer Cunha at 732-246-7469, ext. 545 or check out www.statetheatrenj.org/education/scientistsexploringarts.asp to guarantee your space in this incredible program.

Backstage with the Blues & Jazz Festival

Kelly Skinner — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 19:26:32 +0000

September is here…which means summer is over, school is back in session, and the theater season is kicking into high gear. For us at the State Theatre, this also means that our annual New Jersey Blues & Jazz Festival at the Backstage Jazz Club is just around the corner! It’s 3 days of Blues and Jazz by some of today’s top musicians in those genres. And what’s really cool, is that both the artists and the musicians sit on the stage, creating an intimate jazz club setting of only 230 seats. That’s right, you are just inches away from the artists as they perform. To better understand what I am talking about, I have put together a little snippet of video footage (see below) from 2007′s backstage jazz club. This is right before a set began and people are getting to their seats and enjoying some food and drinks.

The 2009 New Jersey Blues & Jazz Festival line-up includes:

Rod Piazza & The Mighty Flyers
Thu, September 24 at 8pm & 10pm

Marcia Ball
Fri, September 25 at 8pm & 10pm

Yellowjackets
Sat, September 26 at 8pm & 10pm

Jersey Summer Beatles Bash

Kelly Skinner — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 18:26:42 +0000

On Saturday, July 25th, the State Theatre presented the 3rd Annual Jersey Summer Beatles Bash with Glen Burtnik & Friends. Every year, Burtnik (a local Jersey musician, formerly of Styx) brings together a talented group of musicians (who have played with the likes of Billy Joel, Elton John, Kelly Clarkson, and Shania Twain, among others) to perform a Beatles album note-for-note as it was meant to be played. Past years, albums have included Sgt. Pepper’s and the White album, this year it was Abbey Road. Every year has been better than the next and this year was no exception. There were many wonderful moments…the quirky performance of Ringo Star’s ”Octopus’s Garden” by a guy who impersonates Ringo for a living…the interesting multimedia footage during “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer”…the extraordinary harmonies during “Because” with 9 singers (it was originally recorded featuring the three-part harmonies by Lennon, McCartney, and Harrison, then triple-tracked to sound like nine singers), and the list goes on.

However, I would have to say that the 2 best moments was the last song, which was the ever-popular “Hey Jude” (in which some of us State Theatre folks and other audience members jumped onstage to sing the “na-nas”) and the 8 minutes that is “I Want You (She’s So Heavy).” It was absolutely amazing. The guitar riffs and camaraderie among this group of musicians was really something to watch during this song. So, since words can’t really describe it, here is a clip of it that was posted by a fan on YouTube, enjoy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaOEWBQN0zw&feature=related

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.