McCarter Theatre Center will present Kevin and Cindy Spencer in "Theatre of Illusion," on Friday, May 18 at 7:30 pm. For more than a decade, Kevin Spencer and his wife, Cindy, have dazzled the world with their stage magic and illusions.  Described as “modern-day Houdinis”, the Spencers are the only artists in history to be named Performing Arts Entertainers of the Year for a record-breaking six consecutive years and have twice been named America’s Best Entertainers. "Theatre of Illusion" is filled with original magical creations designed exclusively for The Spencers. People levitate, walk …

  Oscar-nominee Hal Holbrook returns to McCarter Theatre on Friday, May 11 at 7:30 p.m. in Mark Twain Tonight! – his acclaimed Tony Award-winning one-man show which celebrates the humor, satirical wit and timeless observations of Mark Twain.  Hal Holbrook has never been able to quit Mark Twain. He has toured the one-man show in some part of every year since 1954, with over 2,100 performances. Mark Twain Tonight! has become perhaps the longest-running show in theater history.  Holbrook adds to his Twain material every year, editing and changing it to fit the times, and has mined over sixteen …

Jazz artist Denis DiBlasio will teach and perform at the two-night Princeton Jazz Festival beginning on Friday Feb. 10. The annual event features high school and middle school jazz ensembles from around the state and will take place at the Princeton High School Performing Arts Center.  “The festival continues to be one of the largest jazz education events in New Jersey,” PHS Studio Band Director Joe Bongiovi said. “It provides students with great performance experience and great feedback from some of the best professionals in the field. We hope that this year’s performances will help open …

Soul and gospel legend Mavis Staples will perform on McCarter Theatre's Matthews stage in Princeton Borough on Saturday, Jan. 21, at 7:30 p.m. Staples has one of the most recognizable voices in contemporary music. Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and lead singer of the first family of gospel music, the Staples Singers (“I’ll Take You There,” “Respect Yourself”), she was named by Rolling Stone as one of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time. She is responsible for blazing a rhythm and blues trail while never relinquishing her gospel roots, and influencing artists from Bob Dylan to Prince, who dubbed…

Everybody knows about “The Twelve Days of Christmas” and its swans-a-swimming and lords-a-leaping.When you think about it, those are some pretty odd presents, except for the golden rings. But Princeton Symphony Orchestra will share a much more fulfilling gift during its annual Holiday POPS! concert, to be held on Dec. 17 at Richardson Auditorium on the Princeton University campus. The concert program will include a performance of “The Twelve Gifts of Christmas,” featuring the familiar tune but with a twist on the lyrics. In the piece, the “gifts” are the sections of the orchestra, so instead …

At 15, Jason Bembry lives in a world far different from the time when families gathered around the radio to listen to dramas and comedy shows. But he does have memories of his father telling him about those days and those memories now have special meaning. "My dad would tell me ‘I remember when I would listen to the radio at night.' And I thought it would be interesting how they would do that," says Jason, a sophomore at Lawrence High School. "Now I'm performing in a radio play and I wish my dad would be able to see this." The radio play Jason is performing in is "It's A Wonderful Life: A …

John Singer Sargent’s painting, “An Interior in Venice” began as an unwanted gift. In 1898, Sargent was a guest of Ariana and Daniel Curtis at the Palazzo Barbaro in Venice. As a thank you gift, he painted a portrait of the couple and their son, Ralph, and his wife. But the elder Mrs. Curtis did not like the painting. Karl Kusserow, curator of American Art at Princeton University Art Museum, said Mrs. Curtis thought she looked old and indistinct and disliked the image of her son leaning against an antique table. But Sargent submitted the work as his diploma work for acceptance to London’s …

Put away those high heels and wing tips and get ready to take a hike with the first Princeton ArtWalk.Ten different art venues and businesses with art elements will be open during the walk, to take place tonight, Thursday, Nov. 3, from 5 to 8 p.m. Admission is free. Fine art will be the focus of the walk, although some additional events are scheduled. Most of the sites are located along Nassau and Witherspoon streets and include: Princeton University Art Museum, Arts Council of Princeton, Bernstein Gallery, Firestone Library, Cotsen Children’s Library, Lewis Center of the Arts, Princeton …

The Opening Reception and Awards Ceremony for the Mercer County Photography Exhibit takes place tonight, Wednesday, Nov. 9, from 5 to 7:30 p.m. at The Gallery at Mercer County Community College on the second floor of the Communication building, 1200 Old Trenton Rd. in West Windsor Township. The exhibit, which runs through Dec. 19, features works by Lawrence Township residents Len Ciuffreda, Jay Plett, Gary Saretzky and Henry Schweber. (Available from the media box at the right is a PDF listing all the photographers whose works are being displayed in the exhibit.) Any photographer 18 years of …

Rider University’s Westminster College of the Arts will present the rollicking musical version of the hit movie “The Wedding Singer” Nov. 10 through 19 in the Yvonne Theater on the Rider University campus in Lawrence Township. Performances will be Friday, Nov. 11; Saturday, Nov. 12; Friday, Nov. 18 and Saturday, Nov. 19 at 8 p.m.  Preview performances will be Thursday, Nov. 10, and Thursday, Nov. 17, at 7 p.m. “The Wedding Singer” was nominated for Tony Awards as Best Musical and Best Score during the 2006 Broadway season.  It tells the story of Robbie Hart, New Jersey's favorite wedding …

The way Kyrus Keenan Westcott sees it, "Urinetown" is an ideal musical with uplifting songs, humor and an opinion about the world as we're living in it.The only potential problem with the Tony-winning hit written by Mark Hollmann and Greg Kotis: its name."A lot of people will be thrown off by the title," said Westcott, who's directing Pennington Players' production of "Urinetown" at Kelsey Theatre running Nov. 4-13. "They'll see the title and say, 'Oh, 'Urinetown,' I'm not going to take anybody to see that.' And it's funny because the characters acknowledge that it's a terrible, terrible …

Editor's Note: The following is a news release issued by Rider University. The Rider University Art Gallery will present an exhibit by painter George Nick, entitled “The Upside Down Wind” Thursday, Nov. 3 through Sunday, Dec. 11. An opening reception is scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 3, from 5 to 7 p.m.  Gallery Director Harry I. Naar will lead an artist’s talk on Thursday, Nov. 17, at 7 p.m.  Admission is free.  A nationally recognized realist painter, George Nick graduated from the Cleveland Institute, the Brooklyn Museum Art School and the Art Students League and Yale. His work is in …

Editor's Note: The following is a news release issued by the Westminster Choir College of Rider University. Westminster Conservatory presents the first recital in the Kaleidoscope Chamber Series on Sunday, Oct. 30, at 2:30 p.m. in Gill Memorial Chapel on the campus of Rider University in Lawrence Township.  Admission is free.  Call the Westminster Choir College box office at (609) 921-2663 or go to www.rider.edu/arts for more information. The recital, entitled Trio Brio features ensembles for three players, including a variety of instrumental ensembles and ensembles for two wind players and …

Editor's Note: The following is a news release issued by Rider University. Rider University’s Westminster College of the Arts will present the provocative docu-drama The Laramie Project Oct. 27 through 30 in the Bart Luedeke Center Theater on the Rider University campus in Lawrence Township. Performances will be Friday, Oct. 28 at 8 p.m.; Saturday, Oct. 29 at 4 p.m. and 8 p.m.; and Sunday, Oct. 30 at 4 p.m. The preview performance on Thursday, Oct. 27 will begin at 7 p.m. In October 1998, Matthew Shepard was kidnapped, severely beaten and left to die tied to a fence in the outskirts of …

If a love of Shakespeare makes a solid foundation for a director taking on one of the Bard’s plays, then Alexandra Kolaski was off to a great start when she started working on “Macbeth.”Kolaski, who is directing Princeton Shakespeare Company’s production of “Macbeth,” running Oct. 20 to Oct. 22, was first introduced to Shakespeare’s works when she was in third or fourth grade. The plays continue to influence her in important way – she says a Shakespeare course she took during her freshman year is a major reason why she’s an English major.“My interest in Shakespeare is purely from an absolute …

At 93, Thomas George no longer travels the world, climbing mountains and discovering new places, but he’s still able to paint, and his memories of the world continue to influence his work. Dozens of George’s most recent paintings are on view in “Inscape,” an exhibit on view at the Princeton Arts Council’s Paul Robeson Center through Oct. 26.The works are small, gouache paintings, meaning the artist created them with a mix of watercolor and white paint. George painted them over the course of two to three years. Each is on sale with proceeds to benefit the Thomas George Fund at the Princeton …

Blues and spirituals of the 19th century changed how Americans listened to music. It helped them understand and recognize different musical jazz styles, even better than their European counterparts, said Ray Kamalay.  Kamalay, a musician based in Detroit, Mich., will discuss the history of American music – spirituals, blues and early jazz – and trace their origins to slavery- during an Oct. 3 talk at Princeton Public Library titled "Freedom, Slavery and the Roots of American Music." Kamalay will also perform several songs.  "Americans are so used to different kinds of syncopation that they …

Parents looking to do something with the kids might go for the usual staples – a movie, a visit to the park, some playtime at Chuck E. Cheese – or perhaps try something different and take in a classical music concert.The Princeton Symphony Orchestra is offering its first-ever Family Festival of Music and Art on Oct. 1. The centerpiece of the program is an hour-long concert titled “American Adventures.” In selecting pieces for the family program, PSO Executive Director Melanie Clarke says the orchestra looked for music that is accessible for orchestral music novices. The concert is tied to the…

“Antigone” is one old story, but the Greek tragedy has plenty of drama, and that’s timeless.That’s why Shakespeare ’70 is promising a “very modern” evening of drama as it presents Jean Anouilh’s adaptation of Sophocles’ ancient play about the title character, the daughter of Oedipus. The story follows Antigone after her two brothers – Eteocles and Polynices – die fighting on opposite sides in battle. King Creon rules that Polynices, who fought against Creon, not be buried. Antigone not only disobeys the king, but insists on taking responsibility for her actions, even though Creon is willing …

If you’re the kind of person who sits in a comedy club silently praying that the comic on stage not pay any attention to you, beware of RC Smith. You’re just the kind of person he likes to poke some fun at. “I’m like a shark, I can smell the blood in the water,” the comic says. “I go right for the crippled seal that’s laying on the ice floe.” Smith’s act is all about interacting with the crowd, and making jokes about their jobs, ethnic backgrounds, their clothes or whatever strikes Smith as funny in the moment. And he promises it’s all in good fun. “People go to a comedy show because they’re …