Performers include James Cotton, Atlantic City Ballet, Janis Ian, Bay-Atlantic Symphony
James Cotton
Very early in the development of the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey more than 40 years ago, the liberal arts campus was designed to provide a new source in the community for quality performing arts programs.
That mandate has continued unabated over the decades. This year’s announcement of the Stockton Performing Arts Center and new Campus Center Theatre features an eclectic blend of classical music, jazz, children’s programs, ballet and even performing pets.
Regular contributors like the Bay-Atlantic Symphony, presenting five programs, and the Atlantic City Ballet with its Nutcracker and Dracula presentations, are back for the new season. Stage shows include Churchill, about the masterful statesman, Seussical, the Dr. Seuss musical, A Couple of Blagards, about lifelong friends growing up in poverty in Ireland, and Will My Bunny Go to Heaven?, Sister’s Easter Catechism that unearths the origin of Easter bunnies and those yummy Easter Peeps.
Other highlights include Philadelphia’s Koresh Dance Company, an acclaimed company on the national stage; The Capital Steps, a group of singers whose parodies take jabs at Washington politicians with satirical glee and Elisabeth Von Trapp & the Empire Brass, presenting The Sound of Christmas at Cape May Convention Hall.
The Monday Night Jazz and Blues Series features a performance by the Grammy Award-winning James “Mr. Superharp” Cotton, a blues harmonica master who is celebrating his 68th year as a professional musician. His 30 solo albums include the acclaimed Harp Attack! (1990) with Junior Wells, Carey Bell and Billy Branch.
Another musical legend scheduled to appear is singer-songwriter-guitarist Janis Ian, who began her career with the hit single “At Seventeen” and was praised by Ella Fitzgerald as “The best young singer in America,” while guitar legend Chet Atkins once said of her, “Singer? You ought to hear that girl play guitar; she gives me a run for my money!”
As for the aforementioned pets, the Popovich Comedy Pet Theater features the juggling and comedic skills of Gregory Popovich and the talents of his performing pets. Each of the show’s 15 cats and 10 dogs were once strays, rescued from animal shelters. Now they show off their skills in amazing stunts and skits.
(See schedule below)
Shows with * are in the Campus Center Theatre. Listed are single ticket prices. Buy three or four shows for 10 percent discount, or five shows or more for 20 percent discount. Children’s prices are $10 with an adult ticket purchase unless noted otherwise. Seniors, $5 off. Box office: 652-9000. Stockton.edu/pac.
October
Oct. 16: Koresh Dance. Tues., 7pm, $40, $25.
Oct. 18: Capitol Steps. Thurs., 7:30pm, $45, $30.
Oct. 22: James Cotton. Mon., 7:30 pm, $40, $25.
Oct. 24: Atlantic City Ballet’s Dracula. Wed., 7pm, $35, $20.
Oct. 28: Bay-Atlantic Symphony Vaughan Williams: Serenade to Music. Sun., 2pm. $25, $15 children w/adult ticket.
November
Nov. 4: *Churchill. Sun., 2pm. $35, $40
Nov. 18: *Shopping! The Musical. Sun., 2pm. $35, $40.
December
Dec. 1: Simon Wiesenthal Nazi Hunter. Sat., 7pm. $40, $25.
Dec. 7-8: Atlantic City Ballet’s Nutcracker. Fri., 10:30am (Children’s Show, $9 all seats); Fri., 7pm; Sat., 1 & 5pm. $35/$20.
Atlantic City is staring down the barrel of Labor Day weekend after experiencing the single most diverse array of live entertainment ever presented here during one summer. Not just during the last 34 summers of the casino era, either, but throughout its entire gaudy, bawdy and, occasionally tawdry 160-year-old past.
"When I learned how to play guitar, it was for the love of music," says Guy, who took a train up to Chicago at age 20 and began his professional career in music. "You couldn't look forward, when I was 14-years-old, and say, 'If I become a good guitar player I can live comfortably.' There was no such thing as that."
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A sepia-toned portrait of bluesman James Cotton hangs on a cluttered wall inside the Ocean City office of Herb "Bubba" Birch. Cotton, with a cap on his curly head and a harmonica clenched in his fist, is captured performing live at the former Bubba Mac Shack over the bridge in Somers Point. He was one of several renowned blues artists that Birch's popular joint brought in during its roughly four years of existence before it closed in the fall of 2004. "I have hundreds of these photos," says Birch, pointing to cardboard boxes piled on the floor. "I just don't have anywhere to hang them up anymore." One senses that Birch misses the music, camaraderie, and good times that his five-bar, three-stage Somers Point restaurant and nightspot used to offer the local community. Since it closed -- in part because of city restrictions pertaining to live music after 11pm, which didn't mesh with the indoor/outdoor layout of the former Bay Avenue venue -- Birch says he's hungered for the opportunity to provide some of the nation's heralded blues greats a southern New Jersey stage to play, as well as area audiences a chance to experience them live. "[At the Shack] we had music...
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