Hopewell Valley Stage has resumed programming after a six-week summer hiatus, returning with a new website, improvements to its venue and an expanded schedule of events.
The theater began programming in April as a program of the Hopewell Valley Arts Council. Located at 5 S. Greenwood Ave. in downtown Hopewell Borough, the Stage presents local and emerging performers while also bringing established artists to the community.
The summer pause was used to make improvements to the venue, website and programming.
“We might not have been hosting shows, but we’ve been hard at work behind the scenes,” Theater Manager Maeli Goren-Wilson said. “Everything has been getting an upgrade. I’m particularly thrilled that we now have a wonderful website giving our guests all the information they need to enjoy a night out at the Stage.”
The redesigned website, hvstage.org, includes information about upcoming performances, the theater space, booking inquiries, rentals and other programs.
“We’re excited that the launch of our website means we can now accept rental bookings,” Hopewell Valley Arts Council Executive Director Carol Lipson said. “Rentals are a great way for even more people to get to experience this historic space.”
Goren-Wilson oversees the theater after working as a director, playwright, actor, teaching artist and theater administrator with organizations along the East Coast and in the Midwest.
She previously served as co-artistic director of the Yale Cabaret and managing director of 16th Street Theater in Chicago and most recently worked as community programs manager at the Stoutsburg Sourland African American Museum. She holds an MFA in directing from the Yale School of Drama and a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University.
Lipson was one of the founding members of the Hopewell Valley Arts Council in 2014 and continues to serve as both executive director and a board member. The nonprofit arts organization works to increase awareness and appreciation of the arts in the Hopewell Valley and create opportunities for local artists.
The Stage’s staff also includes PR Coordinator Sarah Cuneo, Box Office Manager Andrew Kazim, Interim Production Manager Jason Orbe and Concessions Manager Brad Goren-Wilson.
The theater is returning from its summer break with a schedule that ranges from rock and jazz to line dancing, salsa and live improvised film scores.
“We’ve got everything from classic rock to improvised film scores to a line dancing night,” Goren-Wilson said. “We’re really playing with the sorts of events that the Stage can offer, and we’d love to hear your feedback!”
The schedule begins Aug. 15 with “Pure McCartney”, a six-piece New Jersey tribute band devoted to the music Paul McCartney recorded with the Beatles and Wings and during his solo career.
The group includes Joseph Chiarolanza on bass and vocals, Joseph DeMaio on guitar and vocals, Charlie Mills on drums, Mark Rudolph on vocals, guitar and keyboards, Lisa Testa on vocals and John Visconi on keyboards, guitar, saxophone and vocals. The musicians bring experience from the New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania music scenes, with members having worked as touring, club and studio musicians.
DeMaio, a Jersey Shore guitarist, began playing at age 9 and studied with guitarist Jon Herington, who later became known for his work with Steely Dan, and jazz guitarist Tal Farlow. Mills has toured internationally with rock acts including Skid Row and Dee Snider’s SMFs. The Hopewell performance begins at 7:30 p.m.
“Line Dance with Live Music”, featuring Jet Weston and His Cocktail Cowboy Combo, is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Aug. 22. MCR Dance Co., made up of line-dance choreographers and instructors Matthew Britt and Ronnie Driscoll, will provide instruction for experienced and beginning line dancers.
Weston has been performing vintage country and Western-influenced music in New Jersey for decades. He formed an early version of Jet Weston and the Atomic Ranch Hands in 1992, drawing on the music of country and Western swing performers such as Bob Wills, Hank Williams and Gene Autry, along with early rock ’n’ roll, jazz and pop influences.
Weston, who grew up in Helmetta, began playing guitar when he was 12. His musical interests were shaped in part by records he found as a child at the Englishtown Auction and by music ranging from the Beatles and Elvis Presley to older country and pop recordings. The Atomic Ranch Hands was an earlier Weston project; the Hopewell performance is billed as Jet Weston and His Cocktail Cowboy Combo.
The “Jack Furlong Orchestra” will perform Aug. 28 at 7:30 p.m. The ensemble is led by New Jersey saxophonist, composer, arranger and educator Jack Furlong, who primarily performs on baritone saxophone.
Furlong earned a master’s degree in music with a concentration in jazz composing and arranging from William Paterson University in 2010. He has performed with musicians including Phil Woods, Peter Nero and Mulgrew Miller and has taught at Lafayette College and Kutztown University.
Furlong also is co-founder and executive director of the Hopewell Valley Community of Associated Music Projects, or HV CAMP, where he serves as a musical director and instructor. His musical influences include Gerry Mulligan, Miles Davis, Count Basie and John Coltrane.
The Jack Furlong Orchestra generally performs as a 10- to 12-piece ensemble, combining saxophones and brass with guitar, piano, bass, drums and vocals.
Singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist “Becca Stevens” will perform Aug. 30 at 7:30 p.m.
Stevens grew up in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, in a musical family and began performing when she was 2. Her music combines elements of Appalachian folk, jazz and experimental indie music, and she has worked as a singer, guitarist, songwriter, producer and composer.
Her collaborators have included Jacob Collier, pianist Taylor Eigsti and the late David Crosby. Stevens was a member of Crosby’s Lighthouse Band with Michael League and Michelle Willis and also has worked with the Attacca Quartet, So Percussion and composer and vocalist Caroline Shaw.
Stevens and Nathan Schram received a Grammy nomination for their arrangement of Radiohead’s “2 + 2 = 5” on the album “Becca Stevens | Attacca Quartet.” She also has appeared at Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall and worked on projects with pianist and composer Brad Mehldau.
Her recent album “Maple to Paper” was produced and engineered by Stevens in her home studio in Princeton.
The Stage will present “Dave Butler & Friends Present Cinema Improv: A Living Soundtrack” on Sept. 4 at 7:30 p.m.
Cinema Improv is a project created by drummer Dave Butler in which musicians improvise a new soundtrack while watching a film. The project also has been released as a podcast, pairing different groups of musicians with films ranging from action and fantasy movies to experimental and non-narrative works.
Butler has performed with the rock band Guster and keyboardist Marco Benevento. Cinema Improv sessions have included musicians associated with performers and groups including Maggie Rogers, Sierra Ferrell, Graham Nash, Calexico, David Byrne and Natalie Merchant.
Films used for previous Cinema Improv performances and recordings have included “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “Mad Max: Fury Road,” “Hero” and Godfrey Reggio’s “Powaqqatsi.”
“Salsa at the Stage”, featuring Alientos/The Rhythms of the Hearts Band, is scheduled for Sept. 5 at 7 p.m.
The Rhythms of the Hearts Band is a 14-piece ensemble that combines Latin salsa, jazz, Afro-Caribbean music, rhythm and blues and other Latin American musical traditions. The group incorporates horns, percussion, rhythm instruments and vocals.
The ensemble includes composer, arranger and multi-instrumentalist Luis de Jesús and other musicians with experience performing jazz, Latin, R&B, funk and blues throughout the region. Its performances are designed to combine music with dancing and audience participation.
No previous dance experience is required for the Hopewell performance.
The theater also is bringing back “Aesop Romp!”, its Saturday morning children’s show, on Aug. 22, Aug. 29 and Sept. 5 at 10 a.m.
The 45-minute interactive production was written by Brad Goren-Wilson and uses music, storytelling and audience participation to introduce children to live theater. The cast has performed adaptations of familiar stories including “The Tortoise and the Hare,” “The Three Little Pigs” and “The Lion and the Mouse.”
The production changes from performance to performance, with cast members moving through the audience and inviting children to sing, dance, answer questions and sometimes participate in the stories.
Performances are followed by an informal play group at the nearby gazebo park.
“We can’t wait to welcome you back,” Goren-Wilson said. “We’ve missed our audience!”
All performances take place at Hopewell Valley Stage, 5 S. Greenwood Ave., Hopewell. For more information and tickets, go to hvstage.org.
