The 2002-2003 season at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) in Newark, NJ, will include Tony Award winner Savion Glover, Hollywood legend Tony Curtis and a one-man show from the award-winning actor-writer Ruben Santiago Hudson.
Savion Glover brings his acclaimed dance musical, Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk to NJPAC on Nov. 5. Conceived and directed by George C. Wolfe, Noise/Funk opened on Broadway on April 25, 1996, after a sold-out run at downtown's Public Theater. The Tony-nominated musical will run through Nov. 10 at the Center's Prudential Hall.
Samm-Art Williams' three-person play, Home, opens at NJPAC's Victoria Theatre on Nov. 29 at 7:30 PM and also plays Nov. 30 (at 2:30 and 7:30 PM) and Dec. 1 (2:30 PM). Concerning three decades in the life of an African-American farmer, Williams' play earned rave reviews on Broadway and in regional theatres throughout the country.
Screen legend Tony Curtis will star in Some Like It Hot: The Musical, based on the classic 1959 Billy Wilder film, which starred Curtis, Jack Lemmon and Marilyn Monroe. Some Like It Hot marks Curtis' musical theatre debut and plays the Prudential Hall Feb. 4-8, 2003. The musical features a score by Jule Styne (music) and Bob Merrill (lyrics) and a book by Peter Stone.
Ruben Santiago-Hudson won a Tony Award for his riveting performance in August Wilson's Seven Guitars. The versatile actor has written a one man show set in 1956 Lackawanna, NY, which chronicles the residents of a rooming house run by a woman named Nanny. Called Lackawanna Blues, Santiago-Hudson's play also features the riffs of blues guitarist Bill Sims, Jr. and will play the Victoria Theatre April 3-6. Both Blast! and Riverdance will also be part of the 2002-2003 season at NJPAC. With a cast of 54 brass, percussion and visual performers, Blast! will play Prudential Hall April 1-6, 2003. The dance extravaganza Riverdance — celebrating the story of Ireland, and Irish and related international dance — will also make the Prudential Hall its home June 10-15.
The New Jersey Performing Arts Center is located in downtown Newark, NJ. Tickets are available by calling (888) GO-NJPAC. For more information, go to www.njpac.org.
—By Andrew Gans
