A WATCHUNG COMMUNICATIONS, INC. PUBLICATION The Westfield Leader and The Scotch Plains – Fanwood TIMES Thursday, January 31, 2019 Page 17

Eva Noblezada

CDC Theatre presents

FEB. 15 - MAR. 2, 2019

Fri. & Sat. - 8pm

Sun. Feb. 24 - 2pm

78 Winans Ave. Cranford, NJ Get tickets online for best price

908-276-7611 cdctheatre.org

Made possible by funds from the Union County O ce of Cultural & Heritage A airs, a partner of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.

It’s your Library … make the most of it

IIt’s your Library …

make the most of it

550 East Broad Street

Westfield www.wmlnj.org 908.789.4090

Open to WML and MURAL

cardholders. Sign up online at

www.wmlnj.org and click on the

Calendar link, or call

908.789.4090 option 0.

The 2019 Weiss Family Jazz

Series* opens with the

Dave Braham Trio At the Westfield Memorial Library

Saturday, February 9 at 2:00 pm *The Series was established with a bequest from Joseph and Dorothy Weiss

to the Westfield Memorial Library Foundation

Come for a jazzy afternoon!

GO MUSTANGS!...The basketball season has begun at Lincoln School so thatmeans it is time for our School Spirit Pep Club to spring into action! The club wasopen to students in grades four through seven and led by Mrs. Benc. Members ofthe club met several times to create banners and posters to display in the gym insupport of the school’s girls’ and boys’ basketball teams. They designed a club teeshirt, made water bottle shakers, and learned a few cheers that they performedfrom the bleachers. The Pep Club is pictured here sitting in the stands for one ofthe recent home basketball games, wearing their original tees while cheering forthe Lincoln School Mustang teams!

NJ Festival Orchestra OffersPuccini Opera Tosca

WESTFIELD — Opera’s most tem-pestuous tale of love, deception andpolitical intrigue—Tosca—comesalive in Westfield on Saturday, Febru-ary 23, at the Presbyterian Church inWestfield, as New Jersey Festival Or-chestra (NJFO) and award-winningsoloists perform Puccini’s passionateand beautiful music in its full glory.

Puccini’s irresistible lyric genius haslong made Tosca one of opera’s mostbreathtaking masterpieces. A cast ofinternationally acclaimed guest per-formers joinsNJFO topresent, actedand in cos-tume, this grip-ping tale oflove, lust, cor-ruption and ul-timate strugglefor survival.

“Tosca haslong been oneof the mostpopular op-eras in the en-tire reper-toire,” saidNJFO MusicD i r e c t o rDavid Wroe.“ P u c c i n i ’ sp o w e r f u lscore illumi-nates the tensedrama at everystep, givingnumerous op-portunities forour guest prin-cipals to shine.”

Singing the title role of fiery primadonna Floria Tosca is award-winningsoprano Jenny Schuler who has earnedpraise in recent seasons for her power-ful vocalism and compelling stage art-istry. Lauded for his distinctive timbreand magnetic stage presence tenor KirkDougherty makes his NJFO debut inthe role of revolutionary artist MarioCavaradossi. With a sound combiningclarity, strength and integrity, Mr.Dougherty is one of the most exciting

voices entering the opera circuit to-day. The role of the menacing policechief Scarpia, determined to possessTosca and thwart Cavaradossi, is per-formed by Todd Thomas who is rec-ognized by opera companies and crit-ics alike as one of the true baritonesgracing stages today.

Sung in Italian with Englishsupertitles, the opera is brought to lifewith costumes, sophisticated stagingand colorful design by Stage DirectorMaria Todaro. A free pre-concert lec-

ture will be pre-sented at 6 p.m.prior to the per-formance byMichael Rosin.Mr. Rosin’sdiscussions arean engagingway to learnabout thePuccini’s mag-nificent operaand the musicmakers on of-fer.

Tosca, TheJoseph T.DeAlessandroMemorial Op-era Concert, ispresented inpar tnershipwith RayCatena ofUnion and hasbeen madep o s s i b l ethrough addi-tional generous

support of Marty Jeiven, the New Jer-sey State Council on the Arts and theGeraldine R. Dodge Foundation.

Can’t make the performance on Feb-ruary 23? NJFO’s Tosca will also bepresented on Sunday, February 24, at3 p.m. at Drew University in Madison.

Tickets for both concerts ($30 to$76, students under 18 are $15) areavailable online atwww.njfestivalorchestra.org. Ticketsmay also be purchased by calling thebox office (908) 232-9400.

Soprano Jenny Schuler

Master Classes in DanceOffered by NJPAC

AREA—Young dancers will have achance to learn from masters in theirfield of dance. Master Classes atNJPAC Arts Education bring in someof the dance industry’s top choreogra-phers, educators, and dancers for spe-cialized two-hour classes. Intermedi-ate and advanced dancers ages 13 – 18are invited to register. The cost is $10per class.

Hip Hop Dance on Saturday, Febru-ary 2 from noon to 2 p.m. is led by Ana“Rokafella” Garcia, a New York Citynative who has represented hip hopdance professionally over the span oftwo decades. She is a current artist inresidence at the American Tap DanceFoundation and an adjunct professorat The New School.

Latin Afro Cuban Dance on Satur-

day, March 2 from noon to 2 p.m. is ledby Lyvan Verdecia, born in Havana,Cuba. Graduated from the NationalBallet School of Cuba and joined theranks of the National Ballet of Cubathrough December 2014. In 2017, Mr.Verdecia was awarded a Princess GraceAward in Dance. He is a current com-pany member at Ballet Hispánico.

Modern Dance on Saturday, March30 from noon to 2 p.m. is led byCarolyn Dorfman, choreographerand founding Artistic Director ofCarolyn Dorfman Dance. Touringnationally and internationally, hercompany presents immersive per-formance and teaching residenciesin diverse communities to share artand process that can build connec-tion and human understanding.

WESTFIELD — St. Paul’s Episco-pal Church in Westfield has announcedthe Steeple Concert Series, comprisedof three upcoming Contemporary/Clas-sical events to which the music-lovingpublic is cordially invited. First on theSteeple Concerts program is The NewBrunswick Chamber Orchestra(NBCO), who will perform their es-teemed “Transcendence” concert onSaturday, February 9, at 7:30 p.m. at St.Paul’s. All are welcome to attend.

The concert title, “Transcendence,”reflects NBCO’s wish to “reframe clas-sical music and explore the mysticalminimalism” of three contemporarycomposers: Henryk Górecki, whose“Harpsichord Concerto, Op.40” is fea-tured; Arvo Pärt, whose “Tabula Rasa”is also featured; and Sir John Tavener,whose “Mahashakti” will make its NorthAmerican debut on Saturday, Febru-ary 9 at St. Paul’s.

NBCO’s conductor, Mark Hyczko, isalso the new music director at St. Paul’s.He succeeds Charles M. Banks who,following an exemplary 32-year careerat the church, retired in June 2018.

He has served as music director andconductor of NBCO since 2012. Inaddition, he currently teaches at theMason Gross School of the Arts atRutgers University and is choir direc-tor and organist at Temple B’nai Or inMorristown. In 2015, he began thesuccessful NBCO@Zimmerli SALONlecture series (Rutgers) to promoteNBCO’s innovative programming ofcontemporary classical works focusingon the works of living composers.

Mr. Hyczko received his Master’sDegree in Piano from The New School’sMannes College of Music (NYC). Healso holds degrees in both music andchemistry from Rutgers University.

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church is lo-cated at 414 East Broad Street inWestfield. Parking is free. Tickets at thedoor are $25 (adults) and $10 (stu-dents), or purchase discounted SteepleConcert Series tickets online atwww.steepleconcerts.org. Concert at-tendees are invited to a gala receptionafter the event. For more information,contact Mr. Hyczko at (908) 232-8506,ext. 10.

Photo courtesy Mark Hyczko, NBCOENCORE…On Saturday, February 9, at7:30 p.m. at St. Paul’s Episcopal Churchin Westfield, new Music Director Mark Hyczko (center, standing) will conductThe New Brunswick Chamber Orchestra in the first of three Steeple Concerts.

Eva Noblezada of MissSaigon to Perform at Kean

UNION - Kean Stage will welcomeEva Noblezada, star of the 2017 Broad-way revival of Miss Saigon, to EnlowRecital Hall, located at 215 North Av-enue, Hillside, at 7:30 p.m. on Friday,February 1.

M s .Noblezada willappear fresh offher starring rolein the musicalHadestown atthe NationalTheatre in Lon-d o n .Hadestown isscheduled totransfer toBroadway, withpreviews begin-ning March 22.The cast has notbeen an-nounced. Couldthe Tony Awardnominee be onthe bill?

“I’m alwaysthe last to know,” she said.

Ms. Noblezada was “discovered” bycasting director Tara Rubin when sheplaced fifth in the 2013 National HighSchool Musical Theatre Awards, alsoknown as the Jimmy Awards. Then 17,she auditioned for and won the lead roleof Kim in Cameron Mackintosh’s Lon-don revival of Miss Saigon.

After earning rave reviews in MissSaigon, Ms. Noblezada took on therole of Éponine in Les Misérables.

Ms. Noblezada has wrapped pro-duction on the film Yellow Rose, co-starring Salonga and country singerDale Watson.

Ms. Noblezada, 22, has also beenperforming cabaret shows, where shesings a mixture of show tunes as well asjazz, blues and alternative music. She islooking forward to performing this show

at Kean Stage.“It’s a journey

of little Eva’smusical careerfrom all the wayback when I wassinging songs inmy closet,” shesaid. “At the end,I’ll sing some-thing fromHadestown.”

During thecabaret show,she speaksopenly to heraudience aboutthe realities of atheater careerand offers up ad-vice to those onthe same path.

“I’ve seenmental health issues, like anxiety andeating disorders,” she said. “Nobodytells you the dangers of this industry.People think once they get to Broad-way that everything will be perfect. Thepeople you admire still do not thinkthey’re perfect and they never will.Don’t compare yourself to other people.Just focus on your own craft. That willcarry you farther in life.”

Tickets for Eva Noblezada are $25 to$40. Tickets can be purchased at the KeanStage Box Office in Wilkins Theatre onKean’s Main Campus, 1000 Morris Ave.,Union, by phone at (908) 737-7469 oronline at www.keanstage.com.

Mark Hyczko to ConductSteeple Concerts at St. Paul’s

Westfield Municipal AllianceRecognizes Palooza FinalistsWESTFIELD — The sixth annual

Palooza Contest finalists were recog-nized on January 23 at 7 p.m. at thestudent center at Westfield HighSchool (WHS). Westfield PublicSchool students and Holy TrinitySchool students, in grades 1 through12, created posters, poetry, and PSA’sthemed, “Westfield, We Have BetterThings To Do: Healthy Choices, Ev-eryday Choices,” for substance abuseprevention.

The night of recognition was hostedby the students from the WHS DreamTeam and sponsored by the WestfieldMunicipal Alliance. Awards to final-ists were generously donated by theAlbert Anthony Kayal Foundation(AAKF). Also, the WHS Dream Teamgenerously matched each award anddonated to two local organizations,Imagine and the Westfield RescueSquad.

The Palooza Contest is announcedannually in October during NationalRed Ribbon Week and entries aretypically due before the end of No-

vember. Each year, in January, thefinalists are celebrated by their fami-lies and other community members.Finalists’ posters, poetry, and the PSAare posted on the Westfield Munici-pal Alliance Facebook page,w w w . f a c e b o o k . c o m /westfieldalliance.

The message of the WHS DreamTeam, to students, is Confidence,Choices, Challenges, Changes. TheDream Team promotes positive deci-sion-making and healthy choices andcreates programs that provide alter-natives to underage drinking and druguse. The mission of the WHS DreamTeam complements the mission ofthe Westfield Municipal Alliance toprovide substance abuse preventioneducation in Westfield schools and tothe broader Westfield community.

For more information, please visitwww.westfieldnj.gov/wma, or con-tact Louise DeDea atwestfieldalliance@gmail.com orKerri Oligino atwestfieldalliance2@gmail.com.

HEALTHY CHOICES...The sixth annual Westfield Municipal Alliance PaloozaContest finalists were recognized on January 23 at 7 p.m. at the student center atWestfield High School. Westfield Public School students and Holy Trinity Schoolstudents, in grades 1 through 12, created posters, poetry, and PSA’s themed,“Westfield, We Have Better Things To Do: Healthy Choices, Everyday Choices,”for substance abuse prevention.

P O P C O R NP O P C O R NP O P C O R NP O P C O R NP O P C O R N

One Popcorn, Poor — Two Popcorns, Fair — Three Popcorns, Good — Four Popcorns, Excellent

By Michael S. Goldbergerfilm critic

Stan & Ollie, director Jon S. Baird’slovingly responsible biopic about StanLaurel and Oliver Hardy, the world’smost famous comedy duo, conviviallyinvites you to bask in its embracing no-tions of love, friendship, loyalty and senseof duty. The passion is such that, feelingprotective of the boys, I couldn’t helpfantasize that if I should become king I’dmake it a law that, once the talent inquestion was universally adored by thepublic, the enthusiasm was not to dimin-ish, unless of course said entertainer ei-ther colluded with the Russians, repeat-edly lied to the American public or wasdisgustingly narcissistic.

Of course Stan and Ollie, who are littlemore than a vague name to most audi-ences under 50, wouldn’t dare commitany of the aforementioned sins againstsociety. But sorrowfully, me not beingking, and the whims and wiles of thingsentertainment being as fickle as they are,the prologue to the film starkly notes thatwhile at the pinnacle of their interna-tional success in 1937, by 1953 when thepair launch a comeback concert tour acrossEurope, they are practically unknown.We join them at this watershed junctureas they valiantly struggle to resurrecttheir careers and establish a proper legacy.

I and my Baby Boomer ilk were intro-duced to the legends via morning andmidafternoon movie shows on TV in the’50s, when stations rented their films atbargain basement prices. We immedi-ately loved them and claimed them forour generation, and I’ve little doubt thattheir iconoclastic, individualistic hijinks,usually at the expense of polite society,had no small part in freeing our minds forthe social revolution we would wage inthe 1960s.

To my wife Joanne in the pre-politi-cally correct era of her childhood, refer-ring to Laurel and Hardy as “Old Fat andSkinny” differentiated them from the morecontemporary, also great but perhaps notas ingenious, Abbott and Costello, or,“New Fat and Skinny.” Hence, eventhough we now partake only rarely in anoccasional screening of a Laurel andHardy film on TCM, the spark is quicklyrelighted. We share a past. So as the storyunwinds it’s a bit difficult to witness thepost-1937 trouncing, much of it con-ducted by Philistine, showbiz bigwigsand their stooges.

Alas, they fight the good fight…sheertalent and gumption their weapons. Pow-erfully emotive performances by Messrs.John C. Reilly and Steve Coogan as Hardyand Laurel, respectively, are such that notonly do they genially affect devotees, butprobably also go a long way to roping inand causing a similar disgruntlementamong members of the Great Unwashedwho serendipitously decide to see thisfilm. What newbies might not realize astheir empathy is aroused is just how star-tlingly accurate Reilly and Coogan’s ac-cents and appearances are.

Hardly five minutes of the movie hadelapsed before I was predicting an Oscarnomination for Mark Coulier’s metamor-phic transformation of Mr. Reilly to OliverHardy. Furthermore, if either Mr. Reillyor Mr. Coogan missed an inflection or anuance, you’d have to be a close relativeof either title character to know it. But thetwo actors’ greatest achievement, asidefrom emulating to a T the signature shticktheir characters made famous, is in char-acterizing the depth of their friendship.

Stan & Ollie“Old Fat & Skinny”

4 popcorns

We cherish the vanity. Though ofcourse unimportant insofar as measuringthe intrinsic talent of a comedy team, it isnonetheless our unspoken wish that thetwo, usually in contrast to their stagebehavior, be true friends in real life. WhileNeil Simon put a cynical, roundaboutedge to it in his semi-biographical TheSunshine Boys (1975), about vaudevilleduo Smith and Dale, Mr. Baird, workingfrom Jeff Pope’s screenplay, is sympa-thetically indulgent. Spoiler or not, wejust couldn’t stand it if we discovered thatbehind the paycheck Stan and Ollie actu-ally disliked each other.

But while in this manner pleasing oursense of values, the interaction betweenthese national treasures goes far beyondjust a tale of names that could be utteredin the same sentence as Chaplin andKeaton without compunction. Gadzooks,man, this is the stuff of great philosopherssince time immemorial…the idea offriendship itself…the essence ofgregariousness…the very DNA of civili-zation.

While billionaires may find solace inthe sizeable balance their bankbooksshow, anyone who’s lived at least a littletime in this world knows that real wealthis having made at least one true friendbefore the fat lady sings. They care just asmuch whether you’ve broken your arm orwere saddened because the cobbler rangthe death knell on your favorite pair ofshoes. Watching these great comics try-ing to iron out their differences and pre-serve a very special relationship in spiteof the challenges wrought by a changingworld becomes a very personal experi-ence as you find yourself warmly con-templating your own Stan or Ollie.

Stan & Ollie, rated PG, is a SonyPictures Classics release directed by JonS. Baird and stars John C. Reilly, SteveCoogan and Shirley Henderson. Run-ning time: 97 minutes.