NJPAC - Bravo Program Book

apr/jun 2022 

bravo! 

Alvin Ailey 

American Dance Theater 

May 6 – 8 

Photo by Dario Calmese

your shortcut to the 

performance programs 

Click below to access: 

16 Broadway Then and Now 

Saturday, June 4 | 6 & 8PM 

19 Hasan Minhaj 

The King’s Jester Tour 


Sunday, June 5 | 8PM 

22 NJPAC Stage Exchange 

Vivid Stage 

Tuesday, June 7 | 7PM 

25 Jersey New Moves 

Friday, June 10 | 7PM 

31 Ana Gabriel 

Por Amor A Ustedes 


32 NJPAC Stage Exchange 

Pushcart Players 

Saturday, June 11 | 2PM 

35 Nemr 


37 Celebrating the Theater 

Songs of Leonard Bernstein 

Friday, June 17 | 7:30PM 

43 The Masked Singer 

National Tour 2022 


44 Johnny Mathis 


49 Welcome to Night Vale 

The Haunting of Night Vale 


50 All Grown Up 

An Evening with Comedian Eli Castro 


53 Patti Labelle 

with special guest Will Downing 


Shine Studio Portrait 2018 

dear friends 

John Schreiber 

President & CEO 

On behalf of everyone at the Arts Center, I’m so glad to welcome 

you to this performance. 

We’re always happy to see our theaters full, but I can’t tell you what a 

joy and a relief it is to all of us to see crowds coming through the doors 

of Prudential Hall and Victoria Theater this particular season. 

After that long pandemic hiatus, you’re back, and our artists are back 

up on stage where they belong. Thank goodness! 

In the middle of the pandemic, there were times when I wondered if 

audiences would ever return to NJPAC in the numbers they had before. 

Would people get used to watching everything and anything on Netflix, 

Amazon and YouTube? Even when it was safe to return, would our 

community come out for a show? Or had live indoor entertainment 

gone the way of the horse and buggy? 

I shouldn’t have worried. They did. You did. 

In only the past few months, when performers like Los Tigres Del Norte and Eddie Vedder and the 

Earthlings have appeared at the Arts Center, we’ve had an absolutely giddy audience filling every 

single seat in the house. 

When Blippi The Musical was staged here just a few weeks ago, not only was the theater full 

to bursting, it was full of children — some 2,000 kids practically levitating with the excitement 

of seeing a live show. I was able to greet them at our front doors as they trooped in, proudly 

wearing Blippi-orange suspenders and bow ties, and their joy was so palpable. I think I grew 

a little younger myself, just basking in their glee. 

Plus: Is there anything more adorable than a little kid in a mask, when it’s not even Halloween? 

I’m so grateful that all my fears were for naught. The reality is that we want to be back together, 

we want to be a part of a community we can see and feel all around us. The desire for shared 

experiences, the longing for the camaraderie that comes from being a part of a huge group of 

fans of one special rock star, or band, or bow-tied TV friend, never went away. 

We’ve been hungry for that experience. And I’m grateful that NJPAC has been able to provide it. 

And I’m thankful for the remarkable respect that so many in our audiences have shown for the 

health and safety protocols we were obliged to put in place. It is heartwarming to me how almost 

everyone so carefully donned a mask, brought in a vaccination card, and in countless other ways 

made certain that this communal experience would also be a safe one for us all. 

Now that some of those restrictions are being relaxed, it almost feels like the old days again. 

By the time you read this letter, they may have been suspended entirely. 

My fondest hope is that they will be, and we can put the pandemic behind us once and for all. 

But please know that we take your health as seriously as we take our own. Whatever protocols we 

have in place when you visit the Arts Center, they’re designed to make the environment you’re in 

right now as safe as possible. That’s our promise to you, for now, and for always. 

I hope that gives you comfort. And that you enjoy your show today. For all of us at NJPAC, 

you are the real star of the show, and we’re so happy you’re here. 

All good wishes, 


3

A season of exploration 

NJPAC’s summer camps will offer in-person 

opportunities to “dive deep” into performing 

From declaiming monologues to 

mixing beats, opportunities to 

perform, create and be immersed in 

every aspect of music and stagecraft 

abound at NJPAC’s full-day summer 

programs, which kick off in mid-July. 

Registration is open now for students 

9 to 18 years old. 

This season marks the return of the 

Arts Center’s summer programs as 

primarily in-person offerings, with 

two four-week programs to be held 

on NJPAC’s campus, and one twoweek 

session of City Verses Jazz and 

Director Sheikia “Purple Haze” Norris speaking with an Arts Education student 

Poetry Summer Camp held at Rutgers 

University-Newark. The Hip Hop Arts 

and Culture program will also offer a 

four-week virtual session. 

“A really exciting part of what 

we’re trying to do this summer is 

looking at how we can bring the 

many different elements of each 

art form together, and taking 

advantage of having the kids 

together all day, all week, to really 

dive deep,” says Meggan Gomez, 

Assistant Vice President of 

Faculty and Creative Practice. 

“It’s a great chance for kids who 

are trying to find what part of the 

field is most exciting to them to have 

a chance to dabble in them all.” 

During the school year, the Arts Center’s 

hip hop classes, for example, may focus 

on music production, or rapping or 

dance — one element of the art form in 

each session. The summer program 

will offer training in all the elements of 

hip hop — and a few related fields — 

throughout the course of the summer. 

“We haven’t done this in person yet, 

although we piloted it online: Over the 

course of the summer we are going 

to be exploring beat-making, music 

production, beatboxing, emceeing, 

graffiti, dance — and we have added 

graphic design and podcasting to the 

curriculum,” explains Sheikia Norris 

(who often goes by her hip hop name, 

Purple Haze), NJPAC’s Director of 

Hip Hop Education. 

Students will be able to try all these 

forms of expression, and combine 

them as well — by creating their own 

music to dance to, designing t-shirts 

for their performances, and more. 

A summer’s worth of creativity will 

be on display at the program’s end, 

when the traditional season-ending 

performance will be replaced by an 

outdoor hip hop festival for students 

and their families. 

“We’re taking it outside, which is 

where hip hop began — in the parks,” 

says Norris. “We’ll have a display 

of graffiti banners, we’ll have the 

deejay equipment out there and the 

families will be able to try it out. 

It’ll be like a street festival.” 

And a virtual session of the summer 

program will offer the same curriculum 

to students from across the country 

who were drawn to NJPAC’s summer 

and Saturday arts trainings during 

the pandemic. 

“We have students we’ve cultivated 

for two years now, from across the 

nation and even internationally, 

and we didn’t want to lose them, or 

abandon all the learning we did on 

how to teach virtually,” says Gomez. 

The Theater Arts program, meanwhile, 

will take advantage of the summer 

session to offer both an introductory 

course for newcomers to stage work, 

and an advanced level for students 

with prior experience at NJPAC or 

another theater program, that will 

offer a deeper understanding of 

performance methodologies. 

“For the kids who are serious about 

it, we wanted to offer them challenges, 

an opportunity to grow,” says 

E. Bradshaw, Director of Theater Arts. 

The hope is to offer students who 

may be considering applying for 

conservatory training a grounding 

in the skills they will need to 

advance in the field. 

For both beginners and advanced 

students, the program will explore 

all aspects of stagecraft, from reading 

and analyzing plays, to improvisation 

and the use of movement and voice 

on stage. Separate tracks will offer 

those interested in musical theater 

classes in dancing and singing, 

while those focused on pure theater 

will have sessions on movement and 

vocal production as part of acting. 

“But the focus will be: We’re all in 

this together. There are core classes 

that everybody does: Improvisation, 

(continued on next page) 

FOR A FULL SCHEDULE OF EVENTS, VISIT NJPAC.ORG OR CALL 1.888.MY.NJPAC 

5

a season of exploration 

acting, play-reading. These are not 

separate disciplines — if you can act, 

you can act through song, through 

dance,” says Bradshaw. 

And a summer-ending performance 

of scenes and monologues will include 

costuming and other elements of 

technical theater that offer students 

a glimpse into the art of production. 

Both theater and hip hop students 

will be able to take part, together, 

in end-of-day “showcases,” an openmic 

performance opportunity where 

they can try out new skills or new 

acts for their peers. They’ll also be 

able to take advantage of the Arts 

Center’s Creative Coaching, one-onone 

counseling with teaching 

artists, and In The Mix, NJPAC’s free, 

student-directed program that allows 

kids to collaborate on projects that 

combine the arts with activism. (Last 

summer, the In The Mix crew launched 

their own podcast.) 

While both the Theater Arts and 

Hip Hop Arts and Culture programs 

will be held at NJPAC’s Center for Arts 

Education, another summer program, 

the City Verses Jazz and Poetry 

Summer Camp, will be held on 

the campus of Rutgers University- 

Newark, the Arts Center’s partner in 

a three-year-long project advancing 

and celebrating performances that 

combine verse with jazz, supported by 

the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. 

Camp sessions will be co-taught by 

NJPAC’s jazz faculty and Rutgers’ 

MFA poetry candidates. 

for students focusing on either poetry 

or jazz, who will then join forces in 

the camp’s second week. In addition, 

returning students who began the 

program online will work together, 

while newcomers to the program will 

have their own cohort. 

“This program has consistently 

evolved to remain responsive to our 

community and to our students,” 

says Jennie Wasserman, City Verses 

Project Director. 

“It was enormously successful as a 

virtual program, but as the pandemic 

recedes, young artists are yearning for 

face-to-face interaction, opportunities 

to create art together in person, with 

no screens between them. We can’t 

wait to hear the work that comes 

from these in-person collaborations!” 

While the City Verses camp is 

free, other camps require tuition. 

However, scholarships are offered 

to students and families via a short, 

streamlined application process. 

For more information about 

NJPAC’s summer programs, please 

visit njpac.org/education. • 

summer performing 

arts programs 

hip hop 

jazz 

poetry 

theater 

Open only to students ages 13-18, 

this free two-week program began 

during the pandemic and has never 

been offered as an in-person training 

before. Separate tracks will be offered 

Sign up today! njpac.org/education 

FOR A FULL SCHEDULE OF EVENTS, VISIT NJPAC.ORG OR CALL 1.888.MY.NJPAC 7

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your exclusive benefits include: 

• Ticket pre-sales — secure your seats before the general public 

• Discounts on select performances — 20% throughout the year 

• 15% discount at NICO Kitchen + Bar 

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As a nonprofit organization, NJPAC relies on members to help fund 

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engagement programs that brighten and enhance your life. 

Join today: 

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Or call 973.297.5809 


Whatever you’re in the mood for…you’re in the mood 

for NICO. Hang out on our outdoor patio. Indulge in 

our craveworthy American menu. Or unwind from the 

grind at our friendly neighborhood bar. It’s nothing 

but good times and delicious vibes here at NICO. 

NICO is open for dinner 

Tuesday – Saturday from 3 – 9PM. 

Don’t miss Happy Hour from 3 – 6PM! 

• 

n1co 

kitchen+bar 

New Jersey Performing Arts Center 

One Center Street, Newark, NJ 

973.642.1226 I njpac.org/nico

Paying it forward 

Women@NJPAC president Faith Taylor, 

an executive with a mission, on building on 

the Arts Center’s legacy 

For Women@NJPAC’s president, Faith 

Taylor, one thing has a way of turning 

into another — transforming a spark of 

an idea into a positive force for good. 

Over the course of a career that has 

taken her to the top of companies 

ranging from Avon cosmetics to 

Wyndham hotels to Tesla to Kyndryl, 

Taylor has consistently found ways to 

take her impulse to do good and build 

it into programs and products that 

help companies succeed and change 

the world for the better. 

“It’s always been about creating 

brands, creating programs, taking 

ideas from a piece of paper and 

turning them into something you can 

give to the customer,” says Taylor, of 

West Orange. 

Women@NJPAC’s president, Faith Taylor 

Case in point: After stints at cosmetics 

giant Avon, working on one of Cory 

Booker’s campaigns and launching 

an urban internet company with 

Sean Combs — all while raising two 

children with her husband, Gary 

Taylor, COO of Ready Capital — Taylor 

led the rebranding of Ramada Hotels, 

spending two years reviving the hotel 

chain in the early 2000s. 

In wrapping up that work, she had a 

meeting with the company’s chairman, 

Stephen Holmes, and took the 

opportunity to pitch him on the idea 

of making the hotel chain greener 

and more environmentally friendly. 

“I knew our customers were thinking 

about this. My son, he was a junior in 

high school at the time, had shared 

with me the movie An Inconvenient 

Truth, and it just clicked for me: This 

is going to be so strategic, for every 

company in the world,” she remembers. 

Her passion and her business 

savvy impressed Holmes, and he gave 

her the chance to remake the brand 

in a sustainable model — if she could 

do it herself. 

“He comes back to me four weeks 

later and says: ‘Okay, I’m going to 

have you start this — but I can’t give 

you any resources.’” 

Nothing daunted, Taylor — now 

in the role of Wyndham’s vice 

president of innovation and product 

development — scoured the company 

for other people who were as 

passionate about protecting the 

environment as she was. In a year, 

they came up with a strategic plan to 

remake the globe-spanning company 

as an innovator in green business 

practices. Holmes gave Taylor a team 

of one dedicated employee — and a 

green light to execute her plan. 

“Over the next 12 years, 

we became the world’s hospitality 

leader in sustainability,” she says, 

as Wyndham under her leadership 

introduced one social impact program 

after another, from introducing 

uniforms made of recycled plastic 

bottles, to offering shade-grown 

coffee at all the chain’s properties. 

“And let me be clear: We were 

delivering bottom-line savings too. 

But our brand’s reputation is what 

really grew, people were being 

recruited to the company because 

of what we now stood for.” 

“I’ve focused in 

my first year 

as president of 

Women@NJPAC 

on what I call the 

three c’s: Delivering 

positive impact 

for the community, 

focusing on the 

connections we’re 

building between 

women of all ages 

and backgrounds, 

and continuity, 

serving the legacy 

of this organization 

and making 

sure what we do 

here lasts.” 

– Faith Taylor 

So she made a donation of $1,000 

in honor of Brown, earmarked for 

scholarship assistance for 

students of the Arts Center’s arts 

education programs. 

“It was just a simple act, a little 

way of saying thank you to Marcia,” 

Taylor remembers. 

“But then, all these other Trustees 

of Women@NJPAC stepped up 

and matched that donation. And in 

no time, we raised $35,000 for the 

(continued on next page) 


11

paying it forward 

Marcia Brown Scholarship Fund! 

That wasn’t my expectation, 

but now we have the start of 

something we can really build on.” 

Building on success is Taylor’s goal 

for Women@NJPAC writ large as well, 

as she aims to move the organization 

forward in its work of offering 

programming that serves women 

and girls in the community, and 

building the group into a networking 

powerhouse, while continuing to 

promote the organization’s longstanding 

goal of advancing 

NJPAC’s work in education and 

in the community. 

The work of the organization is very 

familiar to Taylor, who has served 

on its Board of Trustees for six years 

before taking on the presidency, after 

being drawn to the group through her 

own love of the arts. 

“I’ve focused in my first year as 

president of Women@NJPAC on what 

I call the three c’s: Delivering positive 

impact for the community, focusing 

on the connections we’re building 

between women of all ages and 

backgrounds, and continuity, serving 

the legacy of this organization and 

making sure what we do here lasts,” 

Taylor says. 

She cites Women@NJPAC’s support 

for NJPAC’s new Cooperman Family 

Arts Education and Community 

Center — a home on the Arts Center’s 

campus for arts education and 

community programming, slated 

to open in 2025 — and its plan to 

establish satellite performing arts hubs 

throughout Newark as key markers of 

its focus on community. 

Fostering connections between women 

is a key goal of Women@NJPAC’s 

Faith Taylor introducing the Leading Ladies: Reframing Newark Through Art panelists. 

expanded slate of events programming, 

which in recent months has included 

sponsoring dozens of young women 

from Greater Newark to see activist 

and author Stacey Abrams speak 

at an NJPAC-produced event at 

Brooklyn’s Kings Theater, and hosting 

a roundtable discussion with the 

women running Newark’s many 

public arts organizations during the 

Women@NJPAC annual meeting in 

December — the first in-person event 

the group held in almost two years. 

“I’m so happy we were able to do 

that in person,” Taylor notes. “We 

were all starving for that, that human 

interaction is so important.” 

More connections, more networking 

and more vital human interaction will 

be a hallmark of the next occasion 

on the Women@NJPAC calendar: 

The Annual Spring Luncheon and 

Auction, set for May 3, on the Betty 

Wold Johnson Stage in Prudential Hall. 

A signature event for the organization, 

it will be held in person for the first time 

since 2019. Gabriella Morris, 

Chief Philanthropy Officer at the 

World Food Program USA and a 

founding member of Women@NJPAC, 

will be honored for her 25 years of 

engagement with Women@NJPAC, 

and makeup artist and entrepreneur 

Bobbi Brown will give a keynote 

address on reinventing her career and 

starting a new business from scratch 

after selling her namesake billiondollar 

beauty brand. 

The event will be a first opportunity 

for Taylor to preside over one of 

Women@NJPAC’s biggest events, 

despite having led the organization 

for almost two years. (During that 

About Women@NJPAC 

Women@NJPAC, a “Sisterhood 

for Good” has spent 28 years 

elevating the voices of women 

and girls and contributing to 

the New Jersey community in 

countless ways, all while raising 

more than $55 million to support 

NJPAC and its arts education and 

community programs that enrich 

the lives of our current and future 

generations of cultural citizens. 

When the group that would 

grow into Women@NJPAC was 

established in 1994, its organizers 

could be counted on two hands. 

Since that time, Women@NJPAC 

has grown into an organization 

of thousands of executives, 

artists, activists, mothers and 

change-makers devoted to 

advancing the performing arts, 

amplifying the philanthropic 

work of its members, and helping 

NJPAC deliver on its mission as 

an anchor cultural institution. 

time, she not only spearheaded the 

work of Women@NJPAC, but spent 

a year as the Global Environmental 

Social Governance Leader at Tesla, 

and then took on a new role as Global 

Sustainability Leader at Kyndryl, an IT 

services and consulting company.) 

“And NJPAC’s 25th anniversary is 

coming up! I’m really excited to talk to 

everyone about the legacy that’s been 

built here at NJPAC — and to celebrate 

all the good work we’re doing to build 

its future, too,” she says. • 


13

calendar of events apr – jun 2022 

the doo wop 

project 

apr 24 

ana 

gabriel 

jun 10 

patti 

labelle 

jun 25 

may 12 

apr 

Fri Apr 1 7:30PM Tom Segura: I’m Coming Everywhere World Tour 

Fri Apr 1 7:30PM Urban Bush Women: Hair & Other Stories 

Sat Apr 2 2PM Urban Bush Women: Hair & Other Stories 

Sun Apr 3 7:30PM Diana Krall 

Sat Apr 9 2 & 7:30PM Triveni: Zakir Hussain, Jayanthi Kumaresh & Kala Ramnath 

Wed Apr 13 7PM Disney Princess: The Concert 

Fri Apr 15 8PM Rodrigo y Gabriela 

Sat Apr 16 7:30PM Michael Carbonaro: Lies on Stage 

Sun Apr 24 3PM The Doo Wop Project 

Fri Apr 29 7 & 9:30PM Eric D’Alessandro 

may 

Fri May 6 8PM Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater 

Sat May 7 8PM Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater 

Sat May 7 8PM Jared Freid 

Sun May 8 3PM Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater 

Thu May 12 7:30PM Ancient Aliens Live: Project Earth 

Sat May 21 2PM Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company 

Celebrating the Legacy of Nai-Ni Chen 

and the Year of the Water Tiger 

Artists, dates, times, locations and programs subject to change at any time. 

nai-ni chen 

dance company 

may 21 

johnny 

mathis 

jun 24 

jun 

Fri Jun 10 8PM Ana Gabriel: Por Amor a Ustedes 

Sat Jun 11 7PM Nemr 

Fri Jun 17 7:30PM The Bill Charlap Trio Celebrating the Theater Songs of 

Leonard Bernstein plus author Jamie Bernstein and 

host Ted Chapin 

Sat Jun 18 8PM The Masked Singer: National Tour 2022 

Fri Jun 24 8PM Johnny Mathis with special guest Gary Mule Deer 

Fri Jun 24 8PM Welcome to Night Vale: The Haunting of Night Vale 

Sat Jun 25 8PM Patti LaBelle with special guest Will Downing 

Artists, dates, times, locations and programs subject to change at any time. 

alvin ailey 

american dance theater 

may 6 – 8 


15

the 

chase room 

meet the artists 

Saturday, June 4, 2022 

6 & 8:30PM 

Titanic, and is talk show host Steve Allen 

in the final episode of season two of 

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. 

NJPAC presents 

Broadway Then and Now 

featuring 

Ted Sperling 

Santino Fontana 

Jessica Vosk 

The American Song series at NJPAC is presented, in part, through the generous support of the Blanche and 

Irving Laurie Foundation, the David S. Steiner and Sylvia Steiner Charitable Trust, the Joan and Allen Bildner Family Fund, 

and the Smart Family Foundation/David S. Stone, Esq., Stone & Magnanini. 

As a courtesy to the performers and fellow audience members, please be sure to silence all mobile devices. 

The use of recording equipment and the taking of photographs are strictly prohibited. 

Made possible by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, 

a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts 

Ted Sperling is known for his work 

across many genres. He is a Tony Award 

winner for his orchestrations of The 

Light in the Piazza. As artistic director 

of MasterVoices, he has directed and 

conducted operas, oratorios and 

musical theater rarities. Last season he 

conceived and supervised an online 

production of Adam Guettel’s Myths 

and Hymns, which was nominated 

for a Drama Desk Award and can be 

viewed on the PBS platform AllArts. 

He was music director of the recent 

Broadway productions of My Fair 

Lady, Fiddler on the Roof and The King 

and I, all currently touring nationally 

and internationally. Other Broadway 

and off-Broadway credits as musical 

director or director include South Pacific, 

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, The Full Monty, 

See What I Wanna See, A Man of No 

Importance, A New Brain, Floyd Collins, 

Striking 12 and The Other Josh Cohen. 

He directed and conducted Show Boat 

with the NY Philharmonic (Live from 

Lincoln Center), as well as the 

premier productions of Red Eye of Love, 

Striking 12 and See What I Wanna 

See. As an actor, he played Wallace 

Hartley in the Broadway musical 

Santino Fontana has cemented himself 

as one of Broadway’s foremost leading 

men as well as a formidable screen 

talent. In 2019, Santino won the Tony 

Award for Tootsie, also garnering him 

Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle 

Awards. He is widely known for lending 

his voice to the villainous Prince Hans 

in Disney’s Frozen. He was also seen 

in Sisters, Off the Menu, Impossible 

Monsters and Papercop. 

On television, Santino will be seen in the 

upcoming season of The Marvelous Mrs. 

Maisel. He starred on The CW’s Crazy Ex- 

Girlfriend, and has appeared on Shades 

of Blue, Singularity, Fosse/Verdon, 

The Good Wife, Nurse Jackie, Brain 

Dead, Mozart in the Jungle and 

Royal Pains, as well in the web series 

Submissions Only. 

One of Broadway’s brightest stars, 

The New York Times wrote, “Santino 

Fontana [is] one of the most promising 

young actors to emerge in the 


17


New York theater in recent years.” 

Santino received a Tony nomination 

for his portrayal in Cinderella. 

Other Broadway credits include 

Hello, Dolly!, Act One, The Importance 

of Being Earnest (Clarence Derwent 

Award), A View From the Bridge, 

Brighton Beach Memoirs (Drama Desk 

Award), Billy Elliot and Sunday in the 

Park with George. Santino has won 

Lucille Lortel, Obie and Outer Critics 

Circle Awards and was nominated 

for Drama Desk and Drama League 

Awards for his performance in 

Sons of the Prophet. 

Santino has performed in jazz 

venues such as Lincoln Center’s Appel 

Room and Birdland, and in top tier 

concert venues such as Carnegie Hall 

and the John F. Kennedy Center for 

the Performing Arts. His solo 

appearances have included the 

New York Philharmonic, the New York 

Pops and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. 

November 2021 in a sold-out solo show 

titled My Golden Age. Other upcoming 

concert debuts include London’s 

Cadogan Hall in 2022. Before the 

infamous shutdown, she starred as 

the narrator in the 50 th anniversary 

of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor 

Dreamcoat at Lincoln Center. 

She also created the role of Aunt Val in 

the world premiere of Becoming Nancy, 

directed and choreographed by 

Jerry Mitchell. Before that, she finished 

an acclaimed run as Elphaba in Wicked 

on Broadway, having played the role 

for two years. Vosk starred in New York 

City Ballet’s Jerome Robbins tribute 

Something to Dance About, directed by 

Warren Carlyle, and re-created the 

role of Fruma Sarah in the most recent 

Broadway revival of Fiddler on the Roof. 

Other Broadway credits include Finding 

Neverland and The Bridges of Madison 

County. She starred as Anita in 

West Side Story with the San Francisco 

Symphony; the recording of the concert 

was nominated for a GRAMMY®. 

Her debut, Billboard-charting solo 

album Wild and Free was released in 

2018 and was followed by 2020’s 

A Very Coco Christmas. 


victoria theater 

lizzie & jonathan tisch stage 


7 & 10PM 

Sunday, June 5, 2022 

8PM 

Hasan Minhaj 

The King’s Jester Tour 

Jessica Vosk is a celebrated singer 

and actress known for stirring roles on 

the musical theater and concert stage. 

She made her Carnegie Hall debut in 






19

meet the artist 

In 2017, Minhaj earned rave reviews for 

his performance hosting the 2017 White 

House Correspondents’ Dinner, and for 

his one-hour Netflix comedy special 

Hasan Minhaj: Homecoming King, which 

earned him a 2018 Peabody Award. A 

first generation American, Minhaj joined 

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart as a 

correspondent in November 2014, where 

he was Jon’s last hire. He continued on in 

that role after Trevor Noah took over as 

host the following year and remained on 

the show through August 2018. 

Hasan Minhaj was the host and creator 

of the weekly comedy show Patriot 

Act with Hasan Minhaj that premiered 

on Netflix in October 2018. The series 

explored the modern cultural and 

political landscape with depth and 

sincerity through his unique comedic 

voice. The show received a 2019 

Peabody Award, a 2019 Primetime 

Emmy Award for “Outstanding Motion 

Design” and was recognized for a 2020 

Television Academy Honor. 

kevin 

james 

nov 4 

FOR A FULL SCHEDULE OF EVENTS, VISIT NJPAC.ORG OR CALL 1.888.MY.NJPAC

prudential hall 

betty wold johnson stage 

Tuesday, June 7, 2022 

7PM 

presents 

Soft Animals 

by Erin Mallon 

Directed by 

Laura Eckstrand 

Cast 

(In order of appearance) 

Dylan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Darin F. Earl II 

Rebecca Stinger . . . . . . . . . . Daria M. Sullivan 

Mark Miller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jason Szamreta 

Emily. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Emaline Williams 

Jacob . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Christopher Young 

Sabrina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Joelle Zazz 

about the 

performance 

What would your life be like if you 

couldn’t feel physical pain? If your 

body had a mind of its own? What if 

you never fell asleep? How about if you 

remembered every single thing you’ve 

ever felt, thought or experienced? 

Four medical misfits sign up for a 

three-day workshop to tackle their 

issues. Can a former male nurse and 

self-professed “woo-woo” guide them 

toward healing? Or…perhaps they 

aren’t the ones most in need of a cure. 

Dive into the world of Soft Animals 

where alien hands, rogue eyeballs and 

umbilical cord jump ropes are the norm 

and ask yourself one of life’s mysterious 

questions: does the mind actually 

create the body? 

about erin mallon 

Erin Mallon’s plays have been presented 

with Urban Stages, New Georges, 

Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, 

The Collective, Cherry Picking, Great 

Plains Theater Conference, Samuel 

French #OOB Short Play Festival, 

Project Y Theater, Dreamcatcher Rep, 

Mile Square Theatre and more. Erin’s 

play Branched (dir. Robert Ross Parker) 

premiered with InViolet Theater at 

HERE Arts Center in NYC and is in 

print with Original Works Publishing. 

Her play, The Net Will Appear had its 

off-Broadway premiere at 59E59 

Theaters in NYC starring the great 

Richard Masur and is now available 

on Audible.com as an audio drama 

co-starring Matilda Lawler (Disney 

Plus’ Flora & Ulysses, Broadway’s 

The Ferryman). Erin’s other full-length 

plays include: Good Riddance, Soft 

Animals, Hand Me Down, Stunning 

Displays of Prowess, Skin Hungry, 

The Other White Meat, Come Find 

Me and These Walls Can Talk 2: 

The Narwhal Strikes Back! 

Vivid Stage 

Oakes Center 

120 Morris Avenue, Summit, NJ 07901 

908.514.9654 

vividstage.org 






23

meet about the vivid artist stage 

Vivid Stage was founded in 1994 as 

Dreamcatcher Rep, and is a nonprofit 

professional ensemble of actors who 

build community with the audience 

by sharing contemporary, 

life-affirming stories that challenge, 

energize and entertain. Our work 

has at its heart a belief in the essential 

goodness of people and the power 

of live performance to connect people 

through our shared humanity. 

We expose theatregoers to ideas 

and lives like and unlike their own 

with the intention of awakening their 

imaginations and creating empathy 

for others. We deepen the experience 

of all our patrons with personal 

contact through receptions, talkbacks 

and interactive programs. 

The company’s activities include 

mainstage productions, improvisational 

comedy and cabarets, new play 

readings and a variety of educational 

and senior outreach programs. 

Vivid Stage’s programs are funded 

by the New Jersey State Council 

on the Arts/Department of State, 

a Partner Agency of the National 

Endowment for the Arts, the Geraldine 

R. Dodge Foundation and many 

other corporations, foundations and 

individuals. Vivid Stage is an Equity 

Producing member of the New Jersey 

Theatre Alliance. 

about njpac 

stage exchange 

Cutting-edge play development meets 

insightful community dialogue at NJPAC 

Stage Exchange, a collaboration of 

two professional New Jersey theaters 

and a talented duo of Garden State 

playwrights. Following readings and 

Q&As at NJPAC related to each Stage 

Exchange work, a world premiere 

production will be staged by each 

dramatist’s partner theater. 



Friday, June 10, 2022 

7PM 

NJPAC and Dance New Jersey present 

Jersey New Moves 

Mentors 

Carolyn Dorfman, Carolyn Dorfman Dance 

Sam Pott, Nimbus Dance Works 

Andy Chiang, Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company 

Choreographers 

Hillary-Marie 

Sameena Mitta 

Kiana Rosa Fischer 

Katelyn Halpern 

Kristilee Maiella 

This performance is dedicated to the memory of 

Nai-Ni Chen, beloved mentor and friend. 





FOR A FULL SCHEDULE OF EVENTS, VISIT NJPAC.ORG OR CALL 1.888.MY.NJPAC 25

program 

All works are world premieres. Program is subject to change. 

In the Pocket 

Choreographed and performed by Hillary-Marie 

In the Pocket transforms the void of silence into a world brimming with music and 

movement. Hillary-Marie, playing the role of a trickster with a secret in her pocket, 

indelibly weaves together the languages of music and dance as she harnesses the 

powerful pulse of rhythmic performance with tap dance, body percussion and other 

surprises along the way. Will her tricks catch you? Or will you catch her tricks? 

My Quadrennia 

Choreography by Sameena Mitta with the performers 

Concept and Direction by Sameena Mitta 

Music: SlowPitchSound 

Performed by Chelsea Hecht, Jasminn Johnson, Stephanie Terasaki, 

Mark Willis, Chace Butler and Tessa Slyz (92NY Harkness Dance Center Students), 

Raechelle Manalo (Understudy) 

Monologue by Jasminn Johnson 

Costume Design by Sarah Timberlake 

Production Consultant: Haejin Han 

With the COVID-19 pandemic raging, the uprisings for racial justice reverberating, 

and the nation more politically divided than ever, the events from the week 

preceding election day 2020 through inauguration day in 2021 had a profound 

effect upon all Americans. Throughout this period, Recanati-Kaplan Scholarship 

students at the 92NY Harkness Dance Center and company members from dance 

company MeenMoves recorded their reactions to these intensely charged historic 

events. These interviews were the source material for an intergenerational dance film 

that highlights the excitement, anxiety, mourning, shock and hope this diverse set of 

people experienced during one of the most divisive times in recent memory. 

My Quadrennia brings this dance film to the stage as a dance-theater work, 

intensified by a telling of one family’s historical and current relationship with voting 

in the United States. It is a timely reminder of both the importance and fragility of 

the most fundamental of democratic institutions. 

Special thanks to the 92NY Harkness Dance Center: 

Taryn Kaschock Russell, Alison Manning, and Kristina Dominick. 

program 

Dearest, Don’t 

Choreography by Kiana Rosa Fischer 

Music: “End of Summer Part 4” by Johan Johansson, 

“Seiden Still” by Jacaszek, “Year of Our Lord” by Sufjan Stevens 

Performed by Jannah Schwartz and Kiana Rosa Fischer 

Visual Art by Leah Rosa 

Dearest, Don’t explores the thoughts, desires and confusions of motherhood, as well 

as the complexities entailed by such relationships. Utilizing both text and visual art, 

Kiana Rosa Fischer seeks to blend a collage of images that can be seen, heard and 

felt. Strained relationships, regrets and conflicted desires weigh on the dancers as 

they navigate both the history and connectivity of their bodies, memories of the part 

and questions of the future. 

Being Here is What We are Doing 

Choreographed and performed by Katelyn Halpern 

This site-specific work is a contemporary performance/status report on the two 

intervening years between the original Jersey New Moves performance date on 

June 19, 2020 and the present moment. Soloist and choreographer Katelyn Halpern 

presents at the growth edge of vulnerability with cupcakes, a raincoat and a 

microphone for company. The inspiration is the mother of necessity — in spite of 

all that has happened and continues to happen, commitments will be kept and 

deliverables informed by what we have learned about presence, grief and the body. 

LOVE 

Choreographed by Kristilee Maiella 

Music: “Rubber Head” by Cliff Martinez, “5115” by Michael Wall, 

“Under Pressure” by David Bowie and Queen 

Performed by Alexa Agesen, Elysia Carrasca, Kierstyn Edore, 

Maddie McGovern, Isabella Porreca, Riley Rienert and Ellie Sharpe 

LOVE is a contemporary work combining elements of both concert and commercial 

dance — beginning in silence and ending with David Bowie and Queen’s “Under 

Pressure.” Costumed in bold prints and bright colors, seven dancers demonstrate 

strong technique and artistry as they work together to cultivate an overall emotional, 

relatable and entertaining performance. Inspired by song lyrics as well as real life 

experiences, LOVE follows a journey from a state of fear into love and questions: How 

does choosing love over fear change who we are, how we see the world around us 

and how we care about ourselves and others? 


27

meet the 

choreographers 

meet the 


Currently, Kiana is at Mason Gross 

School of the Arts, where she teaches 

contemporary dance, Pilates and 

is setting a new work within the BA 

department to premiere this April. 

Kiana is a first-year fellow within Jersey 

New Moves with the 2022-2023 season. 

She is thankful to DNJ, NJPAC and 

Carolyn Dorfman for her first year in 

the Jersey New Moves fellowship. 

Hillary-Marie is a highly accomplished 

tap dance artist and producer. 

She founded Jersey Tap Fest at the age 

of 17. She is the director of FutureSTEP 

Tap Company, Hillary-Marie’s Sole 

Music Collective, Grooves Unlimited 

Dance Studio and iTapOnline. She 

has served as an adjunct professor at 

Montclair State University and guest 

faculty at Alvin Ailey and STEPS. In 2017, 

she received an Individual Artist 

Fellowship in Choreography from the 

NJ State Council on the Arts and has 

been a featured soloist at venues 

including the Apollo Theater, Jazz at 

Lincoln Center and tap and jazz 

festivals around the world. 

Sameena Mitta is the artistic director 

of the dance theatre company 

MeenMoves and its education program 

MadHops. Mitta has presented 

choreography around the world, and is 

in year seven of her 10-year dance 

film Struwwelpeter Project, filmed sitespecifically 

in Germany. Mitta was a 

recipient of the Celia Franca Scholarship 

and earned with distinction the 

Cecchetti Society’s Associate Diploma 

and an MA in dance creation from 

UQAM focusing on movement 

intervention for South Asian survivors of 

domestic violence. Mitta is an advocate 

for diversity in dance and has sat on 

dance juries in Canada and the USA for 

several organizations, foundations and 

governments. An NJPAC Choreography 

Fellow, Mitta is mentor for the Recanati- 

Kaplan scholars in dance through the 

Harkness Dance Center and is also on 

faculty at the Limón Institute and 92Y 

Harkness Dance Center. 

Kiana Rosa Fischer graduated from 

Rutgers University with a BFA in dance in 

2016. Upon graduation, Kiana danced 

for Cleo Mack/Rock Dance Collective 

(2016-2019), performing at venues such 

as Rutgers, Joe’s Pub, NY City Center, 

BAM Fisher, Steelstacks and for 

Chien-Ying Wang/Ocampowang 

Dance (2019-2021), performing both 

locally in Philly and NYC as well as 

internationally at the Taipei National 

Experimental Theater. Kiana has been 

a guest choreographer at various NJ 

high schools (2016-2022) as well as for 

Dixon Place’s Under Exposed series in 

2019. In 2021, she started Rosas and 

Guests, a collective of artists, including 

those within her family, producing 

work that incorporates writing, dance, 

visual art and film. In the summer of 

2021, she along with Rosas and Guests 

premiered their first film series as well 

as a site-specific dance/visual art show 

that premiered in New Brunswick, NJ. 

Katelyn Halpern is a multidisciplinary 

artist from Austin, Texas living in Jersey 

City, NJ. Her eclectic body of work 

ranges from life-sized installations to 

cut-and-tape zines to concert dance, 

and is frequently constructed around 

the idea clusters of interiority/intimacy/ 

reflection, strangeness/humor/freedom 

and the lived experience of moving 

through the world in a feminine body. 

Major works include the evening 

length dances JUICE and Loose Heart, 

the immersive visual art installation 


29

meet the 


Heartstrung (created with Talita Cabral) 

and the public art installation Labyrinth 

for Reflection and the Generation of Love 

[No. 9]. She holds a New Jersey teaching 

certificate for high school English, is a 

2012 Teach for America New Jersey 

corps member, and is co-artistic director 

of SMUSH Gallery, an art space 

dedicated to creative and community 

work in Jersey City. 

Maiella received the title of America’s 

2016 Female Dancer of the Year at 

American Dance Awards. In her concert 

performance career, she has performed 

featured roles in works by many eminent 

choreographers such as Stacey Tookey, 

Martha Graham, Larry Keigwin, 

Nancy Lushington, Jaclyn Walsh, 

Jason Luks and Frederick Earl Mosley. 

Maiella has also performed at venues 

such as Symphony Space, Barclays 

Center, Prudential Center, MMAC and 

NJPAC. Some of her choreographic 

adventures include: American College 

Dance Association’s Midnight Showing 

(2018), Montclair State University’s 2019 

Dance Collage and Montclair High 

School Dance Company’s Trace (2020). 





8PM 

Ana Gabriel 

Por Amor A Ustedes 

Kristilee Maiella, native of 

Landing, NJ, holds a Bachelor of Fine 

Arts in dance from Montclair State 

University where she was a recipient 

of the Linda Roberts Outstanding 

Senior Dance Award, as well as the 

Montclair State Scholars academic 

scholarship. Maiella began her early 

dance education at a competition 

dance studio, where she trained in 

both classical and commercial styles 

of dance. In her time competing in 

regional and national competitions, 






31




2PM 

presents 

LIFT EVERY VOICE: A Letter to the Editor 

by TyLie Shider 

Directed by 

Paul Whelihan 

Cast 

(In order of appearance) 

Uralee Jamison . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gia Ware 

Nina Goolsby . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Sharon Garry 

Junebug . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Russell Jones 

Production Stage Manager 

Patrick Starega 

The play takes place in Oxford, Mississippi 

(home of “Ole Miss” - University of Mississippi), 1962 

about the 

performance 

LIFT EVERY VOICE…is a multimedia 

play that explores the music, images 

and spirit of mid-century America while 

celebrating the courage and resilience 

of everyday Americans during the 

Civil Rights Movement. 

The story centers on Junebug, 

a 12-year-old African American boy 

in the 1960’s South, who learns of 

James Meredith’s attempt to enroll 

as the first African American at the 

University of Mississippi. When the 

editor of The Oxford Eagle, a local 

newspaper, expresses her negative 

opinions on integration, Junebug 

takes matters into his own hands and 

confronts these views, speaking out 

for equality and inclusion. Historical 

touchstones include the Montgomery 

Bus Boycott, the Little Rock Nine, 

the Greensboro Sit-ins, the Freedom 

Fighters and the Civil Rights Movement. 

This play for young people resonates 

with the voice in each of us to fight 

against injustice. 

about tylie shider 

TyLie Shider is a 2020-21 Playwrights’ 

Center Jerome Fellow and an I Am Soul 

Playwright Resident at the National 

Black Theatre. His plays include 

Parable of the Backyard Roots (2019 

Bay Area Playwrights Festival, Finalist), 

Bastard, Platform States of Mind and 

Talk. His work has been developed 

by Liberation Theatre Company, 

Dixon Place, La MaMa, Frank Silvera 

Writers’ Workshop, SPACE on 

Ryder Farm, Harlem 9, Homebase 

Theatre Collective, 3:5 Creative[s], 

Yendor Arts, The Classical Theatre of 

Harlem, Luna Stage, Joust Theatre co., 

New York New Works Theater Festival 

and The Theater Project. Awards include: 

Drama Desk from Delaware State 

University and The Theater Project’s 

One-Act competition 2015 Best Play 

and Audience Favorite. Member: 

Dramatist Guild of America, 2018 

Playwright in residence at the Liberation 

Theatre Company, 2019-20 Playwrights’ 

Center Jerome Fellow, and the 2020-21 

The Civilians R&D Group. He holds a 

BA in journalism from Delaware State 

University and an MFA in playwriting 

from New York University. 

Paul Whelihan 

Producing Artistic Director 

Pushcart Players 

Educational Theater for Young Audiences 

Founded in 1974 

261 Bloomfield Avenue Suite A | Verona, NJ 07044 

pushcartplayers.org 






33

about 

pushcart players 

Founded in 1974, Pushcart Players brings 

substantive musical theater productions 

and innovative educational residencies 

to young people directly in their schools. 

Performances are curriculum oriented, 

focusing on literacy, history, values 

clarification and music. Workshops 

and residencies focus on the craft of 

theater itself, promoting the benefits of 

learning through and about theater. 

Pushcart Players has traveled over 

2.5 million miles nationally and abroad 

to serve more than 8 million children 

and their families. From the little red 

schoolhouse to the nation’s White House, 

this dynamic company has received 

numerous state and private awards for 

excellence and innovation. A cast of 

professional Actors’ Equity Association 

actors and stage managers present with 

complete scenery, lighting and sound 

systems, making every performance 

adaptable to any location. 

about njpac 

stage exchange 

Cutting-edge play development meets 

insightful community dialogue at NJPAC 

Stage Exchange, a collaboration of 

two professional New Jersey theaters 

and a talented duo of Garden State 

playwrights. Following readings and 

Q&As at NJPAC related to each Stage 

Exchange work, a world premiere 

production will be staged by each 

dramatist’s partner theater. 


Nemr 




7PM 






35


Nemr is a Lebanese American 

stand-up comedian who is credited 

with establishing and pioneering the 

stand-up comedy scene throughout 

the Middle East where he performs in 

English. Nemr grew up in San Diego 

and then moved back to Lebanon with 

his family. He went on to break down 

barriers and unite people in a region 

where bombing on stage can have a 

completely different meaning. 

As an accomplished stand-up 

comic with eight full-feature shows, 

it’s no wonder Nemr’s second world 

tour, Love Isn’t the Answer, was met 

with unprecedented success, 

selling out across the globe from 

every major city in the U.S. to Europe 

and across the Middle East. His second 

international tour became the second 

global comedy event to successfully 

stretch from the U.S. to the Middle East, 

with crowds of up to 6,000 people 

at every show. The first global 

comedy event to achieve this milestone 

was Nemr’s first world tour. 

That global event was captured in 

his hit comedy special No Bombing 

in Beirut, which was filmed in 

both Lebanon and Los Angeles, 

and premiered on Showtime, 

and is now available worldwide. 

Nemr also has numerous television 

credits from major networks in the 

Middle East, has been seen on CNN, 

was a guest on BBC’s HARDTalk and 

appeared on The Nightly Show with 

Larry Wilmore. He has also released 

two feature specials as cinematic 

experiences and had his own prime 

time TV show. In May of 2014 he was 

featured on the cover of Rolling Stone 

magazine (Middle East), solidifying 

Nemr’s legacy as the biggest name 

in stand-up in the region. 

On the heels of his hugely successful 

world tour Love Isn’t the Answer, which 

ran for an astonishing two years, and 

following the premiere of his comedy 

special No Bombing in Beirut, Nemr is 

back with a brand new show titled 

The Future is Now! You can also catch 

Nemr live regularly on Twitch on his 

channel NEMRCOMEDY. 



7:30PM 

Celebrating the Theater Songs 

of Leonard Bernstein 

featuring 

Bill Charlap & the Bill Charlap Trio 

Author Jamie Bernstein 

Host Ted Chapin 



The American Song series at NJPAC is presented, in part, through the generous support of the 

Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation, the David S. Steiner and Sylvia Steiner Charitable Trust, 

and the Joan and Allen Bildner Family Fund. 





FOR A FULL SCHEDULE OF EVENTS, VISIT NJPAC.ORG OR CALL 1.888.GO.NJPAC 

37



Few composers capture their time 

and become the iconic voice of their 

age. Leonard Bernstein found his 

“voice” in the early 1940s and projected 

the sound of urban and urbane 

America from the period of World War II 

to the anti-war movements of the 1970s 

and the restoration of freedom in 

Europe, with the fall of the Berlin Wall 

and Soviet communism. 

Writing for small ensembles, symphony 

orchestras, Broadway, film and opera 

houses, Leonard Bernstein projected a 

simple message of understanding and 

hope, employing both complex and 

simple forms and styles, yet always 

sounding like “Bernstein” — a voice best 

known in his score to West Side Story. 

Exploring his output, one finds the 

famous and obscure works that both are 

reflective of their times and somehow 

also preserve and encapsulate them. 

Everywhere one hears his internal 

struggle to sound inevitable as the 

tumultuous second half of the 20th century 

unfolded itself. He is at once linked 

with the music of Benjamin Britten and 

Dimitri Shostakovich, as well as 

George Gershwin and Aaron Copland. 

While his music finds its spiritual 

home in his worldview, his music speaks 

with a New York accent, even though 

he was born in Massachusetts. His love 

affair with Europe and his sensitivity to 

his Russian and Jewish roots are never 

far from his lyrical expressivity, with its 

fragile sense of optimism, its loneliness, 

its humor and its demand for acceptance. 

All of this is wrapped in the rhythmic 

propulsion of a great American urban 

landscape. He has left us an aural image 

of his time and place and, at the same 

time, an eternal voice of humanity. 

GRAMMY® Award-winning pianist 

Bill Charlap has performed with 

many of the leading artists of our time, 

from Phil Woods and Benny Carter to 

Gerry Mulligan and Wynton Marsalis. 

He is acclaimed for his interpretations 

of the American popular songbook, 

and has recorded albums featuring 

the music of Hoagy Carmichael, 

Leonard Bernstein, George Gershwin, 

Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers 

and Duke Ellington. 

The Bill Charlap Trio, with bassist 

Peter Washington and drummer 

Kenny Washington, marks its 23rd year 

together this season, and is recognized 

as one of the leading ensembles in jazz. 

The trio earned GRAMMY® nominations 

for 2017’s Uptown Downtown (Impulse!/ 

Verve) and Somewhere: The Songs of 

Leonard Bernstein and The Bill Charlap 

Trio: Live at the Village Vanguard (both 

on the Blue Note label). Their 2016 album 

Notes from New York (Impulse!/Verve) 

earned a five-star review in DownBeat, 

which hailed it as “a master class in 

class.” The trio’s most recent recording 

features them supporting 

Tony Bennet and Diana Krall on the 

chart-topping, GRAMMY®-nominated 

album Love is Here to Stay. The Bill 

Charlap Trio tours all over the world and 

their New York engagements include 

regular appearances at Jazz at Lincoln 

Center and the Village Vanguard. 

Last summer, Charlap celebrated 

his 15th year as artistic director of the 

92nd Street Y’s Jazz in July Festival. 

He has also produced concerts for Jazz 

at Lincoln Center, New Jersey Performing 

Arts Center (NJPAC), the Chicago 

Symphony Center and the Hollywood 

Bowl. He is Director of Jazz Studies at 

William Paterson University in Wayne, 

New Jersey. Founded in 1973, 

the program is one of the longestrunning 

and most respected jazz 

programs in the world. 


39



Born in New York City, Charlap began 

playing the piano at age three. His 

father was Broadway composer Moose 

Charlap, whose credits include Peter 

Pan, and his mother is singer 

Sandy Stewart, who toured with 

Benny Goodman, appeared on the 

Ed Sullivan Show, the Perry Como Show 

and earned a GRAMMY® Award 

nomination for her recording of 

“My Coloring Book.” 

Charlap’s collaboration with 

Tony Bennet, The Silver Lining: 

The Songs of Jerome Kern (RPM/ 

Columbia), won the 2016 GRAMMY® 

Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal 

Album. It features Charlap and Bennet 

together and in collaboration with The 

Bill Charlap Trio and in duo piano 

performances with his wife, renowned 

jazz pianist and composer Renee 

Rosnes. 

Charlap and Rosnes frequently 

collaborate in duo piano concerts. 

Their highly acclaimed 2010 album 

Double Portrait was produced by the 

Blue Note label. 

Peter Washington is one of the most 

in-demand and recorded bassists in 

modern jazz, with a discography of over 

400 recordings. Born in Los Angeles, 

Washington played classical bass as a 

teen and majored in english literature at 

UC Berkeley, where he became 

interested in jazz. He was invited by 

Art Blakey to join the Jazz Messengers 

in New York. From there, Washington 

became part of two of jazz’s most 

celebrated trios: the Tommy Flanagan 

Trio, and for the past 13 years, 

the Bill Charlap Trio. Washington’s 

freelance work roster is a “who’s who” 

of jazz, including Dizzy Gillespie, 

Clark Terry, Milt Jackson, Johnny Griffin, 

Bobby Hutcherson and the Carnegie 

Hall Jazz Band. In 2008, Washington 

became part of The Blue Note 7, 

a septet formed in honor of the 70th 

anniversary of Blue Note Records. 

The group recorded the album Mosaic 

and toured the U.S. in 2009. 

Kenny Washington was born in 

Brooklyn. In 1977, while still in his teens, 

he worked with Lee Konitz and his 

nonet. He has been a member of the 

Bill Charlap Trio for the past 13 years 

and has performed and recorded with 

dozens of major artists, giving him 

a discography of hundreds of titles. 

Artists include Benny Carter, Betty Carter, 

Johnny Griffin, Ron Carter, Clark Terry, 

Milt Jackson, Tommy Flanagan, 

Dizzy Gillespie, Arturo Sandoval and 

Benny Goodman. Washington is a noted 

jazz historian and radio personality; 

he has written liner notes and helped 

prepare re-releases by Art Blakey, 

Count Basie and others and has also 

been a disc jockey on WBGO and 

Sirius satellite jazz radio. He currently 

serves on the faculties of Purchase 

College, State University of New York 

and The Juilliard School, teaching 

drums and jazz history. 

Jamie Bernstein is a writer, narrator, 

broadcaster and filmmaker who has 

transformed a lifetime of loving music 

into a career of sharing her knowledge 

and excitement with others. 

Inspired by her father Leonard Bernstein’s 

lifelong impulse to share and teach, 

Jamie has devised multiple ways of 

communicating her own excitement 

about orchestral music. Beginning 15 

years ago with “The Bernstein Beat,” 

a family concert about her father’s music 

modeled after his own groundbreaking 

Young People’s Concerts with the 

New York Philharmonic, Jamie has gone 

on to design, write and narrate concerts 

for worldwide audiences of all ages 

about the music of Mozart, Copland, 

Stravinsky and many others. 

Until the pandemic restricted her 

travels, Jamie crisscrossed the world 

as a concert narrator, appearing 

everywhere from Beijing to London 

to Vancouver. A frequent speaker on 

musical topics, Jamie has presented 

talks around the world, from conferences 

in Japan to seminars at Harvard 

University. In Spanish-speaking 

locations such as Madrid, Seville and 

Caracas, Jamie narrates en español — 

thanks to her Chilean-born mother, 

Felicia Montealegre, who raised her 

children to be bilingual. 

In her role as a broadcaster, Jamie has 

produced and hosted shows for radio 

stations in the United States and Great 

Britain. She has presented the New York 

Philharmonic’s live national radio 

broadcasts, as well as live broadcasts 

from Tanglewood. 

Jamie is the co-director of a film 

documentary, Crescendo: the Power 

of Music — which focuses on children 

in struggling urban communities who 

participate in youth orchestra programs 

for social transformation inspired by 

Venezuela’s groundbreaking El Sistema 

movement. The film has won numerous 

prizes on the festival circuit, and is now 

viewable on iTunes. 

Jamie has also directed her 

father’s chamber opera, Trouble in 

Tahiti, in various locations around the 

country, including the Moab Music 

Festival, Festival del Sole in Napa, CA 

and Tanglewood. 

Jamie’s memoir, Famous Father Girl, was 

published by HarperCollins in June of 

2018, as the Leonard Bernstein centennial 

celebrations were at their peak all 

around the world. The paperback was 

released in June of 2019. The author 

also performs the audiobook. 

Jamie writes articles and poetry, 

which have appeared in such 

publications as Symphony, DoubleTake, 

The Nation, Opera News and Musical 


41


America. She also edits Prelude, Fugue 

& Riffs, a newsletter about issues and 

events pertaining to her father’s legacy. 

Ted Chapin was chosen by the 

Rodgers and Hammerstein families 

to run their office. He expanded 

it into the Rodgers & Hammerstein 

Organization, responsible for 

management of the copyrights 

created by Richard Rodgers and/ 

or Oscar Hammerstein II and 

many others. On his watch, 

there were new major productions 

of their musicals on Broadway 

(eight Tony Awards for Best Musical 

Revival). In addition to revivals, 

he has encouraged new Broadway 

productions, among them 

Irving Berlin’s White Christmas, 

Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella, 

State Fair, A Grand Night for Singing 

and Holiday Inn, and major, 

highly rated television productions 

like The Sound of Music Live! 

on NBC and the multi-racial 

Cinderella with Brandy Norwood 

and Whitney Houston on ABC. 

Ted was the co-founder of the 

Encores! series at City Center and 

has been a host and interviewer on 

many television shows, including 

three seasons of NJTV’s American 

Songbook at NJPAC, and Working in 

the Theater and Careers in the Theater 

for the American Theatre Wing. 

He was the producer for two wellreceived 

seasons at the 92nd Street 

Y’s Lyrics and Lyricists, which included 

salutes to Bobby Darin, Stephen 

Sondheim, Sammy Davis, Jr., Lynn 

Ahrens, Irving Berlin, Rodgers & Hart 

and Leonard Bernstein. 

His book Everything Was Possible: 

The Birth of the Musical “Follies,” 

based on his experience as the 

production assistant on the original 

Broadway production of the 

Sondheim/Prince musical Follies, 

was published by Alfred A. Knopf. 

A new addition of the paperback 

was recently published by 

Applause Books. 

He serves on the boards of New 

York City Center and The Kurt Weill 

Foundation, where he currently serves 

as chairman; and The American 

Theater Wing, where he was chairman 

for four years and recently served as 

co-chairman. He has been a guest 

lecturer at many universities including 

Yale, Columbia, Princeton, Duke, Pace, 

Belmont, Lawrence and NYU. He has 

been honored with the UJA Excellence 

in Theater Award, the Leonard Harris 

Award from City Center, the Floria 

Lasky Award and others. 

He comes by an association with 

Leonard Bernstein honestly: his father 

Schuyler Chapin and Bernstein met 

at Columbia Records and worked 

together in several capacities over 

the years. He was also assistant 

director of the Los Angeles and 

San Francisco Civic Light Opera 

production of Candide. His career 

began as production assistant for 

the Broadway productions of Follies, 

The Rothschilds and The Unknown 

Soldier and His Wife, and as 

associate to director Alan Arkin on 

the original Broadway production of 

Neil Simon’s The Sunshine Boys and 

the CBS-TV production of Twigs with 

Carol Burnett. He was the producer 

of the Musical Theater Lab, the first 

not-for-profit organization devoted 

to the development of new musicals. 


The Masked Singer 

National Tour 2022 

starring 

Natasha Bedingfield 








@ 8PM 


43


Johnny Mathis 




8PM 

with special guest Gary Mule Deer 






Johnny Mathis was born on September 

30, 1935 in Gilmer, Texas. As a small boy, 

the family moved to Post Street in San 

Francisco. It was there that he learned 

an appreciation of music from his 

father who taught him his first song, 

“My Blue Heaven.” At age eight, 

his father purchased an old upright 

piano for $25. When he brought it home, 

it wouldn’t fit through the front door. So 

that evening, Johnny stayed up all night 

to watch his father dismantle the piano, 

get it into the small living room of their 

basement apartment and 

then reassemble it. 

He was 13 years old when his father 

took him to see Connie Cox, a Bay Area 

voice teacher, who agreed to take on 

the youngster in exchange for his doing 

odd jobs around her house. He studied 

with Connie for six years learning vocal 

scales and exercises, voice production, 

classical and operatic skills. 

In high school he was known not only 

for his singing ability but his athleticism 

as well. He became a star athlete on 

the track and field team as a high 

jumper and hurdler and played on the 

basketball team. In 1954, he enrolled at 

San Francisco State College (now called 

San Francisco State University) with 

the intention of being an English and 

physical education teacher. A fellow 

student, whose sextet was working 

at the Black Hawk nightclub, brought 

Johnny in for a Sunday afternoon jam 

session. It was at the Black Hawk that 

Helen Noga, co-owner of the club, first 

heard him sing. She decided that she 

wanted to manage his career. 

In 1955, he landed a job singing 

weekends at Ann Dee’s 440 Club. After 

repeated attempts, Helen convinced 

George Avakian, then head of Jazz 

A&R at Columbia Records, to see him. 

Avakian came to the club, heard Johnny 

sing and sent the now famous telegram 

to his record company: “Have found 

phenomenal 19-year-old boy who could 

go all the way. Send blank contracts.” 

The first album was a collection of jazzoriented 

renditions of popular standards 

entitled Johnny Mathis: A New Sound in 

Popular Song. It included jazz musicians 

Gil Evans, John Lewis and Teo Macero 

and songs like “Angel Eyes,” “Easy to 

Love” and “Babalu.” The album enjoyed 

only moderate success because jazz 

vocal albums were not good sellers. 

Nevertheless, he remained in New York 

and landed bookings at some of the 

leading nightclubs such as the Village 

Vanguard, The Blue Angel and 

Basin Street East. 

Columbia Records soon placed him 

under the supervision of producer Mitch 


45



Miller. Mitch favored using Johnny’s 

voice to sing soft, romantic ballads. 

At his second recording session, Johnny 

recorded two singles. These songs were 

to become among his most popular 

all-time greatest hits, “Wonderful, 

Wonderful” and “It’s Not for Me to Say.” 

MGM Studios signed Johnny to sing 

“It’s Not for Me to Say” in the film Lizzie. 

He played a tavern piano bar singer. 

And in 1958, Johnny appeared in 20 th 

Century Fox’s A Certain Smile, singing 

the title song and playing himself in an 

elegant nightclub scene. Since then, 

his voice and music has been used in 

countless Hollywood movies, TV shows 

and even video games for theme songs 

and background music to enhance a 

particular setting or segment. Just to 

name a few: Family Ties, Same Time Next 

Year, The Tonight Show, Gremlins, 

Silver Linings Playbook, Criminal Minds, 

Soul Train, Goodfellas, Call the Midwife, 

The Simpsons, Desperate Housewives, 

Riverdale, EastEnders, Mad Men, 

and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. 

“Wonderful, Wonderful” and “It’s Not 

for Me to Say” reached their peaks on 

the Billboard pop chart in July of 1957. 

These successes were followed by the 

monumental single “Chances Are” 

which became his first number one hit. 

Amazingly, his second number one hit 

single, “Too Much, Too Little, Too Late” 

(recorded with Deniece Williams in 1978), 

came almost 21 years after “Chances Are.” 

In 1957, his pivotal appearance on 

The Ed Sullivan Show, where he was 

introduced to the record buying public, 

made him into a national celebrity and 

household name. Columbia Records 

continued to release albums of him 

singing beautiful and romantic ballads, 

classic standards and the best songs 

from Broadway musicals. It was not 

uncommon for him to have as many 

as four albums on the Billboard top 

albums chart at the same time. In 1959, 

he recorded another hit single that 

became synonymous with the name 

of Johnny Mathis, the Erroll Garner 

composition “Misty.” 

From 1963-1967, he made his brief move 

to Mercury Records, self producing for 

the first time under his own imprint, 

Global Records. While there he 

worked with such music luminaries 

as Quincy Jones, Don Costa and 

Allyn Ferguson. The first album 

recorded was Sounds of Christmas, 

where he worked on the arrangement 

of two tracks. While his tenure at 

Mercury opened new musical horizons, 

eventually he returned to Columbia 

Records, bringing with him all 

of his Mercury recordings. 

He holds many records and has set 

many precedents in the music industry. 

In 1958, two years after being signed 

by Columbia Records, his Greatest 

Hits album was released. It began a 

“Greatest Hits” tradition copied by 

every record company since then. 

Johnny’s Greatest Hits went on to 

become one of the most popular 

albums of all time and spent an 

unprecedented 490 continuous weeks 

(almost 10 years) on the Billboard 

top albums chart. This record has 

been noted in the Guinness Book 

of World Records. 

At one point in his career he was one 

of only five recording artists to have 

top 40 hits spanning each of his first 

four decades as a recording artist. As 

of 2013 Johnny has had a hit in every 

decade of his career, thanks to his song 

with Jim Brickman “Sending You a Little 

Christmas” peaking at number four 

on the Billboard adult contemporary 

chart. He has also achieved 50 hits on 

Billboard’s adult contemporary chart, 

and ranks as the all-time number six 

album artist in the history of Billboard’s 

pop album charts. 

Johnny has received five GRAMMY® 

nominations during his career. 

The first was for “Misty” in 1960 in 

the category of Best Male Vocal 

Performance: Single Record or Track. 

The second was in 1992 for In a 

Sentimental Mood/Mathis Sings Ellington 

in the category of Best Traditional Pop 

Performance. He also was nominated in 

2006 for Isn’t it Romantic, and again in 

2011 for Let It Be Me – Mathis In Nashville 

in the category of Best Traditional Pop 

Vocal Album. His latest nomination 

occurred in 2014 for Sending You A Little 

Christmas also for Best Traditional 

Pop Vocal Album. 

In 2017, he released his 79 th studio 

album titled Johnny Mathis Sings the 

Great New American Songbook, and the 

release of his career-spanning box 

set The Voice Of Romance: The Columbia 

Original Albums Collections. This box 

set debuted his two “lost” albums: I Love 

My Lady, produced by Nile Rodgers 

and Bernard Edwards of the pivotal 

group CHIC and The Island with Sergio 

Mendes. He also recorded new musical 

collaborations with other artists up to 

and through 2021. Johnny continues to 

be Columbia Records’ longest signed 

recording artist, and to fans of all ages 

as “The Voice of Christmas.” 

As if this weren’t enough, he continues 

to be honored in many different ways. 

Most recent honors and accolades 

include: the Ella Award honored by 

the Society of Singers (2006), performing 

for former Secretary of State Colin 

Powell and receiving the Gold Medal 

of the Academy of Achievement in 

Washington D.C. (2011), the Art Gilmore 

Career Achievement Award from the 

Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters for Radio 

& Television (2013), induction into 

America’s Pop Music Hall of Fame (2013), 

induction into the Great American 

Songbook Hall of Fame (2014), as well 

as receiving the New Standard Award 

for his continuing career achievements; 

the Lifetime Achievement Award 

presented by the Mayor and City 

Council members of the City of Los 

Angeles (2017) and nominated as 

Casino Entertainer of the Year (2020). 

After 66 years as a recording 

artist, what’s next for Johnny? “I don’t 

think about retiring,” he explains, “I think 

about how I can keep singing for the rest 

of my life. I just have to pace myself.” 


47


Gary Mule Deer’s comedy and 

music have set him apart as one-ofa-kind. 

He has performed on nearly 

every major concert stage in the 

country and made over 360 television 

appearances, with many on both 

The Tonight Show and David 

Letterman. He was one of six 

comedians, along with Jay Leno, to 

star on the first HBO comedy special 

Freddie Prinze and Friends, was 

comedy host of Don Kirshner’s Rock 

Concert for four years on NBC and 

a series regular on Make Me Laugh. 

Gary is featured on Jeff Foxworthy’s 

Comedy Classics, The World’s Greatest 

Stand-Up Comedy Collection and is 

one of the most played comedians on 

the clean comedy channels of 

Sirius XM satellite radio. 

He is a regular and popular performer 

on the Grand Ole Opry, currently 

with four to five appearances each 

month. In a career spanning six 

decades, he has shared the stage 

with over a hundred music legends, 

and has performed everywhere from 

Albert Hall to Carnegie Hall. He has 

been touring as a special guest with 

the great Johnny Mathis and the 

orchestra since 1994. 

He was recently featured on the 

five-part Showtime series about 

the history of The Comedy Store. 

In addition to his iconic comedy, 

Mule Deer is a talented singer and 

musician, always having performed 

classic country, including the music 

of Johnny Cash. The great popularity 

of Gary Mule Deer’s comedy 

and music cuts across all ages 

and demographics, and he is the 

subject of a soon-to-be-released 

documentary chronicling his 

amazing career. 

“This is the funniest man in America.” 

— Clint Eastwood 

“You’re the greatest, the funniest… 

always were.” — Steve Martin 





8PM 

Welcome to Night Vale 

The Haunting of Night Vale 






49





3 & 8PM 

All Grown Up 

An Evening with 

Comedian Eli Castro 


One of the most innovative comedians 

around, Elizardi “Eli” Castro uses 

language and culture to create humor 

that appeals to audiences of all ages. 

He has written and performed 

10 one-man shows including Made in 

Puerto Rico, which ran off-Broadway 

for seven sold-out weeks! His critically 

acclaimed shows have been reviewed 

and recommended by numerous 

publications including the Chicago 

Sun Times and the Orlando Sentinel. 

His shows have also been featured on 

ABC’s The View, Telemundo’s Emmywinning 

morning show Un Nuevo Dia, 

Fox’s Good Day New York, WGN-TV 

and the Univision network, among 

others. He also won “Best Stand-Up” 

at the acclaimed United Solo 

Festival in NYC. 

His performances have been seen in 

colleges and universities throughout 

the country, including Yale University, 

University of Central Florida and 

Northwestern University Law School. 

He has also performed for various 

organizations and corporations, 

including the GOYA Corp., G.E. and 

the U.S. Census. 

Before following his dream to 

become a stand-up comedian, he 

worked as a prosecutor and ran his 

own law firm where he worked as 

a criminal defense attorney. He is a 

licensed attorney in Florida, Illinois 

and New York. He also holds a 

master’s degree in communications, 

along with a bachelor’s degree 

in psychology. 






51




8PM 


Patti LaBelle 

with special guest 

Will Downing 

standing in 

solidarity 

monthly events promoting racial equality 

Visit njpac.org/stand for more information 





53



The word “beautiful” simply does 

not describe the incomparable force 

known to the world as Patti LaBelle. 

As time continues to evolve, 

the soulful songbird’s name has 

become synonymous with grace, style, 

elegance and class. Belting out classic 

rhythm and blues renditions, pop 

standards and spiritual sonnets have 

created the unique platform of versatility 

that she is known and revered for. 

It’s a small wonder that Patti has time 

for anything else in between recording 

and touring, but she makes time and 

the world is oh so happy that she 

does. She has written six books: Don’t 

Block the Blessings, LaBelle Cuisine: 

Recipes to Sing About, Patti’s Pearls, 

Patti LaBelle’s Lite Cuisine, Recipes for 

the Good Life and Desserts LaBelle. 

Recently, Patti released a 20 th 

anniversary edition of her New York 

Times bestselling cookbook, LaBelle 

Cuisine, featuring three new recipes. 

Additionally, Patti has been featured 

in popular films and television programs 

including A Soldier’s Story, A Different 

World, American Horror Story, Empire, 

Star and The Kominsky Method, 

and starred in her own TV series, Out All 

Night. She’s also wowed television 

audiences with unforgettable 

performances on the hit shows, Dancing 

with the Stars and The Masked Singer 

and starred in Broadway productions 

of Your Arms are Too Short to Box 

with God, Fela! and After Midnight. 

In 2007, she introduced Patti’s Good Life, 

a successful food and lifestyle brand 

that offers a variety of frozen comfort 

foods, breakfast items and desserts, 

including her world-famous sweet 

potato pie. The Patti’s Good Life brand is 

available at retailers across the United 

States including Walmart and Target. 

Always a person to take on new 

challenges, in 2017 Patti launched a 

record label, GPE Records and released 

her first jazz album, Bel Hommage. 

Although she is an award-winning 

entertainer, author and entrepreneur, 

Patti’s work as a humanitarian is just as 

noteworthy. She remains an advocate 

for adoption, diabetes, cancer, HIV/AIDS 

and many other causes and nonprofit 

initiatives. While she has reached the 

heights of success throughout her 

60-plus year career, Patti has also 

endured and survived personal strife. 

Within a 10-year period, she lost her 

mother, three sisters and best friend to 

diabetes and cancer. In 1994, she was 

diagnosed with diabetes and shortly 

thereafter became a spokesperson for 

the American Diabetes Association. 

The same motivation that had Patricia 

Louise Holte blossom from a choir 

member to lead vocalist for Patti LaBelle 

& The Bluebelles and later Labelle, to a 

solo artist, is the same energy that keeps 

her fire burning at 77 years young. “Each 

year I grow, and that’s a blessing from 

God. I do what I can do. I do what I feel 

God has given me the energy to do, so I 

just go out there and I do it…it’s not 

about making money because I don’t 

need money, but I need to sing. With a 

voice or without, I’ve got to get on that 

stage.” And the world is thankful that 

Patti’s voice sounds so good to our ears. 

With a career that spans over 32 years 

and 22 albums, Will Downing is one of 

the most versatile and loved voices of 

our time. Known as “The Prince of 

Sophisticated Soul,” his repertoire 

consists of signature interpretations of 

R&B classics like “I Go Crazy,” “Wishing 

on a Star” and “I Try,” with original hits 

“A Million Ways,” “Sorry I” and the 

show-stopping duet with Rachelle Ferrell, 

“Nothing Has Ever Felt like This.” 

His distinctive baritone voice has 

resonated in the hearts of women 

worldwide and carved a unique niche 

in the music marketplace. With fresh 

melodies and lush arrangements that 

satisfy all musical palates, Downing 

continues to serve his fan base through 

his own Sophisticated Soul record 

label and sold-out tour dates across 

the country. His latest release, entitled 

Sophisticated Soul, was released in 

November 2021. He also hosts his 

weekly radio show The Wind Down, 

which is aired on his website and 

over 20 stations around the world in 

the USA, UK, Japan and Spain. 

FOR A FULL SCHEDULE OF EVENTS, VISIT NJPAC.ORG OR CALL 1.888.GO.NJPAC 55

At NJPAC, our dedicated supporters 

are behind all that we accomplish. 

Their generosity brings exhilarating 

performances to our stages and 

inspirational arts education programs to 

more than 110,000 students, teachers and 

families each year. Their contributions 

enable us to share the arts with audiences 

throughout our community. 

njpac shining stars 

New Jersey Performing Arts Center reserves special accolades for its Shining Stars — the generous 

visionaries, luminaries and great dreamers who make everything possible. This list includes contributors 

whose cumulative giving to NJPAC totals $1 million and above. As of March 18, 2022 

frankie valli 

and the four 

seasons 

nov 11 

Dreamers 

$10,000,000 & above 

Anonymous (2) 

The Chambers Family and 

The MCJ Amelior Foundation 

City of Newark 

Judy and Stewart Colton 

Toby and Leon Cooperman 

Essex County 

Betty Wold Johnson+ 

New Jersey State Council on the Arts 

Prudential/The Prudential 

Foundation 

Estate of Eric F. Ross 

State of New Jersey 

Victoria Foundation 


Luminaries 

$5,000,000 & above 

Bank of America 

The Joan and Allen 

Bildner Family Fund 

CIT 

The Horizon Foundation for New 

Jersey/Horizon Blue Cross 

Blue Shield of New Jersey 

Merck Foundation 

Katharine+ and 

Albert W.+ Merck 

NJ Advance Media 

PSEG Foundation/PSEG 

Lizzie and Jonathan Tisch 

Wells Fargo Foundation 

The Josh Weston Family 

Visionaries 

$1,000,000 & above 

ADP 

Alcatel-Lucent 

American Express 

Anonymous 

AT&T 

BD 

Randi and Marc E. Berson 

Casino Reinvestment 

Development Authority 

Chubb 

Joanne D. Corzine Foundation 

Jon S. Corzine Foundation 

Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation 

Doris Duke Charitable Foundation 

Edison Properties Newark 

Foundation/The Gottesman Family 

Anne Evans Estabrook DBA 

Elberon Development Co. 

Ford Foundation 

Gibbons P.C. 

Veronica M. Goldberg 

The Griffinger Family 

Harrah’s Foundation 

Hess Foundation, Inc. 

WIlliam and Joan Hickey 

The Izzo Family 

Jaqua Foundation 

Johnson & Johnson Family 

of Companies 

JPMorgan Chase 

Kresge Foundation 

The Blanche and Irving 

Laurie Foundation 

Arlene Lieberman/The Leonard 

Lieberman Family Foundation 

A. Michael and Ruth C. Lipper/Lipper 

Family Charitable Foundation 

William J. and Paula Marino 

McCrane Foundation, Inc., 

care of Margrit McCrane 

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation 

New Jersey Cultural Trust 

Panasonic Foundation 

Dr. Victor Parsonnet and 

Jane Parsonnet+ 

Pfizer Inc. 

Michael F. Price 

PwC 

Robert Wood Johnson, 

Jr. Charitable Trust 

RWJBarnabas Health 

The Ryan Family 

The Sagner Family Foundation 

Schering-Plough Corporation 

The Walter V. and Judith L. 

Shipley Family Foundation 

Sills Cummis & Gross, PC 

The Smart Family Foundation/David 

S. Stone, Esq., 

Stone and Magnanini 

John Strangfeld and 

Mary Kay Strangfeld Foundation 

Michael and Jill Tanenbaum 

Morris and Charlotte Tanenbaum 

TD Bank/TD Charitable Foundation 

Turner Construction Company/ 

Pat A. Di Filippo 

Turrell Fund 

United Airlines 

Diana and P. Roy Vagelos 

Verizon 

Robert and Mary Ellen Waggoner 

Wallace Foundation 

+deceased 


57

njpac leadership As of March 18 , 2022 

njpac leadership As of March 18, 2022 

Board of Directors 

Co-Chair 

Steven M. Goldman, Esq. 

Partner 

PBM Capital Group 

Co-Chair 

Barry H. Ostrowsky 



Treasurer 

Marc E. Berson 

Chairman 

The Fidelco Group 

Assistant Treasurer 

David Jones 

Co-Founder, President & CEO 

CastleOak Securities, LLC 

Secretary 

Michael R. Griffinger, Esq. 

Director 

Gibbons P.C. 

Founding Chair 

Raymond G. Chambers 


Chair Emeritus 

William J. Marino 

Retired Chairman, President & CEO 

Horizon BCBS of New Jersey 

Lara Abrash 

Marsha I. Atkind 

Lawrence E. Bathgate II, Esq. 

James L. Bildner 

Daniel M. Bloomfield, M.D. 

Modia “Mo” Butler 

Jacob S. Buurma, Esq. 

Nancy Cantor, Ph.D. 

Regina Carter 

Mindy A. Cohen 

Matthew Connor 

Edwan Davis 

Enrico Della Corna 


Robert H. Doherty 

Patrick C. Dunican, Jr., Esq. 

Debbie Dyson 

Shereef Elnahal, M.D. 

Anne Evans Estabrook 

Christine C. Gilfillan 

Savion Glover 

Yan Gu 

Ryan P. Haygood, Esq. 

William V. Hickey 

Jeffrey T. Hoffman 

Ralph Izzo 

The Hon. Thomas H. Kean 

Scott A. Kobler, Esq. 

Mitchell Livingston 

Charles Lowrey 

Ellen B. Marshall 

Christian McBride 

Carlos Medina 

D. Nicholas Miceli 

Eva Reda 

Christopher R. Reidy 

Richard W. Roper 

The Hon. Clifford M. Sobel 

Gary St. Hilaire 

David S. Stone, Esq. 

Michael A. Tanenbaum, Esq. 

Rishi Varma 

Carmen S. Villar 

Robert C. Waggoner 

Nina M. Wells, Esq. 

Josh S. Weston 

Karen Young 

Ex Officio 

The Hon. Ras J. Baraka 

The Hon. Joseph DiVincenzo, Jr. 

Elizabeth A. Mattson 

The Hon. Elizabeth 

Maher Muoio 

The Hon. Philip D. Murphy 

The Hon. Luis A. Quintana 


Faith Taylor 

The Hon. Tahesha Way 

Directors Emeriti 

Dennis Bone 

Barbara Bell Coleman 

Albert R. Gamper 


Judith Jamison 

A. Michael Lipper, CFA 

Victor Parsonnet, M.D 

Donald A. Robinson, Esq. 

Arthur F. Ryan (Chair Emeritus) 

John Strangfeld (Chair Emeritus) 

Diana T. Vagelos 

Women@NJPAC Board of Trustees 

President 

Faith Taylor 

Global Sustainability Leader, Kyndryl 

Co-Executive Vice President 

Margarethe Laurenzi 

Executive Director 

Maher Charitable Foundation 

Co-Executive Vice President 

Sonia Luaces 

Partner, PwC LLP 

Vice Presidents 

Deborah Q. Belfatto 

Community Leader and Philanthropist 

Mindy A. Cohen 


Suzanne M. Spero 

Executive Director 


Treasurer 

Lisa Osofsky 

Partner, Private Client Services 

Practice Leader, Mazars USA, LLP 

Secretary 

Christine Pearson 


Immediate Past President 

Marcia Wilson Brown, Esq. 

Retired Vice Chancellor for External 

and Governmental Relations 

Rutgers University – Newark 

Farah N. Ansari 

Linda Baraka 

Rana Peterson Barclay 

Audrey Bartner 

Adenah Bayoh 

Sherri-Ann P. Butterfield, Ph.D 

Patricia L. Capawana 

Alejandra Ceja 

Patricia A. Chambers* ** 

Sally Chubb* ** 

Mary Lynn Clark 

Barbara Bell Coleman** 

Michellene Davis, Esq. 

Antoinette Ellis-Williams 

Catherine J. Flynn 

Christine C. Gilfillan 

Aisha Glover 

Veronica M. Goldberg* ** 

Zenola Harper, Esq. 

Shané Harris 

Tammye T. Jones 

Vani Krishnamurthy 

Brooke Lawson 

Ruth C. Lipper** 

Dena F. Lowenbach** 

Marlie Massena 

Gabriella E. Morris, Esq.* 

Ferlanda Fox Nixon, Esq. 

Lori Spoon 

Mary Kay Strangfeld** 

Mikki Taylor 

Diana T. Vagelos* ** 

Nicole D. Wescoe 

*Founding Member 

**Trustee Emerita 

Council of Trustees 

Val Azzoli 

Michael F. Bartow 

Rona Brummer 

John M. Castrucci, CPA 

Elizabeth G. Christopherson 

Susan Cole, Ph.D. 

Robert S. Constable 

Irene Cooper-Basch 

Anthony R. Coscia, Esq. 

Andrea Cummis 

Samuel A. Delgado 

Steven J. Diner, Ph.D. 

Andrew Dumas 

Dawood Farahi, Ph.D. 

Curtland E. Fields 

Albert R. Gamper 

Bruce I. Goldstein, Esq. 

Renee Golush 

Paula Gottesman 

Sandra Greenberg 

Kent C. Hiteshew 

Patrick E. Hobbs 

John A. Hoffman, Esq. 

Lawrence S. Horn, Esq. 

Reverend M. William Howard, Jr. 

Reverend Reginald Jackson 

Howard Jacobs 

Robert L. Johnson, M.D. 

Marilyn “Penny” Joseph 

continued on next page... 

...continued 

Donald M. Karp, Esq. 

Gene R. Korf 

Rabbi Clifford M. Kulwin 

Ellen W. Lambert, Esq. 

Paul Lichtman 

Kevin Luing 

Joseph Manfredi 

Antonio S. Matinho 

Bari J. Mattes 

John E. McCormac, CPA 

Catherine M. McFarland 

Benefactor 

$1,000,000 & above 


Prudential/The Prudential 

Foundation 


Leadership Circle 

$200,000 & above 

ADP 


Anonymous 




The Horizon Foundation for 

New Jersey/Horizon Blue Cross 





TD Bank/TD Charitable Foundation 


Co-Chair Circle 

$100,000 & above 


BD 

F.M. Kirby Foundation 

The Healthcare Foundation 

of New Jersey 

Mars Wrigley 

Matrix Development 


Director’s Circle 

$50,000 & above 

Anonymous 

Atlantic, Tomorrow’s Office 

Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. 

Deloitte LLP 




Investors Bank/Investors 

Foundation, Inc. 

Joyce R. Michaelson 

Edwin S. Olsen 

Richard S. Pechter 

Daria M. Placitella 

Jay R. Post, Jr., CFP 

Steven J. Pozycki 

Marian Rocker 

David J. Satz, Esq. 

Barbara J. Scott 

Marla S. Smith 

Suzanne M. Spero 

njpac contributors—business partners 

NJPAC is deeply grateful to the following corporations, foundations and government agencies 

for their generous annual support of artistic and arts education programs, the endowment fund, 

and maintenance of the Arts Center. For more information, please contact Valerie Blau, 

Corporate Giving Manager, at 973.297.5135. As of March 18, 2022 


M&T Bank 


NJM Insurance Group 


PNC 

PwC 

Richmond County Savings 

Foundation 

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation 

Rutgers, The State University 

of New Jersey 

Santander Bank, N.A. 

Steinway and Sons 

Turrell Fund 

T-Mobile USA, Inc. 


President’s Circle 

$25,000 & above 

Bloomberg Philanthropies 

CastleOak Securities, LP 

Chubb 


Foundation 

Gibbons P.C. 

Greenberg Traurig, LLP 

Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment 

Johnson & Johnson Family 

of Companies 

L+M Development Partners Inc. 

Lowenstein Sandler LLP 

McCarter & English, LLP 

National Endowment for the Arts 

The Nicholas Martini Foundation 

Rita Allen Foundation 

Turner Construction Company/ 



Valley Bank 

Verizon 

Windels Marx Lane & 

Mittendorf, LLP 

Joseph P. Starkey 

Sylvia Steiner 

Arthur R. Stern 

Andrew Vagelos 

Richard J. Vezza 

Kim Wachtel 

Constance K. Weaver 

Elnardo J. Webster, II 

E. Belvin Williams, Ph.D. 

Gary M. Wingens, Esq. 

Composer’s Circle 

$10,000 & above 

Anonymous in honor of Stefon Harris 

Boston Consulting Group 

Brookdale / Newark ShopRite 

Chiesa Shahinian & Giantomasi PC 

Coca-Cola Refreshments 

DoorDash 

EpsteinBeckerGreen 

Gateway Security, Inc. 

Genova Burns LLC 

HLW Architecture LLC 

The Hyde and Watson Foundation 

Jacobs Levy Equity Management 

Landmark Fire Protection 

Novartis Pharmaceuticals 

Corporation 

Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton 

& Garrison, LLP 

The Provident Bank Foundation 

SILVERMAN 

SP+ 

Stephen and Mary Birch 


Two Center Street Urban 

Renewal, LLC 

U.S. Title Solutions 

Whole Foods Market 

Encore Circle 

$5,000 & above 

Arnold & Porter 

Berkshire Hathaway 

Specialty Insurance 

Brach Eichler LLC 

J. Fletcher Creamer & Son, Inc. 

Davis+Gilbert LLP 

E.J. Grassman Trust 

EisnerAmper LLP 

Frank and Lydia Bergen Foundation 

Gallagher Benefit Services, Inc. 

Gilbane Building Company 

Hansome Energy Systems 

Inserra Supermarkets 


59

njpac contributors—business partners 

Jewish Federation of 

Greater MetroWest NJ 

KPMG 

Langan 

Mazars USA, LLP 

Mercury Public Affairs 

Michael Rachlin & Company, LLC 

New Jersey Resources 

Peapack-Gladstone Bank 

Pennoni 

Prime Buchholz 

PS&S 

Risk Strategies Company 

Schenck, Price, Smith & King, LLP 

Sherman Atlas Sylvester 

& Stamelman LLP 

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill 

Structure Tone 

Thornton Tomasetti, Inc. 

Willis Towers Watson 

njpac contributors—vanguard society 

New Jersey Performing Arts Center is deeply grateful to the following individuals and families for their 

generous annual support, which makes it possible for NJPAC to maintain its world-class venue, fill it 

with star-studded, diverse performances, and carry out its arts education programs that transform 

New Jersey’s children. For more information, please contact Josh Adler, Director of Major Gifts, 

at 973.297.5821. As of March 18, 2022 

Leadership Circle 

$200,000 & above 





William and Joan Hickey 

John Strangfeld and 

Mary Kay Strangfeld Foundation 



Co-Chair Circle 

$100,000 & above 

Anonymous 

Judith Bernhaut 

The Gottesman Family 


The Smart Family Foundation/ 

David S. Stone, Esq., 

Stone and Magnanini 

Director’s Circle 

$50,000 & above 

Anonymous 

Jennifer A. Chalsty 

Mimi and Edwin Feliciano 


David and Renee Golush 




President’s Circle 

$25,000 & above 


Sally Chubb 

Mindy A. Cohen and 

David J. Bershad 

The Hon. Jon S. and Sharon Corzine 


Mr. and Mrs. Warren Grover 

Kaminsky Family Foundation 

Don Katz and Leslie Larson 

Dana and Peter Langerman 

Charles F. Lowrey Jr. and 

Susan T. Rodriguez 

McCrane Foundation, Inc., 

care of Margrit McCrane 

Bobbi and Barry H. Ostrowsky 

Richard S. and Kayla L. Pechter 

Rob and Nora Radest 

Mr. and Mrs. Leslie C. Quick, III 

Marian and David Rocker 

The Steven and Beverly Rubenstein 

Charitable Foundation 

The Sagner Family Foundation 

Tracy and Theodore Spencer 

David S. Steiner and 

Sylvia Steiner 

Charitable Trust 

Walsh Family Fund of the 

Community Foundation 

of New Jersey 

Nina and Ted Wells 

Composer’s Circle 

$10,000 & above 

Bruce and Jean Acken 

Anonymous 


Lawrence E. Bathgate, II 

and Michelle Bengue 

The Joan and Allen 

Bildner Family Fund 

Stephen and Mary Birch 


Dennis and Denise Bone 

Ann and Stan Borowiec 

Rose Cali 

Edwan and Alexis Davis 

Linda V. Della Corna & 

Enrico A. Della Corna 

Patrick C. Dunican, Jr., Esq. 

Debbie Dyson 

J. Andres Espinosa 

Nancye and Robert Falzon 


Alice Gerson Goldfarb 

Arlene Goldman 

Phyllis and Steven E. Gross 

Gary St. Hilaire 

Jeffrey and Judy Hoffman 


Meg and Howard Jacobs 

The Honorable Thomas H. Kean 

Scott and Susan Kobler 

A. Michael and Ruth C. Lipper/ 

Lipper Family Charitable 

Foundation 

Amy and William Lipsey 

The Harold I. & Faye B. 

Liss Foundation 

Mitchell A. Livingston 

The Lester and Grace Maslow 



Harold and Donna Morrison 

Richard and Kayla Pechter 

James and Nancy Pierson 

Christopher R. Reidy 

Karen and Gary D. Rose 

Paul and Denise Silverman 

Philip R. Sellinger 

Karen Sherman 

Cliff and Barbara Sobel 

Alexine and 

Warren Tranquada 

Carmen Villar 

Amrit Walia 

Thomas C. Wallace 

Joyce and George Wein Foundation 

Karen and Bill Young 

Barbara+ and 

Edward D. Zinbarg 

Encore Circle 

$5,000 & above 

Anonymous 

Daniel Bloomfield and Betsy True 

Candice R. Bolte 

Linda M. Bowden 

The Hon. Jon M. Bramnick 

Modia Butler 

Nancy Cantor and Steven R. Brechin 


njpac contributors—vanguard society 

...continued 

Norman L. Cantor 

Michael Choy 

Austin G. Cleary 

Sylvia J. Cohn 

The Colbert Family Fund of Coastal 

Community Foundation of SC 

Matt and Susan Connor 

Alma DeMetropolis, CFA 

Robert Doherty 

Donna and Kenneth Eberle 

Gregg N. Gerken 

Jill and James G. Gibson 

Lawrence P. Goldman and 

Laurie B. Chock 

Yan Gu 

The Huisking Foundation 

njpac premier donors and sponsors 

NJPAC is deeply grateful to the institutions and individuals whose aggregate contributions 

(gifts, grants, sponsorships and events) for the year total $50,000 or more. March 18, 2022 

$1,000,000 & above 






Prudential/The Prudential Foundation 

State of New Jersey 


$250,000 & above 

ADP 

Anonymous 




The Horizon Foundation for 

New Jersey/Horizon Blue Cross 








TD Bank /TD Charitable Foundation 


$100,000 & above 


Anonymous 

Audible, Inc. 

BD 

F.M. Kirby Foundation 



Foundation/The Gottesman Family 

The Healthcare Foundation 

of New Jersey 

Rabbi and Mrs. Clifford M. Kulwin 

MartyAnn and Ralph LaRossa 

Judith Lieberman 

Barry and Leslie Mandelbaum 

Ellen Marshall and Jim Flanagan 

Mr. and Mrs. D. Nicholas Miceli 

Duncan and Alison Niederauer 

Laurence B. Orloff and 

Deanne Wilson 

Jean and Kent Papsun 

Judith and Kenneth Peskin 

Roberta and Richard E. Polton 

Eva Reda 

Lennon Register and Barbara White 

David Rodriguez 

Susan Satz 


Mars Wrigley 


PwC 


The Smart Family Foundation/ 

David S. Stone, Esq., Stone 

and Magnanini 

John Strangfeld and Mary Kay 

Strangfeld Foundation 





$50,000 & above 


Randi and Marc E. Berson/ 

The Fidelco Group 

The Joan and Allen Bildner 

Family Fund 

Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. 

Jennifer A. Chalsty 

Chubb 

Mindy A. Cohen and David J. Bershad 

Deloitte, LLP 



Mimi and Edwin Feliciano 


Gibbons P.C. 


Renee and David Golush 

Greenberg Traurig, LLP 

Investors Bank/Investors 



M&T Bank 


Virginia McEnerney and 


James and Sharon Schwarz 

Stephen and Mary Jo Sichak 

Robert and Marjorie Sommer 

Rosemary and Robert Steinbaum 

Faith and Gary Taylor 

Robert and Sharon Taylor 

Bruce A. Tucker 

Rishi Varma and Pooja Khanna 

Robert and Mary Ellen Waggoner 

Helene and Gary Wingens 

Thomas Wisniewski 

+deceased 




PNC 

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation 

Rutgers, The State University 

of New Jersey 

Santander Bank, N.A. 

Steinway and Sons 

T-Mobile USA, Inc. 

Turrell Fund 




+deceased 


61

njpac muse society 

njpac members 

NJPAC’s Muse Society recognizes those visionary friends who include the Arts Center in their financial 

planning through bequests, charitable gift annuities, insurance and other deferred gifts. We are deeply 

grateful to the following friends who have included the Arts Center in their estate plans and made known 

their future gift. For more information or to notify NJPAC of your intent to include it in your estate planning, 

contact Amy Fitzpatrick, Vice President of Development, at 973.297.5822. As of March 18, 2022 


Lawrence E. Bathgate, II 


Andrew T. Berry, Esq.+ 


The Joan+ and Allen Bildner+ 

Family Fund 

Candice R. Bolte 

Edmond H.+ and 

Joan K. Borneman+ 


Raymond G. Chambers 


Fred Corrado 

Ann Cummis 

Mr. and Mrs. James Curtis 

Harold R. Denton 

Richard DiNardo 

Charles H. Gillen+ 

Bertha Goldman+ 


Renee and David Golush 


Phyllis and Steven E. Gross 

njpac members 

Mr. and Mrs. Warren Grover 

Opera Link/Jerome Hines+ 



Estate of Susan B. Joseph 

Jackie and Larry Horn 

The Meg and Howard Jacobs 

Family Foundation 

Rose Jacobs+ 

Gertrude Brooks Josephson+ and 

William Josephson in Memory of 

Rebecca and Samuel Brooks 

Kaminsky Family Foundation 

Adrian and Erica Karp 

Gail and Max Kleinman 

Joseph Laraja, Sr.+ 

Leonard Lieberman+ 

Ruth C. Lipper 

Amy C. Liss+ 

Dena F. and Ralph Lowenbach 


Joseph and Bernice O’Reilly+ 

Mr. and Mrs. Paul Ostergaard 

Maria Parise+ 

Dr. Victor Parsonnet and 

Jane Parsonnet+ 

Donald A. Robinson, Esq. 

Marian and David Rocker 

Estate of Donald Ronk 

Estate of Eric F. Ross+ 

Bernice Rotberg+ 

The Steven and Beverly Rubenstein 

Charitable Foundation 


Ethel Smith+ 

Leonard R. Stern+ 

Paul Stillman Trust 

John Strangfeld and Mary Kay 

Strangfeld Foundation 


Carolyn M. VanDusen 

Diana and P. Roy Vagelos 

Artemis Vardakis+ 


Judy+ and Josh Weston 

+deceased 

New Jersey Performing Arts Center gives special thanks to the following Members who help meet 

the Arts Center’s annual financial needs with gifts of $650 to $4,999. For information on becoming a 

Member, please call 973.297.5809. As of March 18, 2022 

Sustainer 

$3,000 & above 

Sinead and Christopher Bennett 


Eleonore Kessler Cohen and 

Max Insel Cohen+ 

Margaret J. Cunningham 

Herbert+ and Karin Fastert 

Lauren and Steven Friedman 

Geremia Helou 

Mr. and Mrs. Robert G. Kuchner 

Brooke and Michael Lawson 

Ellen and Donald Legow 

Tim Lizura 

Edwin S. and Catherine Olsen 

Robin and Leigh Walters 

The Honorable Alvin Weiss 

Patron 

$1,250 & above 

Anonymous (2) 

Florence Barrau-Adams 

and Bryan Adams 

Ronald K. Andrews 

Marsha I. Atkind 

Wendee Bailey 

Joseph and Jacqueline Basralian 

George and Jane Bean 

Barbara+ and Ed Becker 

Jeri Burt and Michael Merlie 

Jerrold Burt 

Patricia and Anthony R. Calandra 

Regina Carter 

Mr. and Mrs. Charles M. Chapin, III 

Nancy Clarke 

Kevin and Linda Conlin 

Vaughn E. Crowe 

Andrea Cummis and Richard Fiscus 

Trayton M. Davis 

D’Maris and Joseph Dempsey 

Linda H. Dunham 

Drs. Brenda and Robert Fischbein 

Thomas P. Giblin 

Mr. and Mrs. Michael Gilfillan 

Carolyn Gould 

Thomas L. Green 

Susan and Mark Halliday 

Kitty and Dave Hartman 

Mr. and Mrs. Robert J. Henry 

Joan Hollander 

Alan and Carrie Holtz 

William W. Huisking 

Paulette and Robert Jones 

Adrian and Erica Karp 

Irvin and Marjorie Kricheff 

Amy and Steven P. Kruvant 

Dr. Marlene E. Lengner 

Mark and Gayle Lerch 

Susan Lippa 

Dena and Ralph Lowenbach 

Kevin and Trisha Luing 

Lana Masor 

Massey Insurance Agency 

Edward Moran 

Gabriella E. Morris 

Jack and Ellen Moskowitz 


...continued 

Bruce Murphy and MJ Lauzon 

Judith Musicant and Hugh A. Clark 

Helene and Martin Myers 

Joseph and Sheila Nadler 

Jeffrey S. Norman 

Dr. Christy Oliver 

Wayne C. Paglieri and Jessalyn Chang 

Dr. Kalmon D. Post and 

Linda Farber Post 

Samantha Pozner and 

Andrew Hickman 

Caroline and Harry Pozycki 

Chali Prasper 

Cecile and Trevor Prince 

Jonathan and Bethany Rabinowitz 

Lawrence A. Raia 

Brent N. Rudnick 

Jeremy and Tony Saccente 

Barbara Sager 

Mr. and Mrs. Newton B. Schott 

Rita and Leonard Selesner 

Mr. and Mrs. Floyd Shapiro 

Diana and Laurence Smith 

Elaine Staley 

Kate S. Tomlinson and Roger Labrie 

Mr. and Mrs. R. Charles Tschampion 

Mr. and Mrs. David S. Untracht 

Kathryn Vermilye 

Richard and Arlene Vezza 

Drs. Radha and Rao V. Vinnakota 

Lisa Webber 

Dr. Joy Weinsteun and 

Dr. Bruce Forman 

Lloyd Williams 

Mr. and Mrs. Pat Wood 

Gary and Wendy Young 

Richard Zaborowski 

Supporter 

$650 & above 

Lara Abrash and Gary Guth 

Cheryl Adams 

Anonymous 

Rana and Andrew Barclay 

Lisa and Scott Braunstein 

Nadine Brechner 

James and Sharon Briggs 

Eloyd O. Britt 

Dr. Kimberly Brown and 

Parkway Eye Care Center 

Marcia Wilson Brown 

Sherri-Ann Butterfield 

Calvin Carver 

Mary Beth Charters 

Arthur Connolly 

Martha Cybyk 

Maryanne and David R. Dacey 

Aliah Davis-McHenry and 

Brian McHenry 

Elizabeth Del Tufo 

Suzanne Deluca-Warner 

Carolyn H. Dorfman 

Walter Douglas 

Eleanor and John Dunn 

Carylmead Eggleston 

Sybil Eng and Tad Roselund 

Michael Etkin 

Edward W. Fagan 

Sanford and Zella Falzenberg 

Laura Fuhro 

Dr. Ronald Gandelman and 

Dr. Elizabeth Mitchell 

Claudia and Kenneth Louis Gentner 

Maureen and Subhendu Ghosh 

David H. Gibbons , Jr. 

Clifford and Karen Goldman 

Mr. and Mrs. Charles C. Goodfellow 

Donna Grant 

Mary and Bradford Graves 

Wayne and Catherine Greenfeder 

Lonnie and Bette Hanauer 

Ryan P. Haygood, Esq. 

Danielle Johnson 

Richard and Cindy Johnson 

Mary and David Jones 

Leah and Rich Kabrt 

Marwa Kamel and Dr. Shereef Einahal 

Dr. and Mrs. John W. Kennedy 

Andrea and Jason Kimmel 

Courtney Koch and Patrick DeWald 

Joan M. Kram 

Vani Krishnamurthy 

Nancy Laird 

Mark and Sheryl Larner 

Deborah Lashley and Harrison Snell 

Dorothy Litwin-Brief 

Janet Lonney 

Edward Mafoud 

Santa and Michael R. Mallon 

Howard and Peggy Menaker 

Ray Merchant 

Hector Mislavsky and Judy Martinez 

Drs. Douglas and Susan Morrison 

William and Patricia O’Connor 

Monica Padovano Casiello 

Mark Pentelovitch 

Doren Pettiford 

Charles M. Piscitelli 

Jay R. Post, Jr. CFP 

Douglas and Susan Present 

Amy and Reginald Pretto 

Gusta A. Pritchett 

Oliver B. Quinn 

Charity Quinn and Mark Yecies 

Bidisa Rai 

Frank Rand 

Nogah Revesz 

Diane Ridley-White 

William A. Robinson 

Ina and Mark Roffman 


Joel Rosen 

Jeffrey and Regina Roth 

John and Alice Rubinstein 

Suzanne and Richard Scheller 

The Schiffenhaus Foundation 

Drs. Rosanne S. Scriffignano 

and Anthony Scriffignano 

Karen and Roger Shults 

Bruce and Beth Silver 

Latoya Singleton 

Richard Sodon 

Marilyn and Leon Sokol 

Theodore N. Stephens II 

Linda and Brian Sterling 

Beverly and Ed Stern 

Stanley and Sharon Streicher 

Linda Tancs 

Jill Tarnow 

Lola Tate-McGhee 

Marilyn Termyna 

Marva Tidwell 

Louise and David J. Travis 

Jon Ulanet 

Paul and Sharlene Vichness 

Dr. Deborah and Peter Vietze 

Susan D. Wasserman 

Jacqueline Williams 

Diane C. Young, M.D., P.A. 

+deceased 


63

Platinum Channel 

Surfer Dinner 

Committee 

Gibbons P.C. 

SP+ 

Structure Tone 

Tata Consultancy Services 


Marcia Wilson Brown, Esq. 

Sherri-Ann Butterfeild 

Edmund Hajim 

Obi Imegwu 

Gold Live Streamer 

Dinner Committee 

ADP 

Platinum Advocates 

Charles C. Anderson 

Sandy Bernhardt 

Tammye and David Jones 

Judith M. Lieberman 

Ferlanda Fox Nixon and 

Milford Nixon 


Evelyn and Stephen Colbert 

Christine Pearson 



Arnold and Sandy Peinado 




NJPAC and Women@NJPAC are profoundly thankful for these 

supporters of the 2021 Spotlight Gala @ Home. 

lead sponsor 

List as of January 1, 2022 

Chubb Corporation 

Shelley and Steven Einhorn 

Mario Gabelli and 

Regina Pitaro 



Silver Remote 

Controller 

Bloomberg Philanthropies 

BNY Mellon 

Boston Consulting Group 


Faith and Gary Taylor 

TD Bank 

Valley Bank 

Gold Advocates 

Deborah and 

Joseph Belfatto 

Bleema and William Bershad 

Mary Kay Strangfeld 

Mark and Jane Wilf 

Family Foundation 

Schenck, Prince, 

Smith & King, LLP 

Wally Stern 

Full-page Ad 

Sponsors 

Audible 

Meg and Howard Jacobs 

A. Michael and 

Ruth C. Lipper 


Panasonic Corporation of 

North America 

underwriters 

Toby and Leon G. 

Cooperman 

Alma DeMetropolis 

The Fidelco Group/ 


Greenberg Traurig LLP 


Silver Advocates 




Rutgers University - Newark 

Half-page Ad 

Sponsors 

Genova Burns 

The MCJ Amelior 

Foundation 

hometown heroes (aka vice chairs) 

Mindy Cohen and 

David Bershad 

Arthur F. Ryan 

Nina Mitchell Wells, Esq. and 

Theodore V. Wells, Jr. 

The Honorable 

Thomas H. Kean 


McCarter & English, LLP 

PNC 

Seyfarth & Shaw 

The Smart Family 

Foundation/ 

David S. Stone, Esq., 

Stone & Magnanini 

Zenola Harper, Esq. 

KPMG 

Margarethe and 

Mark Laurenzi 

Nicole Wescoe 

Advocates 

Susan and David Bloom 


In-kind Donations 

Advanced Parking Concepts 

BD 

Marcus Samuelsson 

Official 

Media Sponsor 


season funders 

njpac staff & administration As of March 18, 2022 

New Jersey Performing Arts Center is grateful to the following partners for their 

commitment and investment in NJPAC’s mission. As of March 18, 2022 

Official Sponsors: 

Official Sponsor of the 

Spotlight Gala 

Major support provided by: 

The Chambers Family and The MCJ Amelior Foundation, Judy and Stewart Colton, Toby & Leon Cooperman, 

Betty Wold Johnson+, The Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation, The Smart Family Foundation/David S. Stone, Esq., 

Stone and Magnanini, John Strangfeld and Mary Kay Strangfeld Foundation, The Weston Family 

Additional support provided by: 

Audible, Inc., Joan and Allen Bildner Family Fund, Edison Properties Newark Foundation/The Gottesman Family, 

Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, The Griffinger Family, William J. & Paula Marino, McCrane Foundation, 

Inc., care of Margrit McCrane, PNC, The Ryan Family, Steinway & Sons, Michael & Jill Tanenbaum, 

New Jersey Cultural Trust, Turrell Fund, John & Suzanne Willian/Goldman Sachs Gives 

+deceased 

for your information 

NJPAC values the safety of our audiences, artists,and staff. 

It regularly updates its COVID protocols and procedures 

based on CDC, federal, state, city, and other scientific data. 

NJPAC reserves the right to alter safety protocols at any time 

and at its sole discretion including but not limited to social 

distancing, vaccines/testing, masks, food service limitations, 

venue capacity, and entrance requirements as it deems 

appropriate. For more information, visit njpac.org/health 

As part of our Enhanced Safety Program, the following items are 

prohibited upon entry into Prudential Hall, the Victoria Theater, 

and all public spaces of NJPAC: backpacks, large pocketbooks, 

shopping bags, suitcases, briefcases, weapons, animals (except 

service animals). 

Late Seating Policy: Latecomers and persons 

leaving the theater midshow will be seated/ 

re-seated at the discretion of the management. 

Camera and Recording Equipment is Prohibited: The use of 

recording equipment and the taking of photographs of any 

performance or the possession of any device for such use without 

the written permission of the management is strictly prohibited. 

Parking Facilities: Easy parking is available in the 1,100-car 

garage under Military Park, directly across from NJPAC. 

Safe and secure surface parking is also available. 

Smoking and/or vaping is prohibited 

throughout all indoor spaces of NJPAC. 

Official Airline of NJPAC Official Imaging Supplier of NJPAC Official Soft Drink of NJPAC Media Sponsor 

Lost and Found: Any found items should be returned to NJPAC 

Security or Guest Services staff. If you believe you have lost an 

item, call 973.297.5868. Found clothing items will be held for 

30 days after which they will be donated to a local shelter. 

Mobile Device Courtesy Reminder: Please respect performers 

and fellow audience members by ensuring that all cellular 

phones and mobile devices are turned off during performances. 

Newark Light Rail: NJTRANSIT’s Newark Light Rail offers 

frequent service in Downtown Newark that includes a station 

stop at NJPAC, offering a convenient alternative to driving to a 

performance or event. This service is an extension of the Newark 

City Subway and connects all rail lines served by Newark Penn 

and Broad Street Stations. Other popular destinations served by 

the extension are The Newark Museum of Art and Broad Street 

area businesses. For more information, visit njtransit.com/nlr. 

Disabilities: All Tiers of Prudential Hall and Victoria 

Theater are wheelchair accessible. Open captioning is 

provided at select performances. Sennheisser Infraport 

infra red audio receivers are available free-of-charge 

from an NJPAC Guest Service staff member. 

NJPAC welcomes children of all ages to its 

family events, but adult performances are not 

recommended for children 5 years old 

and younger. 

New Jersey Performing Arts Center 

NJPAC, One Center Street, Newark, NJ, 07102 

Administrative: 973.642.8989 

Box Office: 1.888.466.5722 

njpac.org 

OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT 

John Schreiber** 


Ashanti Hargrove 

Executive Assistant to the 


Chelsea Keys 

Director, Special Projects 

David Rodriguez** 

Executive Vice President & 

Executive Producer 

Kira M. Ruth**** 

Senior Manager 

Programming Operations 

Warren Tranquada** 

Executive Vice President & COO 

Valerie Fullilove 

Executive Assistant 

Timothy Lizura 

Senior Vice President 

Real Estate & Capital Projects 

ARTS EDUCATION 

Jennifer Tsukayama* 

Vice President, Arts Education 

Meggan Gomez 

AVP Faculty & Creative Practice 

Mark Gross* 

Director, Jazz Instruction 

Rosa Hyde* 

Senior Director, Performances & 

Special Events Operations 

Jennie Wasserman 

Project Director, City Verses 

Victoria Revesz* 

Senior Director, 

Arts Education Operations 

Erica Bradshaw 

Director of Theater Arts 

Sheikia “Purple Haze” Norris* 

Director, Hip Hop Arts & Culture 

Roe Bell 

Senior Manager, School and 

Community Programs 

Ashley Mandaglio 

Assoc. Director 

Professional Learning & Programs 

Danielle Vauters 

Senior Manager, Programming 

and Performances 

Kristine Mathieson 


CRM & Business Operation 

Justin DePaul 

Arts Education Office & 

Facilities Manager 

Daniel Silverstein 

Manager, Onsite Programs 

Rene Velez-Torres 

Manager, Youth & 

Emerging Artist Development 

Kimberly Washington 

Manager 

Marketing, Sales & Recruitment 

Randal Croudy 

Coordinator 

Arts Education Performances 

Steven Hayet 

Coordinator, Business Operations 

Antonella Sanchez 

Coordinator, Program Operations 

Demetria Hart 

Project Coordinator, City Verses 

Natalie Dreyer 

Arts Integration Faculty Lead 

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT 

Eyesha Marable* 

Assistant Vice President, 

Community Engagement 

Daniela Fonseca 

Associate Producer 

Meleika Amos 

Associate Producer 

DEVELOPMENT 

Amy Fitzpatrick 

Vice President, Development 

Sarah Rosen 

Managing Director 


Joshua Adler 

Director, Major Gifts 

Jenifer Braun* 

Director, Editorial Content 

Roseann Evans 

Director 

Foundation & Government Funding 

Deborah Purdon 

Director 

Research & Prospect Management 

Rolston Cyril Watts 


Development Operations 

Harris Cabrera 


Foundation Relations 

Valerie Blau 

Corporate Giving Manager 

Christine Carroll 

Manager, Special Events 

Gabrielle DeGaetano 

Membership Manager 

Lauren Siegel 

Manager, Major Gifts 

Imani Frederickson 

Development Coordinator 

Angela Woodack 

Coordinator, Major Gifts 

FINANCE 

Lennon Register 

Vice President & CFO 

Yolanda Doganay 

Assistant Vice President 

& Controller 

Mary Jaffa**** 

Assistant Vice President, Finance 

Manuela Silva**** 

Senior Accountant, Payroll 

Monique Cook 

Senior Financial Analyst 

Wali East 

Staff Accountant 

Inger Parsons 

Staff Accountant 

Accounts Payable 

PEOPLE & ORGANIZATION 

Beth Silver 

VP, Chief People Officer 

Ginny Bowers Coleman**** 

Director, Volunteer Services 

Taheerah Smiley* 

Human Resources Generalist 

Donna Walker-Kuhne* 

Senior Advisor 

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion 

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES 

Ernie DiRocco*** 

AVP, Infrastructure & Operations 

Carl Sims**** 

Director, Cyber Security 

Rodney Johnson*** 

IT & Telecom Support Analyst 

MARKETING & 

COMMUNICATIONS 

Katie Sword* 

Vice President, Marketing & 

Communications 

Fallon Currie* 

Coordinator 

Marketing Operations 

Jason Paddock 

Senior Director, Marketing 

Yesenia Jimenez**** 

Director, Loyalty Services 

Charlene A. Roberts* 

Director, Performance Marketing 

Patricia Ryan 

Creative Art Director 

Tina Boyer* 

Director, Creative Services 

Latoya Dawson* 

Manager, Marketing 

Katie Stein 


Digital Marketing & Content 

Doris Ann Pezzolla**** 

Senior Graphic Designer 

Allison Calabro 

Lead Graphic Designer 

Alexis Green 

Digital Marketing Coordinator 

Ashlee Nolan 

Coordinator, Creative Services 

April Jeffries 

Sr. Representative Loyalty Services 

Nicola Alexander 

Assistant, Creative Services 

Daryle Charles** 

Priority Customer Representative 

Jerome H. Ennis 

Consultant 

Herbert George Associates 



67

...continued 

Angela Thomas 

Consultant, Performance 

Public Relations 

OPERATIONS 

Chad Spies*** 

Vice President, Operations 

& Real Estate 

Anthony Rosta 

Director, Facilities 

Hernan Soto**** 

Senior Supervisor 

Operations Support Staff 

Francisco Soto* 

Supervisor 

Operations Support & Services 

Kemar Brown 

Assistant Supervisor 

Operations Support & Services 

Tyrone Boyd 


Delbert Green 


David Martina* 


Meredith Hull 

Operations & Event Manager 

Todd Tantillo**** 

Chief Engineer 

J. Dante Esposito**** 

Assistant Chief Engineer 

Brian Cady** 

Maintenance Engineer 

Sherman Gamble*** 


Mariusz Koniuszewski** 


Thomas Dixon**** 

Safety & Security Manager 

Robin Jones*** 

Senior Director 

House Management 

Kathleen Dickson**** 

Assistant House Manager 

Lamont Akins**** 

House Manager 

Jerry Battle** 

Head Usher 

Sabrina Ceballo 

House Manager 

Edward Fleming**** 

Head Usher 

Cynthia Hamlett-Robinson*** 

Head Usher 

Tracey Robinson 

Head Usher 

George Gardner Jr.**** 

House Painter 

PRODUCTION 

Chris Moses*** 

Senior Director, Production 

Christopher Staton* 

Senior Production Manager 

E. Kevin Jones 

Production Manager 

Crystal Cowling* 

Associate Production Manager 

Rachel Macleod* 

Production Coordinator 

William Worman**** 

Head Carpenter 

Mario Corrales**** 

Assistant Head Carpenter 

Bryan Danieli*** 

Assistant Head Carpenter 

Barbara Guerra 

Apprentice Carpenter 

Hugo Munoz-Campos* 

Apprentice Carpenter 

Jacob Allen*** 

Head Electrician 

John Enea* 

Assistant Head Electrician 

Adam Omeljaniuk**** 

Journeyman Electrician 

Marion Pinckney**** 

Journeyman Electrician 

Jan Clark 

Assistant Head Electrician 

John DiCapua* 

Assistant Head Audio 

Eric Johnson 

Head of Audio 

John Finney*** 

Assistant Head Audio 

Richard Edwards**** 

Specialist Carpenter 

George Honczarenko*** 

Journeyman 

Joseph Hunt*** 

Journeyman Carpenter 

Naheem Wright** 

Journeyman Carpenter 

Amere Jenkins** 

Specialist Audio 

Daniel Pagan* 

Specialist Video 

Allison Wyss**** 

Senior Artist Assistants 

Melvin Anderson** 

Artist Assistant 

Lowell Craig*** 


Rachel Dresner 


Loni Fiscus 


Daniel Ovalle* 


Sindy Sanchez Virto 


MJ Santry 


Suzanne Santry 


PROGRAMMING 

Evan White*** 


Programming 

Simma Levine 

Producer, Special Projects 

Craig Pearce** 

Producer, Festivals & Performances 

Kitab Rollins*** 

Senior Director Performance & 

Broadcast Rentals 

William W. Lockwood, Jr.**** 

Programming Consultant 

SPECIAL EVENTS 

Austin Cleary*** 


Sales & Planning, NJPAC Events 

TICKET SERVICES 

Erik Wiehardt*** 

Director, Ticket Services 

Stephanie Walker**** 

Associate Director, 

Ticketing System 

Nicole Craig**** 

Associate Director, Box Office 

Robin Polakoff* 

Ticketing System Specialist 

Veronica Dunn-Sloan*** 

Box Office Manager 

Darren DeBose 

Box Office Manager 

Jana Thompson* 

Box Office Representative 

Belva Moody* 

Box Office Representative 

Service Recognition 

(as of 3/18/22) 

* * * * 20+ years 

* * * 15+ years 

* * 10+ years 

* 5+ years

NJPAC - Bravo Program Book

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