Forrestdale School in Rumson showcased student talent in the Instrumental Music Program’s Winter Concert on Jan. 15.
Under the direction of John Lebitsch, the Intermediate and Advanced bands and the Jazz Ensemble took center stage to entertained a large, appreciative audience in the school’s gymnasium, a press release from the Rumson School District said.
The Winter Concert, the release added, featured the following selections:
• Percussion Portrait, by Jerry Nowak, was performed by the Advanced Band, showcasing the skills of the percussion section on six different instruments;
• The Intermediate and Advanced bands teamed up to present Walkin’ Cool, a jazz piece.
• The Jazz Ensemble closed the show with the Duke Ellington piece Satin Doll followed by an encore reprise of the band’s favorite holiday number, Feliz Navidad.
If you were at the concert and would like to have your photos added, send them, with proper credit, to evd@rfhretro.com
A production of Bye Bye Birdie at The Barn Theater, Rumson, circa 1977. Photo/Sally Van Develde
Our Retro Pic of the Day brings us back to shows at The Barn Theater, formerly on Avenue of Two Rivers in Rumson, in the late 1970s.
Pictured are a bunch of area high school students, from Rumson-Fair Haven Regional and other area high schools, performing a scene in Bye Bye Birdie.
It’s a bit blurry, due to the lack of focus, and perhaps unsteady hand, on the instamatic camera with the rotating flash cube, but it was one of many moments at the popular theater.
Julia Mosby and Ben Ley after “Miracle on 34th Street” performance at RFH. Photo/Barbara Mosby
By all accounts, the Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (RFH) Tower Players’ Miracle on 34th Street was a smashing success.
The show, which ran Friday and Saturday nights, closed with a Sunday matinee.
Rumson-Fair Haven Retrospect couldn’t make it to this show, but cast member Julia Mosby’s mom Barbara captured a couple of post-show moments and sent them. So, the photos are being featured as our Retro Pic(s) of the Day.
The photos, of course, included Julia and RFH grad and friend Ben Ley, a former RFH Jazz Ensemble drummer, who now attends NYU.
Take a look. If you have any photos you’d like to add, please feel free to send them to us, with proper credit, at evd@rfhretro.com.
A theatrical kind of weekend is on tap in the Rumson-Fair Haven area, starting with opening night of the Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (RFH) production of Miracle on 34th Street on Friday.
Curtain time for the holiday classic is 7:30 p.m. on Friday with a Saturday show at the same time and a closing matinee on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Hey, R-FH area old timers (cringe), remember Mr. Chartier, Knollwood School principal and later Fair Haven district superintendent?
Well, his son, Michael, a longtime area actor, is on stage this weekend in Phoenix Productions’ Spamalot at the Count Basie.
The younger (well, sorta) Chartier is starring as King Arthur in the zany musical adaptation of the classic film, Monthy Python and the Holy Grail. And it’s opening at 8 p.m. at the Red Bank theater on Monmouth Street.
That’s what you’d get as a send-off from Melanie Stewart if you visited her and her husband David’s Fair Haven store, Handmade Haven, when it first opened last December. And she meant it. The hugs were and still are Melanie’s sincere expression of appreciation for your patronage of all area artisans and their unique wares.
That’s what Handmade Haven was created to do — “connect the community with local and unique handmade creations that have artisan heart and soul,” as its mission statement says. And the two have a special love of all things local, as they are Fair Havenites.
It was right around the Christmas holiday season that the couple opened their store in the borough’s business district on River Road. Since then, the economy has gotten the better of their budget and means to operate their business out of a stationery local store. However, economics have not hampered the couple’s passionate mission to make the most of local artisans’ talent.
Call it a craft shop gone creative caravan, or “beyond the brick and mortar” as a “mobile force for handmade and local.” The two, since moving from the store, have been scouting area markets, fairs, shows and other per diem venues to set up tent, so to speak, and get area artisan’s work shown and sold.
“We just found that we were spending more money on the actual space than we were making or investing in all of this unique work crafted by these talented local people,” Melanie said. “It’s been fun and it’s working well this way. There’s so much talent in the area and it’s so important to support local businesses and artisans.”
The value of buying local is unsurpassed, she added, as it boosts the local economy while putting food on neighbors’ plates and passing the word about their work. Handmade Haven is, in that respect, an artists’ cooperative of sorts.
And there’s quite a variety of unique pieces for sale at the Haven: jewelry, much of which is made by Melanie herself (Your Karma is Rockin’), peace wreaths, decoys by a Rumson police officer, furniture, allergen-free handmade soap, scented candles in old Coke and beer bottles, votives in tree limbs, ceramics, paintings, vintage fabric purses by Stag + Laurel, leather and charm wrap bracelets by Cold Garage Creations, and more.
You can catch Melanie and David at their Handmade Haven tent on Sunday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Red Bank Farmers Market in the Galleria parking lot.
In the meantime, take a look at some of the goods from the original store location.
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