Category Archives: Arts & Entertainment

Keep up to date with the arts events in the Rumson-Fair Haven area.

The R-FH Area Weekend: Hanga Loose, Whale of a Sale, George Giffin Dance & Theater

The weekend forecast calls for a lot of sun and fun in the Rumson-Fair Haven area.

Plan accordingly. Get out and to all or a few of the events on tap.

Friday

• Everyone’s hangin’ loose in memory of Silvio Fabbri in the back room of Umberto’s in Fair Haven on Fridays, starting at 7 p.m.

Great way to remember Silvio and hang with friends and neighbors in the community.

“Hanga loose” and enjoy, as Silvio would say.

Continue reading The R-FH Area Weekend: Hanga Loose, Whale of a Sale, George Giffin Dance & Theater

RFH Stars Shine in Talent Show

The following is an edited press release from Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School:

The stars shone brightly at the 2015 Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (RFH) Talent Show.

Proceeds from the April 9 show — organized by the Student Government Association (SGA) and featuring a variety of crowd-pleasing entertainment by dancers, singers, musicians and comedians — benefitted the American Cancer Society.

“I think this was the best show yet,” RFH World Languages Teacher and SGA Advisor Yannell Maglione said. “The RFH students are extremely talented and it showed in their performances.”

“We were also able to raise $2,000 for a wonderful foundation: the American Cancer Society.”

Continue reading RFH Stars Shine in Talent Show

Sun Shines on Forrestdale’s Production of ‘Annie jr.’

The following is an edited press release from the Rumson School District:

The sun will come out tomorrow, but it was the stars that shone brightly in the musical Annie jr. presented by the Forrestdale Drama Club in March.

The production, with a cast of more than 30, was directed by Vinny Sabatino, with musical direction by Forrestdale music teacher Barbara Leutz.

The show starred and featured: Gina Teschke as Annie; Sophia Bocklage as Miss Hannigan;  Kate Gagliardi as Ms. Warbucks; Mara Campolattaro as Grace Farrell; Rory McGill and Annabel Morris as the “shady characters” Rooster and Lily St. Regis; and Rachel Bailey as Annie’s dog, Sandy.

Continue reading Sun Shines on Forrestdale’s Production of ‘Annie jr.’

R-FH Area Weekend: Church-Going Pets, Chum Chandler & Godspell

The upcoming weekend in the Rumson-Fair Haven area is all about pets getting religion, a goodbye to a community icon and some classic musical theater entertainment.

Starting on Friday night …

• It’s show time for an old favorite musical Godspell, a production by Monmouth Players at the old Navesink Library, the longtime community theater company’s home base.

Curtain is 8:15 p.m. this evening as well as Saturday and March 20.
There are Sunday matinees this weekend, on March 15, and on March 22 at 2 p.m.

Click here for more information.

On Saturday …

• It’s time for a sad goodbye, yet joyous celebration of the life of lifetime Fair Havenite Chum Chandler.

All are welcome to attend this celebration of the community icon and 65-year member of the Fair Haven Fire Department on Saturday from 1 to 5 p.m. at the Fair Haven Firehouse on River Road.

Click here for Chum’s obituary.

• And at 5 p.m., St. George’s-by-the-River Episcopal Church at 7 Lincoln Avenue in Rumson is holding its first pet-friendly, hour-long service.

All are invited to bring their pets to church. Dogs must be leashed and all other animals must be contained.

The service kicks off a new monthly tradition at the church.

Click here for more information. 

Let us know if we’ve left anything out (at [email protected]) and have a happy, healthy weekend, all! See you around the towns!

‘Young Frankenstein’ Coming to RFH

The following is an edited press release from Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School:

Young Frankenstein is coming to the Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (RFH) stage.

The Tower Players will present the what was officially known as The New Mel Brooks Musical Young Frankenstein on March 20, 21, and 22. Based on the classic 1974 comedy film, the stage version features music and lyrics by Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan.

Young Frankenstein tells the story of Dr. Frederick Frankenstein (played by Laurence Morales), a professor at a medical school who leaves behind his fiancée Elizabeth (Eli Rallo) and travels to Transylvania to claim the estate of his grandfather – the creator of the famous Frankenstein monster.

After years spent rejecting his family name, Dr. Frederick Frankenstein is visited by the ghosts of his ancestors who convince him to stay and repeat his grandfather’s experiments.

The castle’s current residents — Frau Blucher (Julia Mosby), Igor (Bailie Stypa), and Inga (Jen Andreacchi) — do their best to help Frederick bring his own monster (Michael Shaw) to life. Then the comedy ensues.

The RFH production features a cast of 42 students in singing, dancing and acting roles.

It is directed by RFH English teacher Suzanne Sweeney, who tailored the script for the high school-age actors and audience. Kasi Ann Sweeney is assistant director, and RFH Tower Players alum Patricia McCarron is the production’s choreographer along with Valerie Herman of Forrestdale School.

Costumes and props are under the direction of Carole Malik. RFH Social Studies teacher Matthew Leddin is overseeing the tech crew of 40 students. The set construction is being supplemented with contributions from the students in RFH Industrial Technology teacher Dino Pagano’s Stagecraft class.

The pit orchestra, comprised of RFH students as well as professional musicians, will be conducted by Music Director Vincent Mottern who is acting as coach for vocal performances as well.

Snacks and drinks will be available for purchase at the café in the RFH gymnasium during intermissions and after each performance. Also offered for sale in the café will be CDs featuring music performed by RFH student-musicians.

Tickets are $10 for general admission, and $6 for students and seniors. Admission is free for RFH students with SGA cards.

To purchase tickets online, visit www.rumsonfairhaven.org and click on Young Frankenstein under Featured News.

For more information about purchasing tickets, please contact Play Production Coordinator Stefania Flecca at [email protected].

The box office will be open for ticket purchases an hour before each performance. Friday and Saturday evening performances will begin at 7:30 p.m., and the Sunday matinee will be at 1:00 p.m., in the RFH Auditorium.

All About the Forrestdale Winter Concert

 

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 [email protected]

Going Retro with Rumson’s Barn Theater

A production of Bye Bye Birdie at The Barn Theater, Rumson, circa 1977.  Photo/Sally Van Develde
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.

Do you know anyone in this picture? Check it out.

 

Another Closing of Another RFH Show

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 [email protected].

 

A Theatrical Weekend: RFH’s ‘Miracle on 34th Street’ Opens

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.

Based on the classic 1947 movie and novel by Valentine Davies, the Tower Players’ version of the story of a white-haired bearded man named Kris Kringle and his embattled, tradition-inspired journey as a 34th Street Macy’s Santa, has been dubbed “part nostalgic throwback and part cutting-edge entertainment,” according to RFH staff.

Continue reading A Theatrical Weekend: RFH’s ‘Miracle on 34th Street’ Opens

Your Weekend in the R-FH Area

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.

Continue reading Your Weekend in the R-FH Area

Fair Havenites on a Handmade Business Mission

By Elaine Van Develde

“We give hugs here.”

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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Melanie and David Stewart of Handmade Haven
Melanie and David Stewart of Handmade Haven