Community Arts Presence: A Wrap-up, November through December

HP High School performs Arsenic and Old Lace, Nov. 19-21

The Highland Park High School (HPHS) Drama Club presents Joseph Kesselring’s 1939 comedy classic Arsenic and Old Lace at the Highland Park High School auditorium, Thursday, Nov. 19, 2015, 7p.m., Friday, Nov. 20, 2015, 7p.m and Saturday, Nov. 21, 2015, 7p.m. Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for students and $5 for children, available at the door or by logging on to www.hpdrama.org.

Arsenic and Old Lace takes place in the Brooklyn apartment of the Brewster family, descended from Mayflower colonists. The family consists of: two old ladies who murder old men with poisoned wine—out of sympathy for their lonely lives; their son Mortimer, a theater critic; his fiancé, Elaine; Mortimer’s mad brother who believes he is Theodore Roosevelt; an alcoholic plastic surgeon named Dr. Einstein; and some local cops.
This is the first senior play, directed by the new HPHS Drama Club Directors, Tova Halpern and Nikole Rizzo, with technical direction provided by Chris DeLuca. The HPHS Drama Club every school year produces three plays, including a fall drama, spring musical and Showcase at the end of the year.

According to Ms. Halpern and Ms. Rizzo, the current group of students is “amazing and should not be missed.”

The Highland Park HS Drama Club is an after school program for 7th through 12th graders directed by Tova Halpern and Nikole Rizzo. Technical Director is Chris DeLuca. For ticket information go to, www.hpdrama.org

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Klezmer music (FleytMuzik) enlivens Anshe Emeth on Dec. 12.

In honor of temple member Milton Frant and his grandfather klezmer musician Abraham Leib Frand, the FleyMuzik ensemble will perform selections from the Dubiecko repertoire at 7 p.m., Dec. 12, 2015. Adrianne Greenbaum, an acclaimed klezmer and classical flutist, will perform with the internationally celebrated Jake Shulman-Ment (fiddle), Peter Rushefsky (cimbalom), Brian Glassman (string bass) and Michael Alpert (percussion).

The local klezmorim, Tsu Fil Duvids (Too Many Duvids) will join the ensemble to celebrate the seventh night of Hanukah and participate in the post-concert Jewish dancing.   A pre-concert presentation will be given by Sharon Frant-Brooks on her personal efforts to bring the sounds of her great-grandfather’s band, back to life in Dubiecko Poland.

Register on line or call the Highland Park Conservative Temple Congregation Anshe Emeth, 201 South Third Avenue, Highland Park, 732-545-6482, www.hpct-cae.org/events/concerts

Tickets: Adults $25 before December 5, $30, at the door; students $10 before December 5, $15 at the door. Pre-concert Presentation @7p.m. Concert @ 8:00 p.m.

 

HP Library hosts Spook Handy Holiday Concert on Dec. 30.

The Seventh Annual Spook Handy Holiday Concert will be held on Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2015, 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., Highland Park Public Library, 31 North Fifth Avenue. Spook and his Folk Family Friendly Concert has become a favorite winter break program for the library community.

Spook Handy blends blues, pop, Appalachian flavor and blue grass, while telling the stories of people he has met along the way. Spook can be heard in venues of almost all stripes, from festivals and arts centers to senior centers and churches – from TV and radio to libraries and schools.

With a simple Martin D-35 guitar, harmonica, his own voice and the voices of the audience, Spook presents concerts of good honest acoustic songs that are true to the spirit, passion of purpose of American folk music. He sings about the local Mom and Pop’s store, the widow of a soldier, the landscape of Montana, economic hardship, dogs with fleas, and so many other experiences that everybody can relate to in one way or another.

For more information about music at the Highland Park Public Library call 732-572-2750 or go to the website at www.hpplnj.org.

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