BALLET, DANCE, MUSIC& OPERA

Westminister Jazz Singers: Westminster Jazz Singers will open month-long festival in Plainsboro. In honor of “Jazz Appreciation Month,” three singers, who are recent graduates of Westminster Choir College in Princeton, will kick off a monthlong jazz festival in Plainsboro on Friday, April 8. Accompanying them on the piano will be James Camp, a graduate student at Westminster. The Westminster Jazz Singers, directed by East Brunswick resident Lauren Rosas, will perform at the Plainsboro Preserve, 80Scotts Corner Road, Cranbury, at 7p.m. They will present musical theater numbers, as well as jazz standards, and songs made famous by Billie Holiday, Johnny Mercer, Etta James, Frank Sinatra, and others. Buddy Holly & Richie Valens Tribute: “Not Fade Away,” a tribute to the music of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens will be performed at the New Hope Winery at 8p.m. on Saturday, April 9, 2016. A charming wine and gift shop housed in a rustic 18th century barn, the New Hope Winery is located at 6123Lower York Rd, New Hope, PA 18938. For ticket information, call (215) 794-2331or visit www. newhopewinery.com. Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Mercer County Community College’s (MCCC’s) Academic Theatre Company will present an original adaptation of Shakespeare’s classic “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” at Kelsey Theatre. Dates and show times are Friday, April 8at 8 p.m.; Saturday, April 9at 8p.m.; and Sunday, April 10at 2p.m. Kelsey Theatre is located on the college’s West Windsor Campus, 1200Old Trenton Road. The play features all of Shakespeare’s comic and fantastical fairy elements and characters, but adds jazz dance fused with classical Indian dance. Audiences can expect to experience the play as an electrifying Bollywood production fused with Shakespeare and jazz. Tickets for “Midsummer’s Night Dream” are $18for adults, $16for seniors, and $14for students and children. Free parking is available next to the theater. Tickets may be purchased online at www.kelseytheatre. net or by calling the Kelsey Box Office at (609) 570-3333. For a complete listing of adult and children’s events, visit the Kelsey webpage or call the box office for a brochure. Westminister Opera Theatre: Westminster Opera Theatre brings Verdi’s comic opera “Falstaff” to the stage of the Robert L. Annis Playhouse at Westminster Choir College of Rider University in Princeton on Friday, April 15and Saturday, April 16at 7:30p.m. It will be sung in Italian with English supertitles and fully staged with chamber ensemble. The comic opera will be performed by students at Westminster Choir College. William Hobbs is the music director, and Trent Blanton is the director. Purchase tickets through the box office at (609) 921-2663or online at www.rider.edu/arts. Old, large and lecherous, Sir John Falstaff attempts to seduce two married women in order to gain access to their husbands’ money. Little does he know what reward awais him at the hands of the ladies and their husbands as they plot to put an end to his advances once and for all. Based on Shakespeare’s play “The Merry Wives of Windsor,” “Falstaff” was one of only two comedies written by Verdi in more than 50years of composing. Westminster Choir College of Rider University is located at 101Walnut Lane in Princeton. Westminister Conservatory: Westminster Conservatory will observe the 400th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare by presenting three faculty recitals in April. On Sunday, April 17at 3p.m. “Shakespeare in Song” will feature members of the Westminster Conservatory voice faculty performing settings of Shakespearian texts from the 18th to 21st centuries. These two recitals are part of the Kaleidoscope Chamber Series and will take place in Gill Chapel on the Rider University campus in Lawrenceville, NJ. Admission is free. The third event is part of the noontimes series, Westminster Conservatory at Nassau. Pianist Mary Greenberg will perform works for solo piano that relate to works of Shakespeare on Thursday, April 21at 12:15p.m. She will also perform the related texts. This recital will take place in the Niles Chapel of Nassau Presbyterian Church, 61Nassau Street in Princeton. Admission is free. For more information on any of these three recitals, call the Westminster Choir College box office at (609) 921-2663or visit Westminster’s website at http:// www.rider.edu/arts. Violinist Midori: Midori will present a program of Sonatas by Bach, Prokofiev and Brahms, plus Tchaikovsky’s WaltzScherzo on Sunday, April 17, at 3 p.m. on the Matthews Stage of McCarter Theatre. Pre-concert lecture at 2:30p.m. by Professor Simon Morrison of the Princeton University Music Department. Tickets range from $25to $60. Tickets are on sale now at the Box Office, by phone at (609) 258-2787or online at mccarter. org. Princeton Seminary: Princeton Seminary will present a free choral concert on Saturday, April 9, at 7p.m. in Miller Chapel on Princeton Theological Seminary’s main campus. Parking is available behind the Mackay Campus Center (in the lot and garage off of College Road). “Do Not Be Afraid: Songs of Hope for Choir and Congregation” will feature the Princeton Seminary Chapel Choir, conducted by Martin Tel, C.F. Seabrook, director of music at the Seminary, accompanied by Michael Gittens, choral assistant at Princeton Seminary. For more information, call the Chapel Office at (609) 497-7890. Off-Broadstreet Theatre: Thom Christopher Warren from Broadway’s “The Lion King” stars in an evening of cabaret titled “Standard Issue” in an one night only performance at the Off-Broadstreet Theatre on Saturday, April 9at 8:15p.m. The show will feature songs from Broadway and the American Popular Songbook. New York performers Kate McMillan and Rose Pedone will also be appearing and Musical Direction is by Michael Lavine also of New York City. Doors will open at 7:45. Admission is $20. For tickets contact the Off-Broadstreet Theatre at the Hopewell Playhouse, PO Box 359, 5South Greenwood Ave., Hopewell, NJ (609) 466-2766. Boheme Opera NJ: Obsession turns deadly when the steamy femme fatale Carmen seduces both a love-sick soldier and a swaggering toreador. With Carmen, the brilliant Georges Bizet gave the world a dazzling musical score that transports audiences to the provocative backdrop of Spain. Boheme Opera NJ will bring one of opera’s most popular works to life on its main stage on Friday, April 8, at 8p.m. and Sunday, April 10at 3p.m. in Kendall Main Stage Theater at The College of New Jersey Center for the Arts, 2000Pennington Road, Ewing, NJ. Parking on the campus is free, with a special needs shuttle available from a designated pickup point. Precurtain talks are offered one hour prior to performances. Sung in French, projected English supertitles make it easy to follow the action. Bizet’s original concept of spoken dialogue interspersed throughout the opera will be honored, with the dialogue in English. Tickets can be purchased online 24/7 using quick link at http://bit.ly/1Niwf2k. The College of New Jersey Center for the Arts box office is located on campus in the Music Building, with hours Mon-Fri, 5to 9p.m., as well as Tuesday and Friday, 11:30a.m. to 1:30p.m. Phone orders can be processed by calling (609) 771-2775during box office hours. Discount rates are available for groups of 10or more, as well as for students. Mark Morris Dance Group: The Mark Morris Dance Group will perform on McCarter Theatre’s Matthews Stage on Tuesday, April 12, at 7:30p.m. Since their debut in 1987, Mark Morris and his company of dancers have grown to become favorites of Princeton’s dance audiences. Morris has created almost 150 works for his company, including the full-length “L’Allegro, II Penseroso et al Moderator.” For ticket information, call McCarter Theatre Center at (609) 2585050, online at www.mccarter. org or in person at the McCarter Theatre ticket office, 91University Place in Princeton. TCNJ Jazz Ensemble: TCNJ Jazz Ensemble will perform on Friday, April 15, from 8to 10 p.m. on the Kendall Main Stage Theatre. Tickets range from $5 to $15. The College of NJ is located at 2000Pennington Road, Ewing. Follow the patron parking signs to the lots designated for this performance. Allow plenty of time to park, walk to the venue, and be seated Princeton Folk Music Society: Princeton Folk Music Society presents The Berrymans on April 15, at Christ Congregation Church, 50Walnut Lane, Princeton. Door admission is $20; $15 members $10for students and $5for children. Doors open at 7:30p.m. and the show starts at 8:15p.m. Ample free parking. For more information, call (609) 799-0944, info@princetonfolk. org or visit www.princetonfolk. org