16 N.J. arts and entertainment events to check out this weekend (and beyond)

WHAT’S GOING ON? Here is a small sample of area happenings you don’t want to overlook in the coming days.

Music

♦ The New Jersey Symphony will provide live soundtrack accompaniment to the film “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2,” in concert, 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 4, at New Jersey Performing Arts Center’s Prudential Hall in Newark.

The eighth and final film in the Harry Potter series has a rousing musical score, as the young wizard and his friends face their biggest battle yet against the evil Lord Voldemort.

Tickets are $39-$89. The center is at 1 Center St., Newark. 888-696-5722, njpac.org.

♦ Lake Street Dive, the folk-rock-jazz band Rolling Stone called “oddballs, but in the best way,” will appear 7 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 5, at New Jersey Performing Arts Center’s Prudential Hall in Newark.

The band’s current lineup features original members Rachael Price on vocals, Bridget Kearney on bass and Michael Calabrese on drums with keyboard/ vocalist Akie Bermiss and guitarist James Cornelison.

Tickets are $40.50-$100.50. The center is at 1 Center St., Newark. 888-696-5722, njpac.org.

♦ The late legendary band leader Sun Ra may have returned to Saturn (where he often claimed was his homeland), but his music lives on.

The Sun Ra Arkestra, led by founding member saxophonist Marshall Allen, will perform 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 4, at White Eagle Hall, 335-337 Newark Ave., Jersey City.

Sonic Youth drummer Steve Shelley, will be a guest DJ.

Tickets are $25-$30. whiteeaglehalljc.com, 201-885-5166.

♦ The Princeton Symphony Orchestra will welcome back pianist Inon Barnatan for performances at Alexander Hall’s Richardson auditorium on the Princeton campus 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 4, and 4 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 5.

The program will include Johannes Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat Major, Op. 83, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92 and contemporary composer Carlos Simon’s “Fate Now Conquers.”

Tickets are $5-$112. The auditorium is located off Nassau St. princetonsymphony.org, 609-497-0020.

♦ The New Jersey Youth Symphony returns to the War Memorial’s Patriots Theater in Trenton 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 4, to celebrate Black History Month.

The program will explore the culture of African legacy in America through a blend of music, oration and dance. The Discovery Orchestra’s George Marriner Maull and dancers from the Newark School of the Arts will guide the audience through a performance of African American plantation folk dance dating from 19th century African slave communities in “Discovering Juba Dance.” The NJYS Youth Symphony will perform works by Omar Thomas, Florence Price and Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9, “From the New World.”

Tickets start at $15 and are available online at WhartonArts.org.

♦ The Swing Time Dolls will present a revue of pop and rock songs from the 1960s at the Investors Bank Theater, 72 Eyland Ave. in the Succasunna section of Roxbury.

Titled “Good Morning Vietnam!,” the program will include music from the Mamas and Papas, Jefferson Airplane, Nancy Sinatra and others.

Tickets are $25. roxburyartsalliance.org, 973-945-0284.

Theater

♦ Jersey City Theater Center will present the East Coast premiere of “Han!,” 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 9, at the White Eagle Hall, 335-337 Newark Ave., Jersey City.

Using storytelling and song, the play follows a young Korean woman as she journeys toward an understanding of “han,” a concept “deeply rooted in her culture — neither sadness, nor resentment, nor hope, maybe all of that and more.”

Directed by Thomas Richards, “Han!” will be performed Hyun Ju Baek in Korean, with English subtitles. Tickets are $20-$50. jctcenter.org, 201-795-5386.

♦ Peak Performances at Montclair State University Alexander Kasser Theater, 1 Normal Ave., Montclair, will open its season on Thursday, Feb. 9, with a world premiere production of “The Night Falls.”

Described as “a new myth for our fractured era,” the work is choreographed and directed by Troy Schumacher (NYC Ballet and BalletCollective), with book and lyrics by Karen Russell (”Swamplandia!”) and music and lyrics by Ellis Ludwig-Leone (San Fermin). It is staged for nine dancers, eight singers and a chamber music ensemble.

Tickets are $40-$50. Performances will be 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Friday, Feb. 9-10, 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 11, and 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 12. 973-655-5112, peakperfs.org.

Dance

♦ The San Francisco-based ODC/Dance will take the stage at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 3, at Stockton University’s Performing Arts Center on the Galloway campus.

The 10-dancer troupe will present a trio of works “exploring our environment, forms of communication and the mathematics of Euclid,” created by artistic director Brenda Way, associate choreographer Kimi Okada, fellow KT Nelson and guest choreographer Kate Weare.

Tickets are $15-$35. The center is at 101 Vera King Farris Drive. stocktonpac.org, 609-652-9000.

♦ Alborada Spanish Dance Theatre will mount a free encore performance of “Heartbeat! Spain and the Afro-Caribbean Connection” in honor of Black History Month, 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 9, at Monmouth University’s Pollak Theatre on the campus as 400 Cedar Ave. West in Long Branch.

The program will feature guest artists Cimarrones and Amazonas. alboradadance.org, 732-255-4071.

Art

♦ The Gallery at Mercer County Community College will have an opening reception for “Paintings and Sculptures by Leroy Johnson” on Wednesday, Feb. 8, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the communications building on the West Windsor campus at 1200 Old Trenton Road.

Johnson, a Philadelphia native who died last year, was a self proclaimed “urban expressionist” whose work was shaped by African-American history and life in the inner city. Largely self taught, he used painting, collage and assemblage sculpture within the “Arte Povera” movement — an Italian art movement from the late 1960s to 1970s whose artists explored a range of unconventional processes and nontraditional materials.

The exhibit will be on view through March 24. Gallery hours are 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays and noon to 7 p.m. Wednesdays. mccc.edu/gallery, [email protected]

♦ Peters Valley School of Craft’s annual High School Student Exhibition will return for its 11th year in the Sally D. Francisco Gallery, starting with an opening reception 3 to 5 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 4, and running through Feb. 27.

The exhibit will showcase works by artists grades 9-12 from Blair Academy, Delaware Valley, Fort Lee, High Point Regional, Kittatinny Regional, Newton, Randolph, Sayreville War Memorial, Sparta, Wallkill Valley Regional and Watchung Hills Regional High Schools.

The gallery is at 19 Kuhn Road in Layton and is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. petersvalley.org, 973-948-5202.

Comedy

♦ The Ladies of Laughter Funny & Fabulous will be back at the Bergen Performing Arts Center, 30 N. Van Brunt St. Englewood, 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 3.

The show will include “winners and best talent” from the “Ladies of Laughter” international competition. Scheduled to perform are Sara Contreras, Erin Maguire, Liz Glazer, Maureen Langan and Marion Grodin, with host Dena Blizzard.

Tickets are $29-$39. 201-227-1030, bergenpac.org.

Family

♦ “Pinkalicious the Musical” will have two performances at the Mayo Performing Arts Center, 100 South St., Morristown, on Sunday, Feb. 5.

Based on the children’s book series by Victoria Kann, the production tells the story of a girl who finds herself in a colorful predicament after her indulgence in too many pink cupcakes causes a severe case of Pinkititis that turns her pink from head to toe.

There will be a 1:30 p.m. show followed by at 4:30 p.m. sensory-friend performance. Tickets are $12-$15. The production is recommended for ages 4 and older. mayoarts.org, 973-539-8008.

♦ State Theatre New Jersey, 15 Livingston Ave., New Brunswick, will host “Llama Llama Live,” a family stage production based on the children’s books by Anna Dewdney and the new Netflix series, 1 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 5.

Tickets are $19-$29. stnj.org, 732-246-7469.

Other

♦ Highlands Business Partnership’s 13th annual “Beef & Brew” fundraiser will be held 3 to 7 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 5, at Proving Ground Waterfront Dining, 56 Shrewsbury Avenue, Highlands.

Tickets are $40 and will include an Irish buffet dinner including corned beef, potatoes and cabbage, shepherd’s pie, vegetarian options and two beer tickets. Proceeds will benefit the 2023 St. Patrick’s Day Parade.

The Highlands 2023 grand marshal Karen Taylor-Burke will be honored and presented with her sash, there will be a gift auction and the Middlesex County Police and Fire Pipes & Drums will perform. highlandsnj.com, 732-291-4713.

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Patrick O’Shea may be reached at [email protected].

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