JERSEY SHORE SUMMER MUSIC: ICONS OF ROCK CONCERT THURSDAY JULY 14TH at  BAR A  

I’m always on a personal quest via a yellow brick road of relevance to find summer venues/activities that embrace the images of Jersey pop culture living. Therefore, to make summer really effective, memorable, iconic, versatile, one should seek events at or close to the Jersey shore, replete with indigenous(homegrown) purist Jersey rock music with a plethora of beverages to ease you down the road. Usually accompanying the aforementioned, are a gathering of friends and faces tanned by Jersey sun; The Icons of Rock Concert fulfills all those criteria. See you next Thursday.   

Calvin Schwartz

NJ DISCOVER SPOTLIGHT: LINDA CHORNEY: Music, Passion and her film, ‘The Opening Act’ A Review bY Calvin Schwartz March 24, 2016

The refreshing documentary, The Opening Act, shoots from the hip. There is never a lull or lapse.  Linda asked with a Sally Field childlike enthusiasm and innocence, “You really liked it?”  Chorney, although secure with her musical ability, was not so sure if she had any business being in the film business. After viewing The Opening Act, she does.  I answered, “Yes, it was a purist form of frenetic Linda.” “What’s frenetic?” she asked. “Frenetic Linda means frenzied but in a good way. You are non-stop energy and spontaneity.” She creates a special microscope of a film dedicated to creative people like herself. Her energy coming to life in the film is purposefully, obviously for the armies of future musicians coming up; they should all see this film. She explains, “This is about independent musicians. You are not alone. It’s to show the ‘non-musician’ world how much time, money, pulling favors and groveling goes into the process and hopefully acts as a cheap therapy session for musicians.”

Since I watched the film a day before we talked, I was replete with emotional recall. I told Linda, “The film gives the audience a great picture of what life is like in the music business. It isn’t all Adele. It’s not really just about you.”

She dug my description, and continued, “Yeah, a lot of people were expecting this film to be about my story – ya know, the Grammy thing. That’s coming later, in a feature film with a bigger budget. But I thought this message was important and timely, as the music business has drastically shifted, causing musicians to be paid fractions of pennies, rather than dollars for their recordings.”

Linda Chorney is a muse of sorts; a force inspiring thought and creativity.  I know firsthand.

It seemed like old times; sitting down and chatting with her for this interview. It seems like only yesterday when Scott Fadynich, her husband, invited me to hear her sing at Olde Freehold Day. That was August, 2011. Scott saw my posts on Facebook and thought I was a quirky writer/blogger, so he reached out. He is always promoting Linda. It was also my second month as a journalist. A few months later, I did my very first journalistic interview with Linda in Sea Bright, overlooking a river with Jersey seagulls flying overhead. Perhaps the birds were harbingers. Linda’s interview that day helped to launch my new career. And now, five years later, there’s a full circle here.  And no treatise or interview with Linda should proceed without mentioning the fact she made history for being the first Independent artist to be nominated for Best Americana Album Grammy; after playing in bars for 30 years.

I told Linda right from the start of our interview that I wanted not only to share my adjectives about ‘The Opening Act,’ but it was quintessential to my thought process to highlight the unexpurgated Linda with my readers. Yes, I suppose a bit out of the ‘Private Parts’ school; people always want to hear what she has to say. I’d gladly go down the quirky question brick road. But taking a page from her book; I’m going to digress, egress, progress and jump into her movie and glittering, unique personality that radiates from Arizona to Jersey.

The film moved basically frenetically. (There’s that word again) Honesty was mirrored in a roller coaster of her emotions; you felt her depression worrying about weight gain or the long hard road for the film’s financial success. The fact she wore no make-up in many shots was a special effect in itself. She wanted it to be natural and real as possible. “I did everything including the editing. I had to cut out 37 minutes.  It was a challenge. I didn’t want it to be boring. I shot most of it myself, asides to the camera, “selfie-style”. I hoped there was a certain charm to that.”

There was. The film is charming; a perfect adjective to describe Linda’s labor of love. She also did the sound, color correction; and, of course, the music. She actually calls herself “Jackass of all Trades.”

I asked about the title of the film, The Opening Act. “The original title was actually ‘Why Bother?’  In this new millennium of streaming, hardly anyone buys albums anymore. Musicians are losing money recording these days, hence, at some point they have to ask themselves, well, at least I do, over and over again while bashing my head against the wall – why bother?” She reached out to her cousin Robin Russin, a successful screenplay writer and filmmaker in Hollywood, who also helped edit her book, “Who the F**K is Linda Chorney”, and asked him to screen the film before she released it. Expecting him to “rip her a new ahole”, she was pleasantly surprised when he called her with a rave review. There was just one thing; the title. “It has a negative connotation, and I found the film to quite frankly be inspiring. How about calling it “The Opening Act?”

While watching the film, you feel like you are right there in the passenger seat, as she recruits friends, family, and strangers to do a new wacky music video. In typical Linda panache, this wonderful song (full of messages, but in diversionary Chorney style) is called ‘The Cantina’ which describes inane Arizona laws where you can carry a gun but can’t drink a beer in public risking arrest. Her ‘embraceable you’ personality and spontaneity invites a local mariachi band, Mariachi Sol Azteca, to partake in the insanity. They are very entertaining.

You will come to appreciate her fortitude by working in 102-degree heat and many sleepless nights, as she creates. She is a perfectionist. And although you will laugh through her winging it style and journey, you may also shed a tear.

I am a movie snob; totally appreciate the art of making a movie. Movies helped change my life. I’ve walked out of movies that didn’t meet my expectations or wasted my time. So in critiquing movies, I must call it as I see it no matter what. There is my need of walking away from a film with knowledge and intestinal lining feelings; emotion. I remember the scene of her waiting to hear if she’d be opening for the Beach Boys. It was weeks. She was down and said, “People have important things to do and you’re not one of them, so get over it.” This sustained her. For me a riveting quote. Linda Chorney made a good film.

Not to give away the plot, but she did open for the Beach Boys. I asked how it felt.  She chuckled first, “It was awesome although I don’t know if Mike Love knew he was standing on top of my Mom’s ashes.” Her mother’s death was that recent. A typical Linda thing to do. “My mother was a HUGE influence on my music. Everybody’s parents; all they want for their kids is happiness and success. I’m sure parents of musicians, who supporting their kids learning an instrument, or any of the arts, will relate to the film.”

I told her it was quirky question time. “Be Linda.”  Q1 – What makes you cry? “Mostly tears of joy for beautiful things. Nature. When I see real family love. Friggin’ strangers in an airport greeting each other with hugs – like grandparents hugging their grandchildren. Waterworks. Then there are the sad ones; sometimes when I drove home from my gigs in smoky bars. I’d think why am I here?  When am I going to get my break? Then I did or so I thought. The backlash from the Grammy nomination made me shed a tear. Then I look at problems in the world. I make fun of myself. “Oh, poor Linda got nominated for a Grammy, wah wah. Shut the fuck up! Your life is good.”

Q2 – Is there a philosophy by which you live? She was quick to answer, “Keep it real.”  Q3 – Is there a best time in your life? “When I am creating.” Q4 – Is there a worst time? “When I am standing still, not creating.” Linda is often awake at night. “Everything keeps me up. My brain.” Q5 – Strongest childhood memory?  “Piano Lessons, listening to great music and dancing with my family, lots of Beatles, being bribed through quiet contests in the car, and rewarded with Chinese food every Sunday…I always lost.” Q6 – I wondered if there was a big misconception about her. “My honesty is misconstrued for being blunt or rude.” Q7 – fill in the blank. “Before I leave this earth, I won’t be satisfied until I _____________.” Also a quick response, “Make the movie about my book.” (She is currently working on the screenplay, and might do a little shooting while on the Jersey Shore in April.)

Of course I asked about her fondest memory of the Jersey Shore. I knew her answer. I’ve been there with her and Scott a few times. “Sea Bright Pizza!” She continues, “And that will be the first thing I eat when I get back for the film fest. Wanna meet us for a slice of eggplant?”

There are interviews and interviews. I’ve done my share. Musically speaking of course, my time spent with Linda Chorney for this interview was rare, precious and beautiful. I can’t wait for Saturday, April 9th for the premiere of “The Opening Act” at the Asbury Park Music in Film Festival at the Salt Theater at noon.  She will do a little talk, a little singing and Q&A. Yes, it seems like old times having her and Scott back by the Atlantic Ocean making music and sharing passions.

Film, Festival Tickets are available at http://apmff.com/schedule-tickets/

“Opening Act” Movie Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZypajZ6_sA

Linda Chorney website:  http://www.lindachorney.com

Calvin Schwartz  website:  vichywater.net

Facebook:  Cal Schwartz    and  Calvin Schwartz-Cerebral Writer

COMING ATTRACTION: MIDNIGHT MOSAIC Party at Stone Pony  Friday August 28^th  7PM   bY Calvin Schwartz

Several years ago NJ Discover and Artist Nation TV sponsored a “You’ve Been Discovered” contest, in the same discovery mode as proliferative pop culture TV shows. Of course, our base is here in New Jersey. It’s what we’re about; discovering Jersey, especially its vast portfolio of musicians and artists. Part of our mantra is to elevate, support and promulgate our fellow creative Jerseyans. We were thrilled when the band ‘Midnight Mosaic’ was one of our winners.

Then and now we found them to be exciting, accelerating, eclectic and young which means a rising star phenomenon. Their sound was fresh and contemplative leading into a fusion of genres. For me, in the growing stage of music appreciation, I gravitate to their rock and soul sound. They’re fun and as I like to say when appropriate, like now, “welcome to the future.”

From time to time, we highlight coming attractions of events and gigs totally worthwhile to checking out like August 28th 7 PM at the Stone Pony for Midnight Mosaic’s party. And of course it’s the Jersey shore, a summer weekend, a plethora of eating places and cool ocean breezes.

Midnight Mosaic is:  A.t. Hunte (Vocals), Harrisyn Hartt (Keyboards/Synth), AJ (Drums), Dee M (Backing Vocals) Ant (Guitar), and Eric Ubl (Bass) Based in Asbury Park, New Jersey.  So therefore being at the Stone Pony means being home.    Calvin Schwartz  8-17-15

Facebook Event Page:  https://www.facebook.com/events/802406453191443/

“Come join Midnight Mosaic plus special guests Soraia Autumn City Garden State Line & Far in the Maples for a night of joyous noise LIVE at The Stone Pony! Spinning between sets & after the bands are DJ’s Jahred & Christopher Castillo. Plus we will have vendors displaying and selling their art. Tickets are $10.00 from the bands $12.00 at the door. The show is ALL AGES.”

CHECK OUT LINKS FOR MORE INFO:

http://www.midnightmosaicband.com/

http://www.facebook.com/MidnightMosaic

https://twitter.com/midnightmosaic

http://www.reverbnation.com/midnightmosaic

http://www.youtube.com/user/MidnightMosaicMusic

http://instagram.com/midnightmosaic

ALSO CHECK OUT FIRE WORK (full length) on Soundcloud    

  https://soundcloud.com/midnightmosaic/sets/fire-work-full-length

In case You Missed It:  Thunder Road Thursday’s 40th Anniversary Born To Run Celebration   BAR A  Lake Como  Thursday Aug 13^th   bY Calvin Schwartz

I  often write about New Jersey having arrived at the pinnacle of American Pop Culture. Just look at the proliferation in media; The Sopranos, Boardwalk Empire, Jersey Boys, Jersey Shore, Garden State, Jersey Girl. The Jersey shore is a frequent topical theme and rightfully so; President Obama was here several times after Sandy as was Prince Harry and so was American Pharaoh, Triple Crown winner, yesterday at Monmouth Park along with 63,100 fans. There is a magical quality to the Jersey shore; the shore embodies senses of family, history, Americana, fun, reverence, loyalty, food, music with the Atlantic Ocean as backdrop.

Thus it is fitting and proper to be excited about a very special concert at the epicenter of the Jersey shore, at BAR A in Lake Como, close to Belmar, Asbury Park and miles of boardwalks. The lineup for the concert is iconic and kudos to Jesse Warren and Terry Camp for putting it together at the Jersey shore. Of note is the serious side of the concert; to raise awareness for the heroin epidemic here in Monmouth and Ocean Counties.

If you meld all these elements together, the night promises to be hugely memorable. Get thee to the shore a few hours early for dinner, boardwalk and ocean air inhalations.                                                                                                                                                                                                             Calvin Schwartz

Event details and frequent updates will be on the Facebook Event page:

https://www.facebook.com/events/1524147801165369

 THUNDER ROAD THURSDAY

CELEBRATING THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF SPRINGSTEEN’S “BORN TO RUN”

Lake Como, NJ – On Thursday, August 13, 2015, the Jersey Shore celebrates the 40th Anniversary of Bruce Springsteen’s legendary album, “Born to Run,” at Bar Anticipation in Lake Como, NJ. The event will honor this 40-year milestone and the pop culture influences that helped create the distinctive “Jersey Shore” sound. With this special event, the Thunder Road Thursday Series also aims to raise public awareness of the heroin epidemic facing Monmouth and Ocean Counties.

Producer Jesse Warren of Jesse James Productions lost his brother, Scott Warren, to a heroin overdose on March 26th, 2015. Warren states, “The heroin addiction crisis in Monmouth and Ocean Counties has been building for many years and has, unfortunately, received national note. A few months ago, it hit home – my home. We are all responsible to keep the issue front and center in our communities.”

The show will feature a house band of All-Star New Jersey musicians backing featured performers. Springsteen’s “Born to Run” album will be covered and celebrated. The night will also feature artist collaborations and jams for which the Shore is famous. Bar Anticipation hosts as part of its own “Throwback Thursdays” series and offers a variety of drink specials all night long.

Assisting Jesse Warren is attorney and long-time member of the Jersey Shore music community, Terry Camp. Camp and Warren last collaborated on last January’s 3rd Annual “Big Man’s” Birthday Bash at Bar Anticipation, celebrating the late E Street sax man, Clarence Clemons. Camp adds, “We’re thrilled to again be working with Tom Jannarone and his Bar Anticipation team. That place is cream of the crop for a diverse and quality entertainment experience – and a natural venue to carry on the legacy of Jersey Shore rock and roll.”

 The full line-up of popular Shore artists will include:

Max Weinberg ( E Street Band)

Eddie Testa (from The Eddie Testa Band)

JoBonanno (from JoBonanno and the Godsons of Soul)

Vini “Mad Dog” Lopez (original E Street Band drummer and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer)

“The Philly Elvis” Nick Ferraro (who has performed with Springsteen)

Bob Polding (from The Bob Polding Band, as regularly featured on “The

FAN,” WFAN-AM radio)

Killer Joe ( From Killer Joe and The Lido Soul)

Pat Roddy (from The Pat Roddy Band)

Sean Loughlin (from The E Street Shuffle)

Joe Cartwright (from Bent Mushroom)

The All Star House Band features:

Mark Leimbach (Gary U.S. Bonds)

Kevin Gilmore (Eddie Testa Band)

Dennis Miele (Godsons of Soul)

Vini Lopez/Dave Halpern (John Eddie)

Joey Stann (Springsteen, Jukes)

Tony Perruso (Jukes)

Tommy Miers (Jukes)

Tony Aiello (Joe Jackson, Jukes)

Joe Arminio

Ken Latawiec (Eddie Testa Band)

David Turner

Sheri and Lori Gilmore

Doreen Arminio

Doors open at 6:00 p.m. and live music begins at 7:00 p.m. The show is expected to end by 11:00 p.m.

Tickets are $10 in advance and $15.00 day of show.

21 and over

Tickets may be purchased via the Facebook Event page or by contacting Jesse Warren (contact information below).

 Event details and frequent updates will be the Facebook Event page:

https://www.facebook.com/events/1524147801165369/

Bar Anticipation

www.bar-a.com

703 16th Avenue

Lake Como, NJ 07719

(732) 681-7422

For Press/Media inquiries and access:

E-mail Jesse Warren at sting5890@aol.com

Phone – (908) 309-0426

 A MESSAGE FROM THE PROMOTERS

Proud to announce we are partnering with CFC Loud N Clear Non-Profit to Raise Awareness of the Heroin Epidemic.

http://www.cfcloudnclear.org

Join Us and CFC at Thunder Road Thursday in dedication to Scott Warren August 13th and at Rock The Farm NJ August 29th!

Be aware. Be vigilant. Care

About CFC- CFC Loud N Clear was developed in light of our family’s personal journey through addiction. In 2012 after many IOPs, several in-patient treatment centers and years of an uphill battle, we discovered the gaps in the system and realized a need for diverse programs of extended after care. Daniel Regan developed an after care system for himself with the help of his mother Lynn Regan. After a while people started to want to know how they did it and wanted a recovery plan set up for themselves. They decided from that point that everyone deserves access to an aftercare program and they created CFC Loud N Clear. The first year after treatment is the most crucial year in someone’s recovery. CFC will help guide you through your first year and beyond. CFC Loud N Clear believes in providing many roads to recovery thus giving our members many positive proven options that resonates with them. We also recognized the need for safe sober socialization and create a social calendar filled with fun/ laugh inducing activities. Daniel and Lynn Regan are highly involved in the field of prevention and saw the importance of giving back and preventing others from going down the wrong road. Thus CFC got its name Coming Full Circle, we are proudly more than just a recovery program. CFC provides services for Prevention, Intervention, and Recovery with a seamless integration of the three making it a full circle.

http://www.cfcloudnclear.org/

MEMORIES ARE MADE OF THIS: THE JERSEY SHORE  July 9^th 2015   bY Calvin Schwartz

It’s the old proverbial; who better to write an article on memories of the Jersey shore. My ‘involvement’ begins before I was born, when my parents went to the Buena Vista, a Belmar hotel, for the weekend as WWII was slowly winding down in late 1944. They stayed in the attic; nine months later I arrived. When I was ten, my parents started renting a bungalow in Belmar for August. That first summer of ’55, I discovered the pinball arcade, navigating the dust underneath the machines for lost coins, the Shark River Jetty, its meditative properties and the olfactory sensations of the boardwalk, in part, which smelled like a telephone pole back in Newark.

The essence of the shore begins about six to ten blocks away from the sand and beach.  Somehow only in Jersey, with the flatness of the geography of shore towns, from a distance, you can see the end of New Jersey and America; the vast blueness of ocean and sky meeting. That view is priceless and exciting. It’s that first shore sighting; a giant window to memories and new daily beach badge experiences. Yes, the beach badge, with its convoluted pin affixed to bathing suit. If only a season badge someday.

As I interviewed a diverse group of Jerseyans, many mentioned unique shore smells. Author Karen Kenney Smith, remembering a summer week spent at Asbury Park’s Atlantic Hotel liked the “musty smell of the tired carpet.” Moist ocean air everywhere contributed. Rock on Radio personality Danny Coleman focused on the panoply of boardwalk smells. They were pure Jersey food on boardwalk smells but, “Pizza aroma was everywhere.”  Musician Carmen Cosentino still loves the smell of “peanuts on the boardwalk.” He explained somehow it mixes with the salt air of Jersey’s Atlantic Ocean and has this additive effect of making you want peanuts even more.

I’m not sure how I started talking about the hair-do of the Jersey shore but maybe we have our own home-grown style. Insurance industry analyst Susan Michelle’s grandmother’s friends always had their hair in a net sitting on the beach with cigarettes dangling from lips. A card game was always going on. Carmen’s thought on hair, “Jersey women had the strangest hair-do; it looked like a bee-hive.”   Kathy Sinnott’s grandmother left the beach every day at 3PM to prepare for happy hour.

“And what happened when you left the Jersey beach to go back to your houses?”   Kathy showered outside in the backyard in unique wooden showers with plank floors. It was to get rid of the sand fast. Susan used outside showers too or sometimes just a quick hose down on the back lawn covered with neatly manicured weeds and occasional crab grass.

I drifted into a serious line of questioning; parents and kids. Yes the Jersey shore fostered a special life-long bond and memory pool with relationships of kids to parents. Back then, people knew you as a kid and who you belonged to. Kathy remembered long talks with her Dad sitting on a porch or backyard before heading to the boardwalk. You always saw kids with parents hanging together. The shore was built for kids and parents. Retired Pharmacist Jack Cobin told about grandmothers sitting on benches and watching kids carefully and mother’s telling you not to go into the water for an hour after eating. “Kids in the neighborhood hanging out was like the Wonder Years; a naïve innocent time,” Kathy added. Writer and blogger Kevin Cieri thought, “Family time was playing Skeeball together.” Billie Jo McDonald, with more recent memories of the shore, would walk her children to the beach in November and wait for storms. For the homeschooling kids, they’d spend the first day of school on the beach.  “It got to be that the kids could read the riptide. The Jersey beach was a grounding spot.”

Food is Jersey definitive. Everyone remembers. It was the Good Humor ice cream truck. For me in the 50’s, it was a bakery truck driving up and down the beach streets with bread and cake stuff out of the rear.  I heard recollections about Syd’s, Vic’s, Zelbe’s, Max’s and The WindMill for hot dogs.  Despite the admonition of Thomas Wolfe that you can’t go home again, The WindMill is still purveying hot dogs today.  Also mentioned as a memory were soft-shelled crab sandwiches and salt water taffy right out of the local ocean; it tasted better indigenous. Kohr’s Custard in a cone; Karen once dropped her cone and to this day it’s always in a cup for her. Sandwiches were always taken to the beach, sometimes packed in shoe-boxes. French fries came in brown paper bags with small wooden forks and vinegar instead of ketchup.

Amusements on the beach boardwalk were endless; every town from Asbury Park to Point Pleasant had pastimes. For me, if I behaved during the week and watched my infant sister Hildy, the family would go to Asbury Park on Saturday. The merry-go-round was mostly magical. I never grabbed the brass ring.  Pinball in the arcades was prolific on boardwalks, Ocean Avenue or in memory. Today, the Pinball Museum in Asbury Park captures the particulates with vintage games like the Gottlieb and Williams machines. And back to the future with an original game, the baseball pinball where you can even adjust the pitch speed. Susan remembers the ‘Grabber Machine’ which she played all summer long trying for that elusive big prize; one year she won and still talks about it. Ironically, the other day, a local television news story focused on that machine. They reported the machine is programmed (fixed) to not yield a winner until all the prizes inside were paid for. Bingo had its fans in Bradley Beach. And of course Palace Amusements and Tillie and Seaside stirred memories.  Music wise, it’s easy for me to write about The Upstage Club in Asbury Park, open from 1968 to 1971 (I’ve been researching it) where the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Southside Johnny, Vini Lopez and Steven Van Zandt started out. And you played volleyball on the beach even under the light of the silvery moon.  Film maker Chris Eilenstine remembers, “There was always something to do.”

There is a life cycle to the Jersey shore. Many towns had pavilions where little kids hung out, sometimes with arts and crafts. Then teen dances sprung up in those VFW or religious halls after a day of listening to transistor radios on the beach. Jack reminded that Loch Arbor beach, adjacent to Asbury Park, became a college hang out.  Shore towns sometimes mirrored different ethnic enclaves. Humorously, Carmen told me that his father bought a house in Bradley Beach and when he dated a Bradley Beach girl, he was instructed by the date to hide his crucifix under his shirt; a scene right out of the movie ‘Goodfellas’ (celebrating a 25^th anniversary) Chris, to this day, says “I love the diversity, the great culture play, small town feel and originality of the Jersey shore and you can hop on a train and be in New York City in an hour.”

Pondering a good visual to portray the Jersey shore when I was listening to the Everly Brothers sing ‘Bye Bye Love’ in 1955, I just thought of the movie ‘The Summer of ’42.’ Jersey shore was small towns, simple beach structures, like on the island in the movie. Stores were basic and general. Painted paper sale signs hung on windows; beach chairs and umbrellas on the sidewalks creating impulses to buy. Movie theaters boasted they had air-conditioning, were mostly double feature and had that beach dank damp smell.  I want to say I saw ‘Now Voyager’ starring Bette Davis down the shore one summer.  Some towns were regal with their Victorian architecture; I’m thinking Ocean Grove and Spring Lake. Jersey shore is old and historic.

There’s a paradox to the crowds and long lines of summer; the solitude and introspection of the winter months at the Jersey shore. Some towns turn off traffic lights in winter. Back in college, I used to get the key to my friend’s beach house in Bradley Beach and go there to study. It was cold but eerily quiet and productive. David McMahon, from 40 Foot Hole Studios, would rent a shore house for the winter for its ultimate peace and solitude. “I love the winters down there. I’d just bundle up and sit by the ocean.” That’s the other side of the shore; the down winter time; something which provides a unique identity. You can be in a state with eight million neighbors but find this spiritually special desolate shore place in a world all by itself with few winter neighbors and even fewer year-around pizza establishments.

And finally what is that common denominator that makes the Jersey shore unique, memorable and passed down from generation to generation?  It’s the people of Jersey who’ve won their independence from New York and Philadelphia these past years. New Jersey is hot culturally and media wise. Just look at national pop culture; The Soprano’s, Boardwalk Empire, Jersey Shore, Jersey Housewives, Garden State, Jersey Boys; and of course Bruce Springsteen and Jon Bon Jovi globally. What really is that bond that puts the whole state together then and now; that matrix of shared pride and experience; that place we all rushed to re-build after Sandy and showed our resilience to the world? It’s the Jersey shore. And I still remember it like it IS yesterday.

August 9- 26, Thurs.-Sun at 8pm. 5th Avenue Pavilion on the Boardwalk, Asbury Park.

Brightness: An Interactive Party-Play coming to the Asbury Park Boardwalk. “Brightness” is an original, interactive and engaging experience that descends from the Italian craft of Commedia dell’arte. It will make you laugh, make you think, and stretch your imagination, all in unexpected ways. It’s a house party with rules, but the rules aren’t anything like what you might expect. You’ll be a guest at the party and experience what it’s like to join a crazy world of eccentric but understandable characters. And every performance will feature some of Asbury Park’s great local musicians and performers. Brightness is written and directed by Alice Quinnett.