The morning of the festival, cold rain fell and dispelled notions of heading to Red Bank for Sunday fun. Then the magic weather wand whisked and by 2 PM, sunny blue skies and warm breezes arrived as did thousands of festival fans.  The festival, sponsored by Asbury Park Press and Heineken had help from Red Bank River Center, Red Bank Visitors Center and the Borough of Red Bank.

No matter how many times I go to Red Bank, each opportunity to stroll down Broad Street, with abundant old architecture from the turn of the next to last century, I feel as if I just got off a Rod Serling train into a slice of American history, and its springtime, early 1940’s. I loved being downtown in another century before I hit White Street parking lot for the food, drink and music.

The aromas and sounds of the festival filled the air. Two soundstages on the western and eastern sides of the parking lot provided first rate entertainment  to huge crowds. On the All American Stage ‘King Casino Band, Brian Kirk and the Jirks, Runaway (Bon Jovi Tribute band) and Quincy Mumford and the Reason Why rocked the packed house. What could be bad? Rock music. Food 360 degrees. Beer (A plastic bottle of Amstel Light approached 30 feet in height).  A booth that rolled cigars. And a Bagpipe marching band.

The International stage featured performances by Kathryn Barnett School of Dance, Random Test Reggae, Steve Reilly Band (Irish sounds) and The Funktion (Latin and Salsa). More eye catching attractions: booths for; cheese, chocolate, hand-made sea glass jewelry, a camp for dogs, rock music school and almost every kind of gourmet food. Near the exit and my 94 minutes of absorbing the festival, I found a booth for fresh shrimp cocktail. It put me in the mood. We had dinner in Red Bank on Broad Street sitting outside. The sky was still blue.

by Calvin Schwartz

Two in a row! Back in February my friend Toby M. illuminated me about the Two River Theater in nearby Red Bank. The play ‘Jitney’ was being extended and we went for the first time to Two River. It was a wondrous night. No need to repeat my review (here at NJ Discover.com) but, another wow; our theater experience became a two joys in a row such that it’s time to join. Last Thursday was Marlboro night, where residents of Marlboro, Manalapan and Morganville were invited to explore the range and offerings of Two River, which is literally in all our backyards.

This night Maureen McGovern from the Oscar winning song, “There’s Got to be a Morning After” performed her one woman show, “Carry It On.” My kind of show; a retrospective of her life from Ohio roots and Streisand, Garland and Judy Collins influences; infused with baby boomer memories from whence I came into music. Her voice is gifted; it hasn’t changed at 62 years. The gentle set flashed familiar pictures of history and family while she moved gracefully over stage and down aisles, talking and singing to the audience. Her father’s picture, an army veteran of the greatest generation, seemed to fuel her soul searching emotions.

My wife was teary a few times; ah gee, so was I. Her frankness and candor in words about lost loves and life’s professional wanderings were infiltrated with that glorious songstress voice; songs we grew up to. One of the pictures that flashed on the background screen was Dr. King and my spiritual leader from Newark standing next to him. My respiration slowed. McGovern sang Dylan, Carole King and others; with each cover, I drifted far away which is exactly what I wanted. She closed with the song I seem to quote a lot these days, “Morning After.” McGovern is back on the East Coast. She’s happy about that. And I’m happy about Two River Theater.

Ever hear the expression about beating yourself up? Well I’ve been doing that since Thursday night February 23rd when I saw August Wilson’s play ‘Jitney’ performed at the Two River Theater in Red Bank, N.J.  Here’s the deal. Early last week a friend messaged me on Facebook, that because of popular demand the play ‘Jitney’ was being extended several days and that I should see it. Well I do run around incessantly, taking in all I can find these last years and my friend imparts valuable judgment. I didn’t know August Wilson or his work. I ordered tickets and have never been to theater at Two River. Welcome to the beating up of this writer, a denizen of the magical state of New Jersey. How did I grow up, mature, absorb and celebrate new worlds of cerebral explorations without ever knowing the work of August Wilson? I’m so damned angry at myself.

On a jetty at the New Jersey shore I ponder the universe, environmentalism, trans-humanism, singularity, spirituality, parallel universes, vortex energy, and the list goes on but I never heard of August Wilson. I’ve listened countless times to the speeches from August 28, 1963 at the March on Washington and I wrote a novel about sixties urban experiences and yet I never heard of August Wilson. I aspire to be a renaissance man, dilettante and quintessential absorber of modern life so I play beer pong, do keg stands and run to the Hayden Planetarium to hear Dr. Michio Kaku or Dr.Neil Degrasse-Tyson speak but I never heard of August Wilson.

But now I have heard and what a wondrous night my wife and I had discovering Wilson’s work performed by an amazing ensemble cast at Two River Theater. Where do I begin? Well. Dinner in Red Bank; I thought we were in the Dolomites in Northeastern Italy; quaint ambience and obsessive attention to food taste. The theater experience was completely unique; it began 45 minutes before curtain with ‘Before Play,’ where actor, director and Professor Darrell Willis spoke about August Wilson in the lobby. Mine eyes were opening. It’s not within the boundaries of this article nor am I writing a term paper or a Times review but I felt the words of an amazing poet playwright rivet me to a seat; motionless and spellbound. (You might as well Google August Wilson and ‘Jitney’). The set design was so real, I wanted to drift on stage a few times to answer the phone. I love watching actors who are so precisely intense that their eyebrows even move in the middle of a scene when they’re not talking; they’re living the role. What a cast. How people in a 1970’s Pittsburgh car service (taxi) driver office depended, shared, learned from, and loved each other was movingly and exquisitely told.   Wilson writes about the African-American experience (he wrote 10 plays covering different decades and all but one take place in Pittsburgh). So now I know, appreciate and love the writings of August Wilson, and his ‘Jitney’ and Two River Theater in Red Bank and I’ll never look back; I’m done beating myself up and thanks to a friend for being an accelerant to learning more about life.