It’s the weekend, and oh what a gorgeous one it is! Get out and enjoy all that The Villages (and beyond) have to offer.
Here’s what’s happening in the Villages (and beyond) this weekend:
Maplewood’s Big in China band will be joined by special guest Andy Aledort of the Dickey Betts Band this Friday at Suzy Que’s BBQ in West Orange. The four core members of Big in China are longtime Maplewood residents: Alan Paul (vocals, rhythm guitar), Rick Wagner (bass), David Gomberg (lead guitar) and Jonathan Kampner (drums). The band plays the music of the Allman Brothers Band, Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, Little Milton, Stevie Ray Vaughan, B.B. King and others, including original material in a similar vein.
Big in China
Friday, November 13 at 9 pm
Suzy Que’s BBQ, 34 S Valley Rd, West Orange, NJ
Free
Friday night is also Rent Party night! The monthly party was founded in 2009 to benefit food pantries and fight hunger in SOMA. This month features live music from Zombies of the Stratosphere, Marco Ranieri Band, and Creem Circus. This party, including beer, is sure to entertain.
The Rent Party
Friday, October 9 from 8 pm – midnight
The Woodland, 60 Woodland Road, Maplewood, NJ
Minimum $5 donation. 21 and over
See Liberty Live: My Lord, What a Night (Staged Reading) at Little Theatre at Kean University in Union this weekend. In 1937, legendary African American singer Marian Anderson gave a concert in Princeton, New Jersey. She was later refused a room at the Nassau Inn, and civil rights supporter Albert Einstein invited Anderson to stay at his home. Based on actual events, My Lord, What a Night provides a thought-provoking account of that night. What begins as an event that threatens to divide the Princeton community ends with a lifetime bond between two of New Jersey’s most fascinating people of the 20th century. This incredible new play, now receiving its first-ever public reading by professional actors, will receive a full production at Liberty Hall Museum in October 2016.
Liberty Live: My Lord, What a Night (Staged Reading)
Friday, November 13 at 7 pm, Saturday, November 14 & Sunday, November 15 at 3 pm
Little Theatre (located in the Miron Student Center), 1000 Morris Ave, Union, NJ
Free
On Saturday, Maplewood Library will host an Art & Music Reception for Lauren Kaiser. With 25 yrs of experience as a staff art director, freelancer, and fine artist, Lauren is an established design professional and art instructor in the NJ/NY area. Her graphic design work includes marketing and promotional print design, corporate identity, brochures, invitations and event graphics, newsletters, packaging, and advertising, as well as web graphics. She is currently teaching and tutoring art & design, including Mac skills, painting and drawing. Live music will be provided by the Maplewood Community Music Trombone Quartet.
Art & Music Reception: Lauren Kaiser, Fine Art & Graphic Design
Saturday, November 14 from 3-4 pm / Artist’s talk at 3:30 pm
Main Library, 51 Baker Street, Maplewood, NJ
Free
Celebrate Maplewood Village on Saturday! Thanks to you Maplewood Village has been voted New Jersey’s favorite downtown and the village is celebrating on Saturday. Enjoy free pizza, sponsored by Roman Gourmet and Village Trattoria, and hot chocolate and popcorn sponsored by Keller Williams Midtown Direct Realty in Ricalton Square from 5 to 6 pm. In addition, you’ll find a variety of customer appreciation specials offered all day throughout downtown as well as dinner and drink specials
Celebrate Maplewood Village
Saturday, November 15 at 5 pm
Ricalton Square, Maplewood, NJ
Free
Columbia High School’s PARNASSIAN SOCIETY will perform its production of Almost, Maine, a comedy by playwright John Cariani this weekend. In this lighthearted comedy, the residents of Almost, Maine find themselves falling in and out of love on one cold winter night while the Northern Lights shimmer in the sky.
Almost Maine
November 13 and 14 at 8 pm and November 15 at 3 pm
Columbia High School, 17 Parker Avenue Maplewood, NJ
Tickets are $13. Email or call for reservations
Midtown Direct Rep will perform a staged reading of What God Hath Wrought! at SOPAC on Sunday. This modern farce by John Walch, with music by Rachel Peters, mingles the sublime and the silly, weaving olden dances with the digital orgy of today, as characters desperately seek connections to those they love, no matter the distance.
What God Hath Wrought!
Sunday, November 15 at 7 pm
SOPAC, One Sopac Way, South Orange, NJ
Tickets are $15 and can be purchased online here
Sunday is the Robo-CATastrophe Robotics Qualifier at Columbia High School. It is the largest Robotics Qualifier in New Jersey and only the NJ State Championships tournament at NJIT is larger. 36 teams will compete for the chance to qualify into the NJ State Championships tournament. There will be three robotics playing fields set up so when one match ends, the next starts. The action is virtually non-stop.
Robo-CATastrophe Robotics Qualifier
Sunday, November 15 at 10 am
Columbia High School, 17 Parker Ave, Maplewood, NJ
Free admission
Also on Sunday, The South Orange Symphony Orchestra will perform a concert featuring Mozart’s Impresario Overture, Albright – excerpts from An American Dale, and Mendelssohn – Hymn of Praise. Families and kids welcome. Refreshments to follow.
The South Orange Symphony Orchestra Concert
Sunday, November 15 at 3 pm
South Orange Middle School, 70 N Ridgewood Road, South Orange, NJ
Free
Check out our Events Calendar to see what else is happening and enjoy the weekend!
