Thank you to all who joined us during the McDonnell Theater’s opening month. It’s been an honor and joy to get to see it come to life with music, film, and dance with you — and there is so much more ahead.
More than 1,000 people registered for events throughout March, including Supaman’s back-to-back opening night performances, the Contenders film series, and open rehearsals, a workshop, and previews related to Company SBB // Stefanie Batten Bland’s Embarqued: Stories of Soil. Here’s what you’ve said about these programs — “tremendous, insightful, engaging,” “physically and creatively intoxicating,” “such a wonderful, understated film,” and “beautiful all around.”
As we head into April, we are excited to announce two new exhibitions, Ecstatic Decrepitude and A Fistful of Drawings, and a host of upcoming events, including a performance by belter Amy Helm. And this month brings a new member to our team, Clayre Saxon, who becomes our new Theater Manager after serving as our gallery liaison since last summer.
Ecstatic Decrepitude, our second exhibition of the year, opens on April 30 and features the work of Bread and Puppet Founder Peter Schumann. Learn more about the exhibition and be sure to register to join us for the opening.
That means there are just a few days to experience Invisible before it closes. We invite you to take a closer look at the exhibition Jersey Arts’ Ilene Dube called “of the caliber one expects to see in the finest contemporary art museums” by reading Vasiliki Katsarou’s artist statement for her Disappearing Poems and learn more about the collaboration behind artist Sandra Ramos and Frenchtown Elementary School students.
April in the McDonnell Theater started strong with a performance and artist talk with Frenchtown composer Heidi Breyer.
This weekend, we pay homage to the films of Sergio Leone and music of Ennio Morricone, whose partnership created a new blueprint for movie soundscape, with an opening and artist talk for A Fistful of Drawings with artist Joe Ciardiello on April 8 and a performance by Arthur Vint’s nine-piece jazz orchestra on April 9 as scenes from the films are played on our movie screen.
We are thrilled to invite you to save the date on June 25 for our fifth annual ArtYard Hatch, our celebration of communal creativity, featuring live music, performance, and a parade of locals dressed as birds who hatch from a giant 14-foot egg and spread a message of joy through Frenchtown. If you’re interested in joining us in the parade by dusting off or making a bird costume, now’s the time to begin planning. We will open registration soon.
And finally, please take note that ArtYard’s gallery is closed from April 13 to 29 for installation.
