Central Jersey Entertainment News

Local music, restaurants and arts stories from The Times of Trenton

• 'Jazz at Robeson' counts off
The Arts Council of Princeton will host a new series titled "Jazz at the Robeson Center" starting 8 p.m. Thursday with a concert by the Bob DeVos Quartet.

• Petulant
about peeves Frank Kelly of Ewing, wants to put concrete shoes on the misuse of the word "cement" to mean "concrete," as in "the car hit the cement pillar." Cement, he ex plains, is the powder that's mixed with water and sand or gravel to make concrete.

• Comfort food, adventurous fare
Immediately after customers tell chef/owner Jim Hayes how happy they are that he opened Bistro Soleil in downtown Hightstown, they ask him where they are supposed to park.

• From a dream to a dream job with Disney show

• Pianist joins NJSO for 'Classical Variations'
The second installment of the New Jersey Symphony Or chestra's Beethoven piano- concerto cycle will feature pianist Simone Dinnerstein performing the composer's Piano Concerto No. 2 with Swiss conductor Thierry Fischer on the podium 8 p.m. today at Alexander Hall's Richardson Auditorium on the Princeton University campus in Princeton.

• Playtimes past

• 'Seafarer' actor can't tell you much about his role

• Sumlin has his fingers on the pulse of the blues
It's something you might not expect a 77-year-old like Hu bert Sumlin to say. Especially since the man reinvented blues gui tar as a sideman for Howlin' Wolf, drawing admirers such as Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton and Keith Richards.

• 'Willow Girl' brings story magic to Mill Hill
CitySmiles, in partnership with Passage Theatre and Young Audiences New Jersey, will present a "Winter of En chantment" children's theater se ries, beginning with its first show 2 p.m. Sunday at the Mill Hill Playhouse in Trenton.

• From the sky to the sea
For 172 straight episodes, David Schramm played Roy Biggins, the blustery airline owner on "Wings." Now, though, Schramm portrays a man who's flying in a much different way: Richard, who drinks constantly and finds it affects his poker-playing in Conor McPherson's "The Seafarer." The play started a month- long run on Tuesday at the George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick, where we talked to the 62-year-old actor during a rehearsal break.

• ARB commemorates 45th year of 'Nutcracker'
American Repertory Ballet and its Princeton Ballet School with celebrate their 45th anniversary production of "The Nutcracker" with eight performances at McCarter Theatre in Princeton, beginning with a show 7 p.m. today.

• Aztec Two-Step channel
Maybe it was the flittering acoustic guitars, poetry-laced lyrics or the honey-pitched harmony. But when Aztec Two-Step made its 1972 debut, critics had a ready comparison for the folk-rock duo: Simon and Garfunkel-esque.

• Ever on the hunt for wildlife, captured on canvas
Wildlife artist Beatrice Bork spoke with The Times back in 2002 in connection with an exhibit of her paintings at the Hopewell Frame Shop. She had many successes and awards to her credit then and many more have been added in the intervening years.

• 'King and I' a learning (and teaching) experience
For its production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's beloved 1951 musical "The King and I," Playful Theatre Productions cast a real educator in the role of Anna Leonowens, the brave British schoolteacher who journeyed to Bangkok in 1862 to be the teacher for the numerous children of King Mongkut.

• 'Nate the Great' on the case in West Windsor
Theatreworks/USA will present a new musical production "Nate the Great" about a spunky, pint-size detective 2 and 4 p.m. tomorrow at Mercer County Community College's Kelsey Theatre in West Windsor.

• Smokin' Lil's research pays off
Got a hankering for some good Texas barbecue? Don't go south, go west and cross the border -- the Pennsylvania border, that is -- to find plenty at Smokin' Lil's.

• Trenton, Bucks museums host jazz nights
Forget club hopping. Area jazz fans may want to go museum hopping this weekend.

• Two choirs join voices for 'Gloria' in Princeton
A pair of choirs from Westminster Choir College of Rider University will present a program titled "Gloria!" 8 p.m. tomorrow in the Princeton University Chapel on the campus off Washington Road in Princeton.