UNION, NJ — Kean Stage has announced its 2023-2024 season lineup, featuring a diverse mix of Broadway, classic rock, jazz, dance, holiday and family programming. Additional artists will be announced later this season.
Opening the season at Enlow Recital Hall on Friday, Oct. 6, at 7:30 p.m., is recent Tony Award-winning star of stage and screen, Alex Newell, performing an eclectic mix of Broadway, American, pop, and rhythm and blues standards at this inspiring concert event. Newell brings the party, excitement and their signature powerhouse voice to an unforgettable evening that you won’t want to miss. Newell made history with her performance in the hit musical, “Shucked,” which has received glowing reviews and praise for Newell’s performance of the show-stopping song, “Independently Owned.” In addition to the Tony, Newell’s performances garnered them the Drama Desk Award and the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Featured Performer in a Broadway Musical. Prior to “Shucked,” Newell starred as the god Asaka, female role, in the Broadway revival of “Once On This Island,” garnering Newell a Grammy nomination for Best Musical Theater Album, as the show was nominated for nine Tony Awards in 2018, winning Best Revival.
The String Queens perform at Enlow Recital Hall on Saturday, Oct. 21, at 7:30 p.m. Praised for their authentic, soulful and orchestral sound, The String Queens, based in Washington, D.C., are a dynamic trio that create stimulating musical experiences that inspire diverse audiences to love, hope, feel and imagine. With an array of repertoire spanning from the Baroque era to the Jazz Age to today’s Billboard Hot 100 Chart, The String Queens performs versatile programs that take listeners on a rousing musical journey through time and a multitude of musical genres.
Grammy award honoree, Songwriters Hall of Fame member, and BBC Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Don McLean will perform at Wilkins Theatre on Saturday, Oct. 28, at 7:30 p.m. McLean has embarked on his 2023 American Pie 50th Anniversary Tour with 20 additional cities throughout the United States and Canada, celebrating the 50th anniversary of one of the most iconic songs and albums ever performed. The eight-and-a-half-minute ballad “American Pie” has been making history since its release in 1971. McLean’s composition was also voted “Song of the 20th Century.”
The energetic, virtuosic Latin Grammy-nominated group Mariachi Herencia de México performs at Enlow Recital Hall on Friday, Nov. 3, at 7:30 p.m. The group has released chart-topping albums and performed across the North American continent. “Nuestra Herencia,” their 2017 debut album, topped the Latin streaming charts. 2018’s “Herencia de la Tierra Mía” was produced by celebrated industry veteran Javier Limón and charted atop all primary streaming services. 2019’s “Esencia” topped industry charts, while a second volume, issued in 2020, was also well received. In 2022, the group began working on their latest album, “Herederos,” as the group was performing a wildly successful North American tour.
Classical music ensemble Frisson presents “A Classic Christmas by Frisson” on Sunday, Dec. 10, at 3:00 p.m. The group performs music from The Nutcracker; “Winter,” from Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons”; “Sleigh Ride,” “Carol of the Bells,” a Christmas Jazz Suite and more. The entire audience gets into the holiday spirit when the show finishes with a rousing audience sing-a-long of traditional Christmas carols.
From the producers of “Rockin’ Road To Dublin” comes the new sensational Christmas season musical, “Christmas In Killarney,” on Thursday, Dec.r 14, at 7:30 p.m., at Wilkins Theatre. Created by the “2009 World Champion of Irish Dance,” Scott Doherty, and worldwide touring Irish musician Chris Smith, “Christmas In Killarney” combines the excitement of Irish dance with the harmonies of traditional Christmas classics. Set in Killarney, Ireland, in the late 1920s, “Christmas In Killarney” shows what it means to celebrate Christmas the Irish way, where many of our own Christmas traditions originated.
Best known for her iconic performances on “Saturday Night Live,” actress, comedian and singer Ana Gasteyer will perform at Enlow Recital Hall on Sunday, Dec. 17, at 7 p.m., in support of “Sugar and Booze,” her recent album of seasonal favorites and holiday originals, which topped numerous “Best Holiday Album” lists. Called “an uproarious homage to Christmas albums of old” by Billboard and “the magical love child of Astrud Gilberto and Lucille Ball — an unexpectedly perfect combination” by BUST Magazine, the album was released to rave reviews.
Coinciding with Holocaust Remembrance Day, Carolyn Dorfman Dance presents “The Legacy Project – A Dance of Hope” on Sunday, Jan. 28, at 4 p.m., at Wilkins Theatre. Through contemporary dance, multimedia presentation and interactive dialogue, choreographer and master teacher Carolyn Dorfman, a child of Holocaust survivors, and her breathtaking company take audiences on a powerful historical and cultural journey. “The Legacy Project,” a celebrated body of work that honors Dorfman’s Eastern European roots, Jewish heritage and the immigrant experience, helps viewers understand the past, its relationship to the present and our individual and collective choices for the future.
Known as the “Monty Python of the music world,” Austrian brass ensemble Mnozil Brass performs at Enlow Recital Hall on Saturday, March 2, at 7:30 p.m. Mnozil Brass has been entertaining fans around the globe for 30 years with their comedic brilliance, sensational programs and impeccable playing. An evening with Mnozil Brass is an over-the-top fun, virtuosic and laugh-out-loud experience.
The Aaron Diehl Trio performs at Enlow Recital Hall on Saturday, March 9, at 7:30 p.m. Pianist and composer Aaron Diehl transforms the piano into an orchestral vessel in the spirit of beloved predecessors Ahmad Jamal, Erroll Garner and Jelly Roll Morton. The Aaron Diehl Trio has produced three critically-acclaimed albums on Mack Avenue Records and have made appearances at such historic venues as Jazz at Lincoln Center, The Village Vanguard and New York Philharmonic. A Juilliard graduate, Diehl has performed with Wynton Marsalis, Benny Golson, Jimmy Heath, Branford Marsalis, Philip Glass and GRAMMY Award-winning artist Cecile McLorin Salvant.
DRUM TAO 30th Anniversary: THE TAO 夢幻響 comes to Wilkins Theatre on Friday, March 22, at 7:30 p.m. Drum Tao was established in 1993, with a dream of creating the best show in the world using Taiko drums or Japanese drums, the instrument that provides a very rare and unique variety of sound expressions. DRUM TAO set their base in Oita, Japan, and started creating their own music, stage set-ups and costumes to produce their one and only unique brand of entertainment. It’s no wonder that DRUM TAO is considered one of the most modern forms of Japanese entertainment in the world.
Performing on Sunday, April 7, at 3 p.m., at Enlow Recital Hall is groundbreaking, six-man a cappella vocal band, Six13. Six13 brings an unprecedented style and energy to Jewish music, with nothing but the power of the human voice. Juxtaposing the traditional and the contemporary, Six13 is anchored by a strong Jewish identity, fueled by soulful harmonies, intricate arrangements and their signature dynamic, full-band-like sound, and driven by a mission to connect Jews around the world with their heritage through music.
Kean Stage Family Series
“DOT DOT DOT: A New Musical” comes to Wilkins Theatre on Saturday, Sept. 30, at 11 a.m., based on the Creatrilogy trio of award-winning picture books by New York Times bestselling author Peter H. Reynolds, “The Dot, Ish and Sky Color,” and adapted by composers Keelay Gipson and Sam Salmond. The musical, in the same manner as the series, celebrates the power of originality, self-expression, and opens our eyes to look beyond the expected. When Marisol — Sky Color, a young artist and curator of the Musee de Marisol, decides that her gallery requires more than her own art and her search for emerging talent leads her to Vashti — The Dot, whose dots inspire Ramon — Ish — to become an artist in his own right. The musical follows Marisol’s journey to help her new friends, and her entire community, break free from self-criticism and learn to let their imaginations soar.
The hilarious “Cat Kid Comic Club: The Musical” comes to Wilkins Theatre on Saturday, Dec. 2, at 11 a.m. Cat Kid and Molly Pollywog have started an epic club to teach 21 rambunctious baby frogs how to make their own comics. Their fishy father Flippy is overjoyed that his kids will learn to unleash their creativity, but when the frogs’ constant bickering and outrageous imaginations send their comics comically off the rails, Flippy flips out. Will the club survive? Will the frogs ever get along? And will creativity finally save the day? All will be answered in this madcap musical adaptation based on Dav Pilkey’s irreverently hilarious book series.
Travel under the sea with Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia’s “The Rainbow Fish,” on Sunday, April 14, at 1 p.m. The first of three tales introduces the most beautiful fish in the sea, whose scales shimmer in all the colors of the rainbow. He is admired — and resented — by the entire underwater world, until a clever octopus advises him to give each fish one of his scales. Further adventures follow, as the Rainbow Fish finds the courage to explore the great unknown deep sea, discovering a new world with wonderful sights and friendly creatures of all shapes, sizes and colors who are eager to make his acquaintance. The underworld wonderland is the setting for an introduction to the concept of opposites. As a fitting finale, the story ends with the most satisfying opposite of all — give and take — as Rainbow Fish shares one of his shining scales with a friend.
Tickets for the Kean Stage 2023-2024 season can be purchased online at keanstage.com or by contacting the Box Office at 908-737-7469. The Box Office is currently open Monday through Friday, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Photo Courtesy of Gersh