Temp: 31 °F
Thursday, April 26, 2001
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By ROBERT BAXTER
Courier-Post Staff
Barbara Fenhagen wonders why South Jerseyans are paying bridge tolls to attend cultural events.
You don't have to cross the Benjamin Franklin Bridge or drive through the Lincoln Tunnel to find professional theater, outstanding concerts, notable dance performances or important art exhibitions, adds the executive director of the South Jersey Performing Arts Center on Camden's Waterfront.
"If you're looking for outstanding arts events that are accessible and affordable, you can find them right here in South Jersey," says Fenhagen, whose center will be the site of Friday's third annual Business/Arts Summit organized by the Arts and Business Partnership of Southern New Jersey.
The arts center serves up a "Salute to Youth Weekend," featuring dynamic Latino and black entertainers May 4 and 5.
Retumbo, a Latino musical group, appears May 4, followed the next day by Soweto Streetbeat, a company of 10 dancers and musicians performing in the South African tradition.
That weekend also highlights the rich musical resources of South Jersey.
The Philharmonic of Southern New Jersey rounds out its 10th anniversary season with a May 5 concert led by music director Philip Travaline at Eastern Regional High School in Voorhees.
That same night the Haddonfield Symphony's new music director, Rossen Milanov, conducts a concert at the Glassboro Center for the Arts. Violinist Anne Akiko Meyers tops a program featuring music by Bernstein, Bartok and a world premiere by Don Coleman.
The Glassboro Center for the Arts welcomes organist Frederick Swann in a recital Sunday in Pfleeger Concert Hall on the campus of Rowan University. Swann served for 16 years as organist of the Crystal Cathedral in California.
Fenhagen says "artistic quality" is one of the prime reasons South Jerseyans should seek out cultural events close to home. Another is affordability. "Ticket prices are affordable for the whole family. And you don't have to pay high parking prices," she adds.
For family entertainment, look no further than the Children's Ballet Theatre's production of the rarely performed dance classic, La Bayadere. Performed Saturday and Sunday in the Voorhees Schools Theatre, La Bayadere features dancers from the Pennsylvania Ballet and young professionals from Children's Ballet.
The Ritz Theatre in Oaklyn gives Broadway musical fans the chance to see Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music. Bruce Curless directs the production, performed May 3 to June 2.
Haddonfield Plays & Players perform Neil Simon's Barefoot in the Park through May 12. Mainstage Center for the Arts performs Grease (June 8 through 16) and Anything Goes (July 20 to 28) at Camden County College's Dennis Flyer Theater.
Visual arts also claim a prominent place in South Jersey' s cultural landscape.
The Perkins Center for the Arts in Moorestown hosts its annual Juried Watercolor Exhibition Friday through May 27.
Merchantville hosts its Sixth Annual Spring Arts Fair on May 19 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Park Avenue and Centre Street will be lined with a juried art show.