Imagine yourself in an intimate place, absorbing the glorious sound of music or laughing to the comedian’s antics while surrounded by the inspiring colors and forms of works of art! The Upper Gallery has 12-foot ceilings, superb acoustics, and a seating capacity of 100.
“Powerful Women of Song”
Idgy Vaughn
Saturday, February 6, 8 p.m.
Idgy Vaughn’s life sounds like a Soap Opera, “stirring and unbelievable.” A single mother, she was a truck stop waitress in Buda, Texas when she met a customer who had won the lottery; he loaned her the money to record her full-length debut, Origin Story. After losing her hometown’s talent show to Christian karaoke singers seven years in a row, Idgy went on to win the most prestigious award in the songwriting world: the Kerrville New Folk Competition. Since then, she’s been winning over fans in Texas, across America and around the world. Bob Harris from BBC Radio 2 stumbled across Idgy during the recording process and immediately began airing her songs across Great Britain and Europe.
Idgy Vaughn is a singer-songwriter who doesn’t fit into one mold but manages to stack “folk,” “country,” and “rock” into a mountain of sound to showcase her sad songs laced with humor, her catchy, silly songs, and her gut-wrenching songs that pull at your heart — all delivered by a beautiful voice and a personality that will throw the audience off their guard and knock them flat.
“Idgy Vaughn seems to exist out of time, like a classic country singer from the ‘50s. Her debut album resonates with a rare authenticity.” — David Brown, National Public Radio
Tickets are $18 online at idgyvaughn.eventbrite.com or $21 at the door. For more information call 908-753-0190 or e-mail us.
Toshi Reagon
Saturday, March 6, 8 p.m.
Toshi Reagon jumped into the spotlight when Lenny Kravitz asked her to open for him on his first world tour. Toshi hasn’t stopped earning the respect of musicians, the praise of critics and the love of fans since then.
Toshi was born in Atlanta and raised in Washington DC. Both parents belonged to SNCC’s (Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee). The Freedom Singers, a folk group that sprang from the Civil Rights movement and toured the country to teach people about civil rights through song. Bernice Johnson Reagon is not only Toshi’s mom but the founder of the world renowned à capella ensemble Sweet Honey In The Rock (she retired in 2004 after 30 years with the group.
Her rich musical heritage led her to become saturated in many traditional styles of music, feeding her desire to explore a range of music that was not as accessible, from blues to Kiss. Admittedly, Toshi says that she attempts to: “take whatever I’m really into and try to learn it and put it into music.” This trait results in a musical style that not only transcends classification, but also expresses a political consciousness that is as ingrained in her music as the multiple genres she embraces. Believing music is the way she deals with her political energy, Toshi once told Curve magazine, “From where you are, from who you are in your everyday life, that’s where you make change...Whatever your gig is, make change through your strength.”
Despite (or because of) her genre-bending, Toshi fits comfortably on a stage at Carnegie Hall, or in a dirty rock club. Toshi is an artist who’s known for energetic performances and a exemplary gift for writing engaging songs that provoke listeners to think and have fun at the same time. Toshi has shared the stage with numerous musicians including Nona Hendryx, Pete Seeger, Chocolate Genius, Dar Williams and Ani Difranco. Whether playing solo or with her band, her fusion of styles and forms draws listeners in, embraces them and sets them off in a rapturous, hand-raising, foot-stomping delight. Toshi often leaves the stage with the audience clapping and screaming for more.
Tickets are $20 online at toshireagon.eventbrite.com or $25 at the door. For more information call 908-753-0190 or e-mail us.
Adult Improv
The Improvables
Saturday, February 20, 8 p.m.
THE IMPROVABLES hit the stage again with their own kind of zany comedy that is both limitless and fantastic! Come get carried away to a world of fast-paced improv games where anything can happen! Ideas can be as outrageous as a caterpillar physicist or a train engineer who likes to talk about toilet paper — ideas come from predetermined prompts or audience suggestions and are only limited by your imagination!
While the show is rarely “R” rated, some obscenity and innuendo is possible. Bring children at your own risk.
Tickets are $8. You may purchase tickets securely using PayPal from our Ticket Reservation page. For more information call 908-753-0190 or click here to e-mail us.
Stage Performance – WAC Benefit
Kristin Ace – “You CAN get there from here…”
Friday, February 26, 8 p.m.
Kristin Ace was a professional actress since graduating college with a BFA. She is a member of Actors Equity. After the birth of her first child she walked away from her acting career to be a stay-at-home mother. At that time, stories began circulating in her head and with the birth of her second child, and great encouragement from her husband, she wrote those stories down. Thus, she began her new career as a storyteller, a gift that she honed through the years of life’s ups and downs. She performed her first one-woman storytelling show for several years in many different venues along the East Coast.
“You CAN get there from here...” is her second one-woman storytelling show and she is delighted to present it at the Watchung Arts Center as a benefit.
You CAN get there from here...
“Look out, there are man-eating pygmies in those woods!” With a warning like that from her older brothers when she was five, it’s no wonder Kristin Ace fears getting lost. Coupled with being directionally challenged, getting from here to there rarely follows a straight line. But then, as Kristin explains through her journey of one hilarious mishap after another, guidance comes from unlikely and unexpected sources. So that even when you are lost on a wooded mountain at night, with pygmies possibly lurking behind every tree, you will always be able to get there from here.
Listen to her podcast from Morristown Green.
Tickets are $15. Call about our special rate for groups of 15 or more. You may purchase tickets securely using PayPal from our Ticket Reservation page. For more information call 908-753-0190 or click here to e-mail us.