15 N.J. arts/entertainment events to check out this weekend and beyond (Feb. 10-16)

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WHAT’S GOING ON? Here is a small sample of area happenings you don’t want to overlook in the coming days.

Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes will present a Valentine’s Day show Saturday, Feb. 11, at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park.stoneponyonline.com

Music

♦ Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes will aim for the heart with a special “Stupid Cupid” Valentine’s concert 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 11, at their home turf venue, Stone Pony, 913 Ocean Ave. in Asbury Park.

Tickets are $50-$60. stoneponyonline.com, 732-502-0600.

♦ Holmdel Theatre Company will turn the spotlight on stage star Samantha Williams of “Dear Evan Hansen” fame in its next “Broadway at the Barn” concert 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 11, at Duncan Smith Theater, 36 Crawfords Corner Road, Holmdel.

The night is billed as a “mashup of music that feeds the soul debuting original work as well as classic covers spanning the genres of musical theater, folk, R&B and everything in between.” Williams made her Broadway debut in the Tony Award-winning musical “Dear Evan Hansen” as Alanna and since has appeared in the revival of “Caroline, or Change.”

Tickets are $55. holmdeltheatrecompany.org, 732-946-0427.

WH Samantha Williams

Samantha Williams will perform a “Broadway at the Barn” concert Saturday, Feb. 11, at the Duncan Smith Theatre in Holmdel.holmdeltheatrecompany.org

♦ State Theatre New Jersey in New Brunswick has a choice of classic rock or R&B this weekend.

On Friday, Feb. 10, at 8 p.m., Boyz II Men will show off their 30 year-plus catalog of harmony-driven tunes, including “End of the Road,” “I’ll Make Love to You,” “One Sweet Day” and “Motownphilly.” Tickets are $59-$234.

On Saturday, Feb. 11, at 8 p.m., the 1960s English hard rock band Deep Purple will perform “Smoke on the Water,” “Highway Star,” “Child In Time,” “Perfect Strangers” and other songs from its long history.

Minus original members Ritchie Blackmore and Jon Lord, the current lineup includes longtime members Ian Paice, Roger Glover and Ian Gillan, along with Don Avery and Simon McBride. Tickets are $69-$299.

The theater is at 15 Livingston Ave. stnj.org, 732-246-7469.

♦ The Lviv National Philharmonic Orchestra of Ukraine will present a program of works by Yevhen Stankovych, Beethoven and Edvard Grieg 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 16, at Mayo Performing Arts Center, 100 South St. in Morristown.

Conducted by Theodore Kuchar, the concert will feature pianist Oksana Rapita.

Tickets are $39-$69. mayoarts.org, 973-539-8008.

♦ Flutronix and Third Coast Percussion will share the bill 8 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 15, at Rowan University’s Pfleeger Concert Hall on the campus at 201 Mullica Hill in Glassboro.

Flutronix (flutists and composers Nathalie Joachim and Allison Loggins-Hull ) and Third Coast Percussion (Sean Connors, Robert Dillon, Peter Martin and David Skidmore) will present a new work they collaborated on titled “Rubix,” inspired by “musical games that tie the sound worlds of these performers and composers together.” The program also will feature solo sets by each ensemble.

Tickets are $10-$20. cpa.rowan.edu, 856-256-4545.

♦ Hanover Wind Symphony will premiere works by two young local composers as part of its “New Sounds and New Names” concert 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 15, at Memorial Junior School, 61 Highland Ave, in Whippany.

The free concert will debut “North” by 21-year-old composer Joseph Marta of Scotch Plains and “The Sun Rises” by 19-year-old composer Andrew W. Kadar of Sparta. A “meet the composers” reception will follow the performance.

Marta is a junior at Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University majoring in music composition; Kadar is a sophomore at Ithaca College pursuing a degree in music composition. hanoverwinds.org, 973-263-2683.

Other concerts of note include the Boston-based pop/rock band Couch 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 11, at the Hackensack Performing Arts Center; Serbian-American pianist Marko Stuparevic at the Welpe Theatre at Raritan Valley Community College, Branchburg, 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 12; benefit concerts by the New Jersey Youth Chorus 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 11 at St. Paul’s Church located, 451 Van Houten St., Paterson, 5 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 12, at Mt. Olive Middle School located at 160 Wolfe Road, Budd Lake.; and Capital Harmony Works’ “Resilience and Joy” Black History Month concert 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 15, at Artworks, 19 Everett Alley, Trenton.

Art

WH The Diva Difference

This is a detail from “Black and Proud” by Jose Manuel Cruz, one of the works in “The Diva Difference: Sisters with Voices” at West Orange Arts Center.woarts.org

♦ The West Orange Arts Council will have an artists’ reception from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 11, for its new exhibit, “The Diva Difference: Sisters With Voices…Unabashedly Bold… Unapologetically Black,” at the West Orange Arts Center on 551 Valley Road, West Orange.

The show, which runs through March 4, features the work of WOAC members Kim Alexander-Cook, Dwight Carter, Jose Manuel Cruz, Jasmine Elmore, Maria Estrela, Anthony Gartmond, Carol T. Jenkins, Theodore Jenkins, Barbara Motley, Ron Powell, Cassandra Saint-Jean, Onnie Strother, Denise Toney and Asher Williams. Their pieces were chosen to “emphasize the importance of color and the inspiration of music for the artists.”

Viewing hours are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays, noon to 3 p.m. Sundays and by appointment. woarts.org, 973-325-0151.

♦ The Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers, will have an opening reception 4 to 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 11, for “Komar and Melamid: A Lesson in History,” a retrospective of the Russian-American artists Vitaly Komar and Alexander Melamid, critics of totalitarianism behind the Iron Curtain who worked together from 1972 to 2003.

Born in Moscow, Komar and Melamid emerged from the circle of Soviet nonconformist artists who rejected the government’s dictate that limited artists to the propaganda-based style of Socialist Realism. They founded Sots Art, a style that employs a provocative, ironic approach to expose the absurdities of the official art and of the regime as a whole.

The museum is at 71 Hamilton St., New Brunswick. zimmerli.rutgers.edu, 848-932-7237.

WH Komar and Melamid

The new exhibit “Komar and Melamid: A Lesson in History” opens Saturday, Feb. 11, at Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers, in New Brunswick.zimmerli.rutgers.edu

♦The American Labor Museum/Botto House National Landmark will host a walk-through reception for its new exhibit, “A Diary of the Plague Year: An Illustrated Chronicle of 2020,” 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 11.

The exhibit, which will run through April 22, consists of mixed media works on paper by Elise Engler inspired by news headlines she heard on the radio each morning. Engler also will discuss her new book of the same title at the reception.

The museum is at 83 Norwood Street in Haledon. labormuseum.net, 973-595-7953.

WH Valentine's comedy at NJPAC

A Valentine’s All Star Comedy Show will have two sets Saturday, Feb. 11, at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark.njpac.org

Comedy

♦ The Valentine’s Day All-Star Comedy Show will laugh at love Saturday, Feb. 11, at the New Jersey Performing Art Center, 1 Center St., in Newark.

Two sets of standup, at 7 and 9:30 p.m., will be hosted by Newark’s own Bill Bellamy, the comedian credited with coining the phrase “booty call,” and feature Adele Givens, Eddie Griffin and Smokey Suarez.

Tickets are $49-$99. njpac.org, 888-696-5722.

Theater

♦ The Eagle Theatre in Hammonton, will open its production of the musical, “The Wild Party,” 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 9, for a run through Feb. 26.

Based on the 1926 poem by Joseph March, Andrew Lippa’s play tells the story of two explosive lovers who throw “a party-to-end-all-parties” in 1920s Manhattan.

The theater is at 208 Vine St., Showtimes are 7:30 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays. Tickets are $17-$36. theeagletheatre.org, 609-704-5012

♦ Dover Little Theater will present “From the Heart … a Night of Short Stories,” a block of Valentine’s Day-themed one-acts 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Feb. 10-11.

The theater is at 69 Elliott St., Dover. Tickets are $14. doverlittletheater.org, 973-328-9202.

WH The Wild Party

“The Wild Party” opens Thursday, Feb. 9, at the Eagle Theatre in Hammonton. Pictured from left are Andy Spinosi as Burrs, Alexi Ishida as Queenie, Jason Bediako as Mr. Black, and Hannah Kittrell as Kate.eagletheatre.org

Other

♦ The original Captain James T. Kirk, actor William Shatner, will beam down for an appearance following a screening of the film “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 10, at the Count Basie Center for the Arts, 99 Monmouth St. Red Bank.

Shatner will share behind-the-scenes stories from his career and answer audience questions.

Tickets are $39-$99. VIP packages will include photo with the actor and a pre-autographed tour poster. thebasie.org, 732-842-9000.

WH William Shatner

William Shatner will appear live on stage following a screening of “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” Friday, Feb. 10, at the Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank.thebasie.org

♦ “The World’s Most Unique 2-Person Circus Show” with magicians Michael DuBois and Viktoria Grimmy will stop at Stockton University’s Performing Arts Center 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 11.

The all-ages show will feature juggling, hula hoops, unicycle, stunts, contortion, magic, comedy and audience interaction.

Tickets are $10-$35. The campus is at 101 Vera King Farris Drive in Galloway. stocktonpac.org, 609-652-9000.

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Patrick O’Shea may be reached at poshea@njadvancemedia.com.

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