Greater Morristown weekend preview: Grease is the word, at MHS

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Compiled by Kevin Coughlin

A smorgasbord of treats awaits intrepid adventurers in Greater Morristown this weekend, starting with the Morristown High School musical production of Grease.

You also can find everyone from Doctor Who to Herb Alpert. Savor the work of high school artists, college choristers and a couple of the world’s finest chamber orchestras. George Winston will cast his musical spell; Mike Super will cast some magical spells.

Want to bone up on the Civil War? Delve into the complex lives of chaplains and soldiers from that pivotal struggle.

If you’re feeling community minded, there are food drives, cancer benefits, river cleanups and church rummage sales.

Scroll down for details. And visit our handy calendar for even more activities!

 


THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 2015:

Want to join the fight against cancer? The Relay for Life of Greater Morristown is planning this spring’s fund walk. You can learn more at an open house, from 6 pm to 8 pm at the ShopRite of Greater Morristown.

Learn about the self-taught chaplains of the Civil War — including Father Sheeran, who became parish priest at Morristown’s Assumption Church after the war — at the 123rd meeting of the North Jersey Civil War Round Table. The meeting starts promptly at 7:14 pm at the Frelinghuysen Arboretum, 353 E Hanover Ave., Morris Township. Donation: $5, members and students, free.

Herb Alpert and Lani Hall come to the Mayo Performing Arts Center in Morristown at 8 pm. Tickets: $49-$69. At 100 South St. Call 973-539-8008.

Herb Alpert and Lani Hall.
Herb Alpert and Lani Hall.

 


FRIDAY, MARCH 27:

Celebrate the end of March with the monthly Critical Mass bike ride. The leisurely loop departs from the Morristown town hall parking lot at 6.30 pm. Afterward, cyclists plan to grab a bite at Tito’s Burritos.

 

Butler High School student Rachel D’Agnilli's prize-winning  charcoal sketch, untitled.
Butler High School student Rachel D’Agnilli’s prize-winning charcoal sketch, untitled.
Mendham student Sarah Cecere's mixed media creation, 'Shark Week.'
Mendham student Sarah Cecere’s mixed media creation, ‘Shark Week.’

Want to glimpse the future of art? Check out the 27th annual Blackwell Street Juried Student Show at the Atrium Gallery in Morristown. Presented by Morris Arts, the exhibition features some 350 artworks in many media, chosen from nearly 800 submissions by high school artists from across Morris County. Prizes will be awarded at the reception, which runs from 6:30 pm to 9 pm on floors 2-5 of the Morris County Administration and Records Building, at 10 Court St., where the show can be seen until April 24, 2015. (Open weekdays during business hours). Admission: Free.

 

A Doctor Who parody is coming to the Morristown & Township Library.
A Doctor Who parody is coming to the Morristown & Township Library.

Grab your sonic screwdriver and psychic paper: Doctor Who is coming to Morristown! Raconteur Radio — the dramatic group that presented War of the Worlds last fall — returns to the Morristown & Township Library at 7 pm for a Doctor Who staged radio play and themed party. Costumes are encouraged, though not required. Admission is free. At One Miller Road, Morristown.

The Cornell University Women’s Chorus will give a free concert at 7 pm at the Presbyterian Church in Morristown, at 57 East Park Place. It’s part of the church’s Music on the Green Spring Concert Series, organized by Music Director Matthew Webb.

The Cornell Women's Chorus
The Cornell Women’s Chorus

 

Grease is the word this weekend at Morristown High School!  The Colonials’ drama crew turns back the clock to the 1950s for this popular musical, with shows at 7:30 pm today and Saturday, plus a 2 pm matinee on Sunday. Tickets are available online and cost $11 for adults, $6 for students and seniors. The school is at 50 Early Street.

grease at mhs

Small Potatoes
Small Potatoes

The Minstrel in Morris Township features Small Potatoes at 8 pm, with opener Arlon Bennett . Small Potatoes is the duo of Rich Prezioso and Jacquie Manning, self-styled “Eclecto-Maniacs” whose musical tastes run from Celtic to cowboy with some originals tossed in. Bennett brings wry humor and varied songwriting influences to the stage. At the Morristown Unitarian Fellowship, 21 Normandy Heights Road. Admission: $9, plus what you think the show is really worth. Children 12 and under, free.

The renowned Academy of St. Martin in the Fields chamber orchestra comes to the Mayo Performing Arts Center in Morristown at 8 pm, and it’s bringing pianist Jeremy Denk, winner of a 2013 MacArthur Fellowship and the 2014 Avery Fisher Prize. The program includes Suk, Bach and Dvorak. Tickets: $39-$79. At 100 South St. Call 973-539-8008 for more.

The Academy of St. Martin of the Fields chamber orchestra.
The Academy of St. Martin of the Fields chamber orchestra.

 


SATURDAY, MARCH 28:

Volunteers remove old bike from Whippany River in Morristown during 2012 cleanup. Photo by Berit Ollestad
Volunteers remove old bike from Whippany River in Morristown during 2012 cleanup. Photo by Berit Ollestad

Do a favor for your mother — Mother Earth — by helping clean up the Whippany River. Volunteers should come to the Bethel AME Church on Spring Street in Morristown between 9 am and noon. The Whippany River Watershed Action Committee will provide garbage bags, gloves, hip waders, and safety vests; the Town of Morristown has volunteered to dispose of all the trash. Last year, more than a ton of debris was pulled from the water.

Bargain hunters should find plenty of treasures at the annual Rummage Sale of the Morristown United Methodist Church. It runs from 9 am until 2 pm, at 50 South Park Place. Household items, furniture, toys, electronics, appliances and much more are for sale, to benefit the church’s youth mission projects. Call 973-538-2132 for more information.

The Interfaith Food Pantry, which supplies emergency and supplemental groceries for more than 10,500 Morris County residents, is conducting a quarterly food drive from 1o am to 2 pm. Drop off your nonperishable food items at the Masonic Lodge at 39 Maple Ave., Morristown. Call 973-715-9271 for more details.

 

Is now the right time to buy your first home, or to upgrade or downsize? You may find answers at the Annual Home Buyers Expo of the Housing Partnership NeighborWorks Homeownership Center, a HUD-approved United Way agency. The expo is free, and runs from noon to 4 pm at the Parsippany PAL, at 33 Baldwin Road. Call 973-659-9222 for more.

Mike Super, winner of NBC’s Phenomenon series, casts his magical spell over Morristown’s Mayo Performing Arts Center at 3 pm and 7:30 pm. Tickets: $25-$35. At 100 South St. Call 973-539-8008 for more.

Mike Super
Mike Super

Grease is the word at Morristown High School, 7:30 pm. See Friday entry for details.

Drew University celebrates the 10th anniversary of its Concert Hall with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, performing works by Mozart, Mendelssohn and Brahms. Performers include Gloria Chien on piano, James Ehnes and Sean Lee on violin, Yura Lee and Richard O’Neill on viola, and Timothy Eddy and Narek Hakhnazaryan on cello. Meet them at 7:15 pm, prior to the 8 pm show. Tickets are $55. Call 973-408-3917 or visit here the website above. At the school’s Dorothy Young Center for the Arts, 36 Madison Ave., Madison.

George Winston
George Winston

Grammy winner George Winston returns to the Sanctuary concert series in Chatham at 8 pm. The pianist’s repertoire includes his popular seasonal pieces, and songs from his tribute albums Linus and Lucy – the Music of Vince Guaraldi and Night Divides the Day – The Music of The Doors. Tickets: $25. At the Presbyterian Church, 240 Southern Boulevard.

 


SUNDAY, MARCH 29:

Need to put things in perspective? See the Earth from Space, an exhibit of satellite photographs at the Morris Museum in Morris Township. Sunday hours are 1 pm to 5 pm. Admission is $10/adults, $7/children, seniors, and students, and free for children under 3 and museum members. At 6 Normandy Heights Road. Call 973-971-3700 for more.

Grease is the word at Morristown High School, 2:30 pm. See Friday entry for details about this popular musical production.

Bill Styple will speak at Macculloch Hall.
Bill Styple will speak at Macculloch Hall.

Gain an intimate sense of the Civil War through soldier letters sent from the front. Bill Styple will share them at the Macculloch Hall Historical Museum at 4:30 pm. Admission: Adults $8; Seniors & Students $6; Children 6 – 12 $4. Members and children under 5, free. Speaker tickets include admission to the museum exhibits during the afternoon and a guided tour of period rooms, for visitors who sign up. The last tour ticket is sold at 3 pm, speaker tickets will remain on sale until 4:30 pm. At 45 Macculloch Ave., Morristown.

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