WEEKEND ARTS GUIDE: WHAT’S HAPPENING DEC. 1-3?
Your ticket to the best local art shows, movies, performances and special events in and around the Oranges. Support this guide by subscribing or advertising with us.
EDITOR'S PICK
Newark Shop Hop
Elan Café
87 Halsey Street
Newark, NJ
December 2, 11AM-2PM
It’s the Annual Shop Hop at Have You Met Newark. We’ll gather at Elan Cafe to kick off, wind down Halsey Street and side streets in Downtown Newark and then end at a local Art Gallery. Your ticket includes a nibble when we pause for a cozy mid-crawl break and unique deals to be used at participating boutiques! Get your holiday shopping done the fun way! Thanks to Newark Happening, this event is totally free to the public.
EDITOR'S PICK
Holiday Lights
Turtle Back Zoo
West Orange, NJ
December 1-3
This special event is set to the backdrop of some animals. The focus is on an evening stroll outdoors through light displays and photo ops with friends and family, featuring some fun seasonal activities, such as a s’mores station, Grinch weekend and photos with Santa! Not all of the Zoo is open and accessible. Areas to check out to see an animal or two that are open are the Touch Tank, Reptile House and Farm.
mOVIES
RENAISSANCE
RENAISSANCE: A FILM BY BEYONCÉ accentuates the journey of her world tour, from its inception, to the opening in Stockholm, Sweden, to the finale in Kansas City, Missouri.
AMC: ESSEX GREEN
DECEMBER 1-3
THE HUNGER GAMES
64 years before he becomes the tyrannical president of Panem, Coriolanus Snow sees a chance for a change in fortunes when he mentors Lucy Gray Baird, the female tribute from District 12.
SOPAC
DECEMBER 1-3
AMC ESSEX GREEN
DECEMBER 1-3
GODZILLA MINUS ONE
Japan, devastated after the war, faces a new threat in the form of Godzilla. How will the country confront this impossible situation?
AMC: ESSEX GREEN
DECEMBER 1-3
WISH
Asha, a sharp-witted idealist, makes a wish so powerful that it is answered by a cosmic force—a little ball of boundless energy called Star. Together, Asha and Star confront a most formidable foe—the ruler of Rosas, King Magnifico—to save her community.
SOPAC
DECEMBER 1-3
AMC: ESSEX GREEN
DECEMBER 1-3
SILENT NIGHT
From legendary director John Woo and the producer of John Wick comes this gritty revenge tale of a tormented father (Joel Kinnaman) who witnesses his young son die when caught in a gang’s crossfire on Christmas Eve.
AMC: ESSEX GREEN
DECEMBER 1-3
MUST SEE
HOW DOES SANTA GO DOWN THE CHIMNEY?
Children’s book author Mac Barnett and illustrator John Klassen at Words Bookstore.
Maplewood, NJ
December 2, 4PM
Don’t miss this amazing kids’ events with two of America’s most beloved children’s authors and illustrators.
MUST SEE
Stuffed Animal Workshop
289 Main Street
West Orange, NJ
December 2, 2PM-4PM
Make your own new toy or gift for $10.
EVENTS + PERFORMANCES
Joshua Bell
Beethoven could stir up musical storm clouds like a god, but he also could part them to let the most brilliant sunlight warm the soul. The Fourth is the composer at his sunniest, and Joshua Bell, violin still in hand, leads the New Jersey Symphony from the concertmaster’s seat.
NJPAC
DECEMBER 1
Fiddler on the Roof
Coming soon! The Tony Award-winning musical is set in a Russian village in the home of Tevye, a husband and father striving to uphold his family’s religious and cultural traditions.
PAPER MILL PLAYHOUSE
DECEMBER 6-JANUARY 7
Neil Gaiman
Welcome storytelling superhero Neil Gaiman to the NJPAC stage. Staggeringly prolific across genres and media, his celebrated body of work includes the comic book series The Sandman and novels American Gods and Coraline,
NJPAC
NOVEMBER 18
REMEMBERING ROSA
A concert for peace, celebrating 50 years of hip-hop.
CENTRAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL AUDITORIUM
ORANGE, NJ
DECEMBER 1
TRIBUTE TO ELTON JOHN
Gerald Brann not only bears an uncanny resemblance to Elton John—complete with his charming gap-toothed smile—but recreates the Rock superstar’s vocals and piano playing to a tee, including wearing replica costumes.
SOPAC
DECEMBER 2
Art SHOWS
Layered Lenses
Antoinette Ellis-Williams
Akwaaba Gallery
Newark, NJ
Closes: December 23, 2023
Layered Lenses
Allan Gorman:
Searching for Drama
The Brassworks Gallery
Montclair, NJ
Closes: December 15, 2023
electronic product prototyping
Artful Living: The Painters of Maker + Muse
The Iris Gallery
SOPAC
Closes: January 21, 2024
Healthcare 3D illustrations
Jose Manuel Cruz
Gallery 491
Montclair, NJ
Closes: December 15, 2023
Colliding Cubes
Bleriot Thompson:
Public Enemy
GALLERY AFERRO
Newark, NJ
Closes: December 21, 2023
Orbiting Block
Amy Becker: Dead Ringers
GALLERY AFERRO
Newark, NJ
Closes: December 21, 2023
Orbiting Block
Taking Space: Contemporary Women Artists and the Politics of Scale
MONTCLAIR ART MUSEUM
Closes: January 7, 2024
