This Weekend’s Best Bets

By • Mar 12th, 2010 • Category: Arts, Blog

It’s another jam-packed weekend for Jersey City culture vultures. For the most comprehensive arts and entertainment listings, be sure to check our Cultural Calendar. But if you want a little help planning your weekend, here are your Best Bets.

TODAY

The first East Coast solo show for Oakland-based printmaker and digital artist Favianna Rodriguez is happening right here in Jersey City. The exhibition, “Counter Theory,” opens tonight (7 pm) at the 58 Gallery; according to Rodriguez, the work focuses on the themes of immigration reform, food security, climate justice and love. Also kicking off tonight (7:30 pm) is the latest production from NJCU’s Actors Shakespeare Company, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” The show runs weekends through March 28, but some performances are beginning to sell out already, so be sure to act fast if you want to check it out. If you’re into doo-wop, the Duprees are performing at the Loew’s with Kenny Vance & The Planotones (8 pm). And the Theater Company and Art House Productions are teaming up to celebrate Women’s History Month tonight with “Women in Song,” a night all about women as sung by vocalists Mimi Francis, Margaret Leone and Judith Moss.

SATURDAY

History buffs are in luck Saturday, with two interesting offerings. First up, Denis Doran will give a talk on the history of the Dutch in Hudson County for the Hudson County Genealogical Society over in Secaucus (11 am). That wraps up at 1 pm, giving you just enough time to get back to the Historic Jersey City & Harsimus Cemetery by 2 pm for a talk be local storyteller Bob Leach on “The Struggle and Rise of the Jersey City Irish.” (Bonus: all attendees receive a copy of Leach’s book The Home Ground.) Back at Art House Productions, aspiring singers can get in on the New Voices Workshop (4 pm), which will prep singers for a performance later on at the New Voices Cabaret (8 pm). If you’re hungry for some good food from Made With Love, or you just want to help fund some grassroots arts projects, tonight’s inaugural Art Eat-Up (6 pm) is the place to be. The event, put together by Pro Arts, is a new and exciting way to fund art projects in Jersey City; to learn more about it, check out our preview. Later on, there are three excellent live music options for your consideration, all at 10 pm: Vic Ruggiero and Shane/the Ashes at the Iron Monkey; Chris Batten and the Woods at O’Haras Downtown; and The Devyl Nellys and The Modern Airs at the Lamp Post.

SUNDAY

The big annual Saint Patrick’s Day Parade rolls down Kennedy Boulevard this afternoon, led by this year’s grand marshal, Ward D councilman Bill Gaughan (the parade begins at 12:30 pm in Lincoln Park). Later on, swing by O’Haras Downtown for the parade afterparty, featuring live music from Cruel Seamus. If film is your thing, LITM is the place to be today. The Chillfest film series returns with a screening of Save Me at 4 pm, followed later by the usual back-to-back Sunday film screenings. Tonight, in honor of Saint Patrick’s Day, it’s Barry Lyndon at 6 pm and The Commitments at 8 pm. And, last but not least, today is your last chance to check out a 42 feet long and 12 feet high T-Rex at the Liberty Science Center.

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is the founding editor of the Jersey City Independent; he now works for a public-policy nonprofit in Trenton.
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  • Ron

    Chris Batten’s playing his show solo at O’Hara’s, and is also doing two sets, one acoustic and one electric. Though I do hear the rest of the Woods will be at the show, so it should be a good time!

  • http://www.jerseycityindependent.com Jon Whiten

    Thanks for that clarification, Ron!