By Mabel Pais
Head over to the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) to delight yourself with a variety of performances honoring the Holiday Season!
RUSSELL PETERS
Saturday December 03 @ 7 & 10 pm
RECEIVED STAR ON CANADA’S WALK OF FAME
FIRST COMEDIAN TO HAVE SPECIAL ON NETFLIX
AMONG FIRST SOUTH ASIANS TO WIN TRAILBLAZER AWARD
COMEDIAN RUSSELL PETERS RETURNS TO NJPAC WITH ‘ACT YOUR AGE’ WORLD TOUR!
Canadian comic, actor and producer Russell Peters is taking the world by storm on his new Act Your Age tour. You know the Peabody- and Emmy-winning stand-up from his TV appearances, world tours and hilarious specials, including ‘Outsourced,’ ‘Red,’ ‘White & Brown,’ ‘The Green Card Tour,’ ‘Almost Famous’ and ‘Deported.’ He also holds the honor of being the very first comedian to have a special on Netflix (‘Notorious’). Peters was awarded the 2013 Trailblazer Award by the Association of South Asians in Media, Marketing and Entertainment (ASAMME) for his contributions to comedy. He is among the first South Asians to achieve international success in the field.
Russell Peters was recently named one of Rolling Stone’s 50 Best Comics of All Time. At nineteen, he started doing stand-up at open mics in his native Toronto and spent the next fifteen years honing his craft at clubs across Canada and the UK. In 2004, Peters gained critical and global recognition for his CTV “Comedy Now!” unique and soon became the first comedian to sell-out Toronto’s Air Canada Centre in 2007. Peters set attendance records at venues from Madison Square Garden to The Sydney Opera House to London’s O2 Arena to Singapore’s Indoor Stadium – where he broke the UK attendance record for the highest number of tickets sold for an individual comedy show. In 2013, Peters became the first comedian to create a Netflix Original Comedy Special. Peters’ most recent tour, ‘The Deported World Tour,’ was seen by over 400,000 fans in 40 cities across 20 countries and culminated in the stand-up unique Russell Peters Deported on Amazon Prime in January 2020. Peters has been awarded a Gemini, Peabody, Emmy, and Canadian Screen Awards for hosting, producing, and acting talents.
His last TV series, ‘The Indian Detective,’ a Canadian viewership record for Bell Media /CTV in 2017, was released globally on Netflix. It won Peters the ‘Golden Screen Award’ in 2019.
Peters just launched his Podcast, ‘Culturally Cancelled with Russell Peters’ on iHeartMedia / Cloud 10 and is currently developing a TV series based on his childhood in Canada in the 1980s and executive producing the TV series ‘Late Bloomer’ with YouTube sensation Jus Reign. Peters will also be seen later this year in the feature film ‘Clifford The Big Red Dog’ for Paramount Pictures. Peters resides in Las Vegas and Los Angeles.
When not on tour, he spends every day with his eleven-year-old daughter, Crystianna, and three-year-old son, Russell Santiago. He has a blue belt with three stripes Jitsu and is an ardent DJ and hip-hop junkie who tries to get on the turntables for at least a few minutes every day.
Learn more about Peters at russellpeters.com
NJMEA ALL STATE MIXED CHORUS & ORCHESTRA
Sunday, November 20 @ 3 PM
New Jersey’s outstanding student performers step into the spotlight on the NJPAC stage. The finest high school musicians have been selected by audition for these annual ensembles. As a longtime supporter of arts education, NJPAC is proud to host these incredible students and share their talents with its community. To learn more, visit njmea.org.
GRAMMY AWARD-WINNING
ICONIC GROUP BOYZ II MEN
Saturday, November 26 @ 8:00 PM
Boyz II Men, the Grammy Award-winning iconic group, performs on Saturday, November 26 at 8 pm its most-loved hits, including ‘End of the Road,’ ‘I’ll Make Love to You,’ and ‘On Bended Knee’ with the Orchestra.
Boyz II Men remains one of the most iconic R&B groups in music history, penning and performing some of the most celebrated classics of the past three decades. The group redefined popular R&B and continues to create timeless hits that appeal to fans across all generations. The group’s four Grammy Awards are just the tip of the iceberg: they have also earned nine American Music Awards, nine Soul Train Awards, three Billboard Awards, a 2011 MOBO Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, as well as a Casino Entertainment Award for their acclaimed residency at the Mirage Resort and Casino in Las Vegas.
The trio is the best-selling R&B group of all time, with an astounding sixty-four million albums sold. And the reason is abundantly clear: Boyz II Men have given fans a rich catalog of hits filled with smooth harmonies and enduring themes. And for Boyz II Men, the hits keep coming — the group continues to craft new albums and bring their legendary act to stages worldwide. For more information, visit BoyzIIMen.com.
ALTON BROWN HOLIDAY SHOW
Sunday, November 27 @ 3:00 PM
Alton Brown, the host of Food Network’s ‘Cutthroat Kitchen’ returns to NJPAC with a multi-media show that blends science, music and food into delicious entertainment.
In ‘Alton Brown Live Beyond Eats!’ fans can expect comedy, talk show antics, multimedia presentations, and music (yes, he sings). For this 2022 tour, Brown may also add a slew of fresh ingredients, including new puppets, new songs, plus bigger (and potentially more dangerous) experiments. On television and on stage, Brown has a knack for mixing science, music and food into pure entertainment. According to Brown: “For this new tour, there will be plenty of new therapy-inducing opportunities during our audience participation segments. I don’t want to give too much away, but we’re also going to play a little game with the audience …”
Brown has hosted numerous television series, including ‘Cutthroat Kitchen,’ ‘Camp Cutthroat’ and ‘Iron Chef America.’ He also created, produced and hosted the Peabody Award-winning ‘Good Eats’ for 13 years on Food Network. Brown is the author of the James Beard Award-winning ‘I’m Just Here for the Food,’ and the New York Times best-selling sequence, ‘Good Eats.’ His recent ‘Alton Brown: Every Day Cook’ is a collection of more than 100 personal recipes – along with a pinch of science and history. Learn more at altonbrown.com
STRAIGHT NO CHASER
Wednesday, November 30 @ 7:30 PM
It’s hard to believe it’s been 25 years since Straight No Chaser introduced their signature style of a cappella to the world. Since then, the razor-sharp singers have brought their tight harmonies and witty banter to albums, world tours and 100+ million passionate YouTube viewers.
Now, these charming fellas are headed back to NJPAC for their biggest show yet. Hear today’s pop songs, retro hits and holiday favorites like you’ve never heard them before. To learn more, visit sncmusic.com
TICKETS
For tickets to any of the above performances, visit njpac.org or the box office or call 1-888-GO-NJPAC (888.466.5722).
The New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC)
Follow NJPAC Online:
Website: njpac.org
Twitter: @NJPAC
Instagram: @NJPAC
Hashtag: #NJPAC
Facebook: facebook.com/NJPAC
YouTube: NJPACtv
Follow NJPAC’s Standing in Solidarity Series Online:
Website: njpac.org/takeastand
Hashtag: #NJPACTakeAStand Youtube: Standing in Solidarity playlist
(Mabel Pais writes on The Arts and Entertainment, Social Issues, Health & Wellness, Cuisine and Spirituality)