MONTCLAIR, NJ — Montclair is getting a new theater and event space! The Vanguard, at 180 Bloomfield Ave., is ready for its close-up, with grand opening events planned for June 4 and 5, kicking off an opening month with events every weekend.
Vanguard Theater Company is having duplicate opening nights with each capped at 50-percent capacity. Both nights will be complete with photographers, surprise guests and interviews along a “purple carpet”; individually packaged light fare, wine and other beverages, and delicious desserts; plus exclusive screenings of “Songs For a New World,” followed by talk-backs with the actors.
The Vanguard is newly renovated, with a state-of-the-art HVAC air exchange and filtration system, touchless fixtures, and other health and safety precautions, to help patrons feel safe and comfortable. Tickets are available for purchase at bit.ly/openingVTC.
Vanguard Theater Company filmed “Songs For a New World,” written by Jason Robert Brown, with a dynamic cast of professional actors. This beloved song cycle is about moments that change one’s life forever. VTC has taken a look at these songs through fresh eyes in a way that will truly resonate given the events of the past year. On Sunday, June 6, Vanguard will host a general screening of “Songs for a New World,” which will then stream as part of the New Jersey Stages Festival.
June 12 and 13 will feature a screening of “Shrek Jr.,” the beloved musical about self acceptance and love, and not making assumptions about people based on preconceived notions. Tickets and more information are available at bit.ly/shrekVTC.
For the third weekend, June 18 and 19, Vanguard is partnering with the Montclair Neighborhood Development Corporation, Montclair African American Heritage Foundation and the Montclair NAACP on a Juneteenth presentation and celebration to commemorate the emancipation of enslaved people in the United States.
The last weekend of June will see the world premiere of “Walk In My Gravity,” a beautiful song cycle conceived, written and performed by members of VTC Next, a program designed to train the next generation of behind-the-scenes theater professionals. Their song cycle — recorded in a Montclair recording studio earlier this spring — takes audiences on a journey through the true weight of their gravity. Because you never really know what someone is going through until you take a walk in their shoes.
More information is available on Vanguard’s website at www.VanguardTheaterCompany.org.
Photos Courtesy of Vanguard Theater Co.
Grand opening for Vanguard’s new theater in Montclair this June added by Editor on
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