Top row, from left, are Shania Mundy, Lauren Anne and Lou Steele; and bottom row, from left, are April Leonhard, Branden R. Mangan and Lawrence Dandridge.
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.
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