A WATCHUNG COMMUNICATIONS, INC. PUBLICATION The Westfield Leader and The Scotch Plains – Fanwood TIMES Thursday, December 1, 2016 Page 19

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The best free music

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...is at the Westfield Memorial Library! Hear the Exotic Sound of Pianist Steve Sandberg and Violinist Zach Brock Saturday, December 3 2:00 pm

This musical duo brings their eclectic style to every exciting show. Both performers are tops in their fields and draw on European, African, Latin, Balkan and Indian traditions to create a unique and wonderful sound. Unlike anything you’ve ever heard. Sign up now!

Experience DooWop Acappella by Re-memberThen on Wednesday, December 7 7:00 pm

All your old favorites sung in splendid harmony by one of NJ’s best acappella groups! Come and remember the glori-ous fifties. A blast! Sign up now!

LOCAL THESPIANS...Pingry's Drama Department presented A. R. Gurney'sScenes From American Life from November 10 to 12. The play consists of a seriesof vignettes ranging from the 1930s to an unspecified time in the future. Picturedare: first row (sitting), Jackson Lubke, Sidney Shannon, Abigail Berger, KatherineTrejo, Siyu Cao, Maddy Shilts, Lauryn Rodney, Kayla Thau, Katharine Matthias,Jessica McLaughlin, Nina Srikanth, Ouarida Benatia, Lindsay Cheng, SoniaTalarek, and Udochi Emeghara; second row (standing), Lucas Vazquez, AndrewCowen, Nicholas Grimaldi (class of 2019 from Scotch Plains), Sara Donovan,Katerina Deliargyris, Alessia Zanobini, Calvary Dominique, Meghan Salamon,Giancarlo Castillo, Megan Pan, Alison Verdesca, Emma Claire Marvin, ConnorBeard, Joshua Thau, Aashiya Jaggi, Lydia Gargano (class of 2019 from Westfield),Annaya Baynes, and faculty members Jeffrey Jenkins, Ramsay Vehslage, StephanieRomankow, and Jeff Jewett.

Radio-Style A ChristmasCarol Planned This Weekend

Westfield Community BandTo Present Holiday Concert

P O P C O R NP O P C O R NP O P C O R NP O P C O R NP O P C O R N

One Popcorn, Poor — Two Popcorns, Fair — Three Popcorns, Good — Four Popcorns, Excellent

Bleed for ThisMiddleweight Contender

3 popcorns

By MICHAEL S. GOLDBERGERfilm critic

To accent boxer Vinny Pazienza’sclose-knit family in director-writerBen Younger’s Bleed for This, turn-ing points in the pugilist’s remarkablesaga are inevitably marked by theclan crowded around the dinner tableeating, with hardly room for a breadstick among them. There is a basic,anthropological purity in the devo-tion, an incontrovertible given, as eachmember, whether laughing, chidingor worrying out loud, plays out his orher supportive role in the dynamic.The conceptualization is as engagingas the accompanying tale of fisti-cuffs.

Based on a true story, the travailthat was “The Pazmanian Devil’s”career should please boxing fans whoknow the history, and perhaps view-ers in general who appreciate a goodold struggle against overwhelmingodds. Miles Teller is convincing asthe pugnacious protagonist, a por-trayal only enhanced by its decidedlytwo-dimensional take. There is ahyper-reality here. While there areglimpses of Mr. Pazienza’s personal-ity outside of the ring and his dedica-tion to the nuclear unit, he isn’t“Rocky,” a “dem and dose” philoso-pher, or a pug who talks to pigeons.

Rather, tutored to the whims andwiles of the prizefighting game by hisgym-owning father in a blue collarsection of Providence, R.I., he is com-pletely focused on his craft. But earlyproblems of keeping the pounds offin lower weight classes, visits to thehospital due to related dehydrationand a couple of losses cause him toseek a mentor outside the familiarpale. Meet Kevin Rooney…boxingguru extraordinaire, inspiring influ-ence and repeat DWI offender. Por-trayed with whimsically inspired cred-ibility by Aaron Eckhart, he almoststeals the show.

Expect the usual prodigy-coachantipathy and positive electricity asthe relationship evolves, and then,just when it looks like Kevin hasfound the formula for his star pupil’spotential path to the championship,kablooey! It is a dreadful, impactfulscene, its split-second horror shownrepeatedly in flashback, not only tostress the importance of keeping one’seye on the road, but also, in a morephilosophical vein, to stress the fra-gility of life. Now, everything haschanged.

Harking back to almost every box-ing-flick, coming out of a coma Vinnylooks up at the doctor and, in defiantdenial of what he no doubt senses,asks how long it’ll be before he canclimb back in the ring. Of course, alsotrue to hackneyed convention, theshocked doc quietly confides that he’s

not sure the fighter will even walkagain. His neck is broken, attached byhardly a ligament. Well, why stop theclichés there? Of course, that’s all thechallenge our tough, single-mindedsoul needs to be suitable subject for afeature-length film about human de-termination.

Curious almost to a fault, Vinnyissues hardly a notion of self-pity oreven a smidgen of fear that he mightlive the rest of his life in a wheelchair.But that would be the human reactionas opposed to how the totally disasso-ciated fighting machine that occupieshis body processes information. Heinstantly plots a comeback from thenear Great Beyond. The metal, neck-supporting “halo” screwed into hishead amplifies the eerie severity of itall. The idea that one false move cancut this tale short causes us to squirmwhenever he makes an abrupt mo-tion.

It’s a positive testament to the filmthat even though we may know how itall eventually plays out, we are none-theless absorbed in the process.Moods and emotions incur our ownexperiential empathy…like when inthe shadowy, sullen and antisepticallycold hospital room filmmakerYounger’s camera focuses on the chairnext to the bed. Unless one has liveda charmed life, you know that chair isthe second worst place in the world.Miles Teller’s Vinny gains ourfandom.

Insofar as dyed-in-the-wool box-ing fans might be concerned, whilethe ring sequences don’t approximatethe choreographic excellenceachieved in Cinderella Man (2005)or the fantasy pummeling that the“Rocky” franchise championed, thereis a viscera-stirring authenticity. Andjust for old time’s sake, whether fic-tional convenience or fact, the script’sinsertion of a treacly melodrama be-tween Vinny and his suddenly re-morseful dad right before the BigFight supplies that well-worn, anx-ious uncertainty that no self-respect-ing boxing movie can resist.

Granted, the film is not a totalknockout, and the human interestangle will doubtfully override under-standable objections by vehementdetractors of what was once calledthe manly art. But for those either stillon the fence, or who believe thattrying to beat someone into uncon-sciousness is perfectly reasonableentertainment, Bleed for This is awinner by, albeit morally split, deci-sion.

***Bleed for This, rated R, is an Open

Road Films release directed by BenYounger and stars Miles Teller, AaronEckhart and Ciarán Hinds. Runningtime: 117 minutes.

WESTFIELD – The Westfield Rec-reation Department will host its 26thannual holiday concert featuring theWestfield Community Concert Bandand the Edison Intermediate SchoolBroadway Singers on Thursday, De-cember 15 at 7:30 p.m. at EdisonIntermediate School in Westfield. Thisfree public concert culminates a year-long series of performances by theWestfield Community Concert Bandin celebration of the band’s 104thanniversary con-cert season. Theband performed itsfirst annual holi-day concert at theRoosevelt Inter-mediate School inDecember 1990with the RooseveltSharps and Flatschorus.

Highlighting aprogram of holi-day favorites, theband will performNewell Long’s musical setting of“Twas the Night Before Christmas,”the renowned 1823 poem attributedto Clement C. Moore,” with specialguest Elias Zareva narrating the poemto the band’s accompaniment. Mr.Zareva conducted the Westfield Com-munity Band for 25 years, between1979 and 2004, making him the long-est-serving conductor in the band’shistory. “I am very pleased to be per-forming with the band for this specialselection, which was always a favor-ite of mine during my many yearswith the band,” Mr. Zareva said.

The band will open the concertwith the 1948 Leroy Anderson clas-sic, “Sleigh Ride.” The program alsoincludes “Rhapsody For Hanukkah,”a 1994 arrangement of traditionalHanukkah selections by StephenBulla, and “Christmas Variations” byRoland Kernen, a contemporary com-position based upon a 17th centurycarol by German composer MichaelPraetorius.

The Broadway Singers will alsoperform a selection of holiday musicfeaturing the choir’s unique arrange-ments and choreography, including“It’s the Most Wonderful Time of theYear,” “Shalom Chaverim,” “AMarshmallow World,” “All I Wantfor Christmas Is You” and the JohnnyMarks classic, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,”

The band will continue the pro-gram with another Leroy Andersonholiday standard, “A Christmas Fes-

tival” and “Carol of the Shepherds,”a contemporary arrangement by PhilipSparke based on a 14th century tradi-tional carol.

The program will conclude with acombined performance of IrvingBerlin’s “White Christmas” with boththe band and choir, an annual tradi-tion dating back more than 25 years.

The Westfield Community Con-cert Band is conducted by ThomasConnors, now in his 11th season with

the band.Westfield musiceducators Ken-neth Horn andS t e p h e nMarkowski, vocalspecialists in theWestfield SchoolDistrict, co-directthe Edison Broad-way Singers.

Members of theWestfield Com-munity ConcertBand recently par-

ticipated in Westfield’s holiday treelighting event, performing traditionalChristmas music as a festive back-drop for the lighting of the Christmastree at the northside Westfield trainstation along with a special appear-ance by Santa and Mrs. Claus forhundreds of families in attendance.As the band completes its milestone104th concert season, the band con-tinues to seek out area musicians toperform a wide variety of concertband literature for its many area con-cert events. Interested musiciansshould contact Mr. Connors throughthe band’s website,info@westfieldcommunityband.com.The band rehearses each Wednesdayevening from 7:15 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.in the Community Room located inthe Westfield Municipal Building 425East Broad Street.

Barry Rosenberg, Elias Zarevaand Thomas Connors

TOP VOICES...Eight Cranford High School students were accepted into the 2016New Jersey Music Educators Association’s All-State Mixed Chorus and per-formed with 300 other top students from around the state. The students performedin Atlantic City on November 11 as part of the New Jersey Education Association’sTeachers’ Convention and at NJPAC in Newark on November 20. AnthonyRafaniello, choral director at Cranford High School, once again served as thepiano accompanist for this year’s All-State Mixed Chorus and joined his eightstudents throughout the rehearsal process and in both performances. CranfordHigh School’s All-State Mixed Choir members, pictured from left to right, are:Madison Panno, Pria McNeil, Sarah Vollenbroek, Katherine Mackenzie, Chris-tian Malamug, Juliana Marcotrigiano, Justin Witwick and Noah Wohlsen.

Chansonettes Embark onDec. to Remember Tour

AREA – The Chansonettes ofWestfield are in full voice ready topresent their winter holiday con-cert program with upcoming datesstarting Tuesday, December 6 atCranford Senior Housing. They willalso make stops on their concerttour at Runnells Center for Rehabili-tation and Healthcare, Atria ofCranford, and Spring MeadowsSummit. The all-female chorus willpresent songs of the December holi-days including "A Wreath of Car-ols," "Lights of Hannukah," "TheChristmas Waltz," "Peace, Peace"and "The Reindeer Twist."

The Chansonettes, in existencefor over 60 years, performs a holi-day concert series in December anda spring concert series in May ofeach year. The women rehearse oncea week on Wednesday nights at thePresbyterian Church on MountainAvenue in Westfield, under the di-rection of Jean Schork and accom-panied by Mel Freda.

Anyone needing more informa-tion regarding joining the groupwhen they start spring season re-hearsals or booking a future concertmay call co-president JacquieTannenbaum at (908) 591-2560.

Composition Inst. Apps.Now Being Accepted

WESTFIELD – The New JerseyYouth Theatre (“NJYT”), in associa-tion with the Wharton Institute for thePerforming Arts, will present a radio-style production/fundraiser of AChristmas Carol at the Wharton In-stitute, 60 Locust Avenue, BerkeleyHeights, on Friday, December 2 at 8p.m., Saturday, December 3 at 2 p.m.and 8 p.m. and Sunday, December 4at 3 p.m. Tickets are available onlineat http://njyt.myboxoffice.us.

Featured is an ensemble cast ofprofessional and local talent — 10adult and eight child actors and sing-ers — playing multiple roles in this19th Century London tale, along witha Foley operator on stage creatingbefore your eyes all the imaginedsound effects for the show. Five of theactors are from Westfield publicschools.

Ethan Jack Berman, (Peter Cratchit,Teen Scrooge, Young Marley, amongother roles) is a 10th-grader atWestfield High School and has beeninvolved with NJYT since 2010. Heappeared as Marco Lopez in theworld-premiere of My Mother, MySister & Me at the Bickford Theater,and played the role of Winthrop inNJYT’s The Music Man in Concert.He appeared in several RooseveltIntermediate School (RIS) produc-tions including as Detective Baxter inMystery at Whimbowly Manor. Ethanalso voiced a role in an animated TVseries. In addition to acting, Ethanenjoys playing guitar and running EJBEntertainment, a teen-run DJ and en-tertainment company that he founded.

Ava Rose Berman (Tiny Tim,Young Boy Scrooge, and Ignorance)is a fifth grader at Franklin Elemen-tary School. Ava is excited to appearin her first NJYT production. Besidesacting, Ava studies piano, enjoys play-ing travel soccer for the WestfieldSoccer Association, basketball, ski-

ing with her family, and watchingmovies.

Sierra Ciasco (Jane Cratchit andYoung Fanny, December 3rd perfor-mance) is a seventh-grader at EdisonIntermediate School in Westfield.Sierra has been taking dance instruc-tion since the age of four and discov-ered NJYT four years ago. Since then,she has been active in musical the-atre, jazz/ballet and tap. Sierra waspreviously cast in NJYT’s The MusicMan in Concert in 2015. When she’snot performing, she enjoys hangingwith friends, reading, horsebackriding and watching classic TV shows.

Kerala McGrail (Young Girl) is aseventh-grade student at RIS. She hasstudied musical theater and dancewith NJYT since 2015. Kerala wasstage manager for Charlotte’s Web,(2016) and in the dance corps forOnce on this Island (2015) at RIS.She also appeared in The Little Mer-maid as Mersister (2016), amongother productions at The JCC inScotch Plains. When not performing,Kerala enjoys playing tenor sax,swimming and spending time withfriends and family.

Alyrie Silverman (Sarah Cratchit,Young Fanny on Friday, December 2and Sunday, December 4 perfor-mances) is a seventh-grade student atRIS. She has studied musical theatrewith Cynthia Meryl since the age ofeight and played the role of Amaryllisin the NJYT production of The MusicMan in Concert. In addition to acting,Alyrie studies dance, voice and pi-ano.

This professionally produced ren-dition will capture your heart and allthe warmth, goodwill and musicalmemories of the holiday season. Thefunds raised will support New JerseyYouth Theatre and its free, profes-sional summer training program foraspiring young talent.

NEWARK – The application pro-cess is now open for the 2017 NJSOEdward T. Cone Composition Institute,a multifaceted program that promotesnew music and emerging composers.The Institute will select four composersto participate in intense compositionalevaluations, consultations, rehearsalsand career-enrichment sessions July 10through 15 on the Princeton Universitycampus. The New Jersey SymphonyOrchestra will give the professionalworld premieres of the participants’works at a public concert on Saturday,July 15, at 8 p.m. at the RichardsonAuditorium in Princeton. By the con-clusion of the Institute’s immersive labo-ratory experience, participants will havegained invaluable musical and practi-cal feedback about writing for orches-tra and how to get their music publishedand performed.

At the Institute, composers will heartheir works in rehearsal and perfor-mance and will participate inmasterclasses with Institute Directorand lauded composer Steven Mackey;they will receive feedback from NJSOmusicians and guest conductor JoAnn

Falletta, who returns to the Instituteafter conducting and mentoring com-posers at the 2015 session. The Institutewill also provide career-developmentopportunities with industry leaders.

Emerging composers—universitycomposition students or composers inthe early stages of their professionalcareers—must submit completed ap-plications by Wednesday, February 1.Four composers will be identified toparticipate in the Institute by Wednes-day, March 15. Application forms anddetails are available atwww.njsymphony.org/institute.

The Institute is tuition-free; housingon the campus of Princeton Universityand on-campus meals will be provided,if needed.

Composers who have participated inprevious Institutes may not reapply.Previous applicants may resubmit workspreviously entered or reapply with adifferent work.

For more information, contactAlexandra Black, NJSO Artistic Op-erations Coordinator, atablack@njsymphony.org or (973) 735-1740.

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