PARAMUS, N.J. – Alongside legends of the recording industry – Peter Yarrow and Cissy Houston – Bergen faculty and students will take the stage during the Anna Maria Ciccone Theatre’s upcoming lineup.

• First on the playbill, the annual Ars Nova Concert Series returns to the theatre Thursday, Oct. 17 at 7:30 p.m. with “Duet: The Power of Two” – a production packed with musical mash-ups ranging from classical to acoustic Kanye West. Ars Nova, a New York City-based performing artist incubator and off-Broadway theatre, features faculty-student pairings, including original compositions by internationally acclaimed guitarist John La Barbera and rock lead-man Dan Sheehan (Dan Sheehan Conspiracy). Popular local duo Larry Newcomb and Leigh Jonaitis (Jonaitis & Newcomb), a self-described “one voice, one guitar” ensemble, contrast the aforementioned performance with renditions of familiar tunes like “Autumn Leaves.” Ticket prices for the general public are $12, with discounts offered to senior citizens, Bergen faculty and students.

• As part of the theatre’s “Curtain up!” series, Peter Yarrow, from the famed trio Peter, Paul & Mary, will visit Friday, Oct. 18 at 7:30 p.m. Three weeks later, Cissy Houston, American soul singer and mother of the late Whitney Houston, will perform Friday, Nov. 8 at 7:30 p.m. Ticket prices for the general public are $35 for each show, with discounts offered to senior citizens, Bergen faculty and students.

• Finally, the 2013-14 Bergenstages season opens Friday, Oct. 25 with Noel Coward’s comedy “Blithe Spirit,” a ghost story about a novelist with two wives – one alive and one dead. The student-produced rendition of the London-premiered classic, runs Thursdays through Saturdays from Friday, Oct. 25 to Saturday, Nov. 2 at 7:30 p.m. at the school’s Ender Hall Lab Theatre, located at the main campus in Paramus. On Oct. 26 and Nov. 2, additional matinee performances take place at 2 p.m. Ticket prices for the general public are $15, with discounts offered to senior citizens, Bergen faculty and students.

Tickets for all performances can be purchased online at tickets.bergen.edu or by calling the box office at (201) 447-7428.

Bergen Community College (www.bergen.edu) based in Paramus is a public two-year coeducational college, enrolling nearly 17,000 students at locations in Paramus, the Philip J. Ciarco Jr. Learning Center in Hackensack and Bergen Community College at the Meadowlands in Lyndhurst. The College offers associate degree, certificate and continuing education programs in a variety of fields.

Leave a Reply