Good Old-Fashioned Family Fun In and Around Parsippany

What’s the best thing about living in New Jersey?  Our close proximity to everything!

This week’s Mother of All Deals offers reasonably priced places where you can explore the arts, and they're all close to our hometown.

Art - Peforming & Architectural

July 15: Ladies, if American Idol seems a bit too bold, try your voice at the Women’s Theater Company’s (1130 Knoll Rd. in Lake Hiawatha) singing auditions.  They are staging musical auditions from 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. for upcoming shows. More info can be found here.  Email info@womenstheater.org to audition and they will confirm.

July 18: From 7 p.m. - 8 p.m., the Main Library offers Parent & Child Lego Tower Making Program.  BYOL - Bring your Own Legos and make the tallest tower you can.  Patch’s guess?  He or she who has the most Legos wins!

July 23: This one’s for the moms (and non-moms, too!).  From 12:30 p.m. - 4:45 p.m. at the Main Library (call Judy at [973] 887-5150 x211) to register for The Morning Muses of Women Who Write, Inc., in collaboration with the Parsippany Library.  This is an open poetry and prose reading, as well as an art exhibit.  There will be a music ensemble from New Horizons band.

Movies

Clearview Cinemas Kids Club offers an eight-week program with free movies on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 10:30 a.m., offered on a first-come-first-serve basis.  July movies for the Parsippany location are: July 6/7, Despicable Me; July 13/14, How to Train Your Dragon; July 20/21, Alvin & The Chipmunks the Squeakquel; July 27/28 Alpha & Omega.

Music

July 6 (cancelled in the event of rain): Free concert on the Morristown green 12 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.  Chalgiya (Turkish for “orchestra”) plays music from the Balkans (Macedonia, Greece, Bulgaria and Albania). Featuring clarinet or saxophone, accordion, and traditional drums, the music invokes the feel of village dances and offers some coffee shop-esque vibes.

July 15: Pay just $5 per family for a concert by Big Jeff, who plays fun, upbeat kids' music on the beach at Lake Parsippany (open to non-members, too!). The fun starts at 6:30 p.m. at Drewes Beach (corner of Dorothy Road and Lake Shore Drive; event will be held at the Club House in the event of rain).

July 20: Free concert on the Morristown green 12 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. (held indoors at the United Methodist Church, if raining).  The event features the Music From China Trio, a New York-based chamber in which the three instruments involved are the erhu (two-string fiddle), the zheng (21-string zither) and the yangqin (hammered dulcimer). The musicians have performed with symphonies and alongside jazz artists including multi-instrumentalist Ornette Coleman. This presentation combines Chinese classical and folk arrangements in both classical and modern arrangements.

July 21: Parsippany’s first free outdoor concert of the year is here.  “Long Live the Beatles Show” by the Mahoney Brothers is the longest running Beatles show in the country, and it's coming to Veterans' Memorial Park on Route 46 at 7:30 p.m. It is suggested that you bring lawn chairs, blankets and insect repellant.

Magic

July 12: The Main Library will host Brian Richards’ World of Magic at 7 p.m.  The show involves global magic tricks and offers juggling and comedy for ages three and up.  There is audience participation.

July 20: For $10 per ticket you can see aerialists, acrobats, contortionists, escape artists, singers and more at the Mayo Performing Arts Center in Morristown. The show starts at 10:30 a.m. Buy tickets online here.

Storytelling

July 18: Two professional actors visit the Main Library at 7 p.m. to perform folk tales using American Sign Language and acrobatics. This show includes audience participation and is appropriate for all age levels.