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Patti Labelle will be part of NJPAC's new season

(Yasukawa, Mitsu)

"Collaboration is the theme" of the New Jersey Performing Arts Center's upcoming season, which will be announced today, said executive producer David Rodriguez.

As usual, marquee artists with specialties ranging from classical music to comedy — including the Philadelphia Orchestra, The Second City, Patti LaBelle, Audra McDonald and the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater — will take the stage.

In addition, the center will pair up with the Metropolitan Opera, radio personality Jonathan Schwartz, Playwrights Theatre of New Jersey, cabaret venue 54 Below, and Scott Simon of NPR.

But the events are notable not just for their stars, but also for new onstage partnerships and performance ventures.

"What we're learning is that the audience is an accepting audience," said president and CEO John Schreiber. "If you build it, they will come."

"We're able to go to artists and say, 'What would you really like to do?'" said Rodriguez.

Bela Fleck performs in NJPAC's 2014-15 season.

For the third year in a row, the TD James Moody Democracy of Jazz Festival will take place in November. Among those appearing will be Fantasia, the one-time "American Idol" contestant fresh from a Broadway triumph in "After Midnight," who will perform with Christian McBride and Philip Bailey of Earth Wind & Fire on a "Jazz and Soul" program.

Also on the schedule are trumpeter and composer Chris Botti and young performers of the Brick City Jazz Orchestra with vibraphonist Stefon Harris.

Joining McBride — the venue's jazz advisor — outside of the festival will be BA(c)la Fleck and Brooklyn Rider for a crossover concert titled "All Strings Attached." Other "Moody Encores" concerts spotlight the trio of Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette as well as Bill Charlap honoring Charlie Parker.

This August, Pat Metheny will share the stage for a stop of the "Campfire Tour" with singer and pianist Bruce Hornsby.

The Dorthaan's Place brunch series, hosted by "Newark's First Lady of Jazz" Dorthaan Kirk continues during and after the festival, and the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition will be held once more.

"(There is ) a great opportunity for us to build an audience and expand appreciation of an art form," Schreiber said of the genre-blending concerts that can pull from various types of fans.

The venue has increasingly found a niche specializing in art forms that are arguably underappreciated or marginalized in popular culture, including jazz, dance and poetry.

Having discovered a crossover audience between those showing up for jazz and those who want to see dance, they have adapted their programming.

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater performs as part of NJPAC's 2014-15 season. Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's Alicia Graf Mack and Jamar Roberts.

"The more you know your community, the more you can program for your community," Rodriguez said.

One event borne of such realizations will be the Lula Washington Dance Theatre moving to the music of McCoy Tyner and Terence Blanchard. Other dance guests include Dance Theatre of Harlem, the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater and the State Ballet Theatre of Russia. The "Jersey Moves! Festival of Dance" will return with Carolyn Dorfman Dance Company and the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company.

The venue will amp up its tradition as a home for classical artists by not only showcasing touring orchestras and soloists (who were announced in January and include the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra) but also pairing with the Metropolitan Opera for a new recital series featuring emerging singers.

Also in the realm of classics, the venue will continue to champion Broadway and American song. Theater headliners Audra McDonald, Sarah Brightman will sing, and Stephen Schwartz — creator of "Wicked," "Pippin," and "Godspell" — will appear for a conversation and showcase of his hits.

WNYC's Jonathan Schwartz appears for "Jonathan's Choice: An Evening of Music and Conversation," in three events with Tierney Sutton, Rebecca Luker and Jessica Molaskey.

With 54 Below, NJPAC will curate individual celebrations of the music of Rodgers and Hammerstein, Stephen Sondheim and Jerry Herman. "American Songbook," co-presented with NJTV and taped before a live audience, will also continue.

The Philadelphia Orchestra, under the direction of Nezet-Seguin-Yannick , performs as part of NJPAC's 2014-15 season.

A conversation series, "Trending with Scott Simon," will be led by the NPR Weekend Edition Saturday host and deal with topics such as health care, education reform and women in corporate America. A previously announced New Jersey Speakers series features Madeleine K. Albright, Steve Wozniak, and Alan Alda, among others.

Dialogues will continue during the NJPAC Stage Exchange, a new initiative which will feature readings of new plays that address current topics, including the American dream, racial integration and veterans' reentry into life after going to war. Emily Mann of the McCarter Theatre will present a piece relating to the reception of American Muslims after 9/11.

"There's an underserved audience for intellectual engagement," Schreiber said.

"We want to not only present, we want to engage."

Other theatrical presentations include parodies of "Harry Potter," "50 Shades of Grey" and "Evil Dead," as well as an appearance by Tovah Feldshuh in "Golda's Balcony," a one-woman show about Golda Meir.

The Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival will return to the venue, as previously announced. In addition, "Dodge Poetry at NJPAC" will go beyond the festival with events throughout the year featuring readings and performances.

The Second City arrives to skewer the Garden State next fall with "The Second City Does New Jersey: Paved and Confused" and offers comedy camps this summer. Also serving up laughs will be the Wayans Brothers, Gabriel Iglesias, Wanda Sykes, Lewis Black and Amy Schumer.

Besides LaBelle, Freestyle Extravaganza and the Piano Guys round out pop offerings so far — most will be booked at later dates to accommodate artists' schedules. In addition, a selection of world music will bring out salsa, fado, Bollywood and other traditions.

In family events will be Nickelodeon's The Fresh Beat Band, Jim Henson's "Dinosaur Train Live!, Sweet Honey in the Rock, "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: the Musical," and "Embodying the Dream" celebrating the legacy of Martin Luther King., Jr. Also, Gina and Harry Belafonte produce "Lyrics from Lockdown," a theatrical true story of a man wrongly imprisoned told through hip-hop, and Mexican puppet theater company Marionetas de la Esquina produces a version of "Sleeping Beauty."

But first, this summer brings the return of the free outdoor series "Horizon Foundation Sounds of the City," with appearances by reggae band Third World, nine-time Grammy Award winner Eddie Palmieri, Living Colour and the "Rhythm Revue Dance Party" with Felix Hernandez.

Tickets go on sale Friday at 10 a.m., call (888) GO-NJPAC or visit njpac.org

RELATED COVERAGE

• New Jersey Performing Arts Center announces 2014-15 classical series

• Dodge Poetry Festival returns to Newark with Pulitzer Prize winners and slam champions

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