New Jersey arts and entertainment news, features and event previews.

Music lovers get ready for an afternoon concert on Tuesday, September 20, 2022 at the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, NJ featuring legendary singer-producer Jay Siegel and his Tokens and New York State History Presented by Tanton Island entertainer Vinnie Medugno.

A free event offered by the Garden State Arts Foundation, Vice President Ron Gravino jokingly welcomed the audience, “It’s ‘Staten Island Day’ at the PNC Bank Arts Center!” Sent from a group of students in front of the open-air amphitheater.

After thanking the sponsors of today’s show, Gravino introduced Vinnie Medugno, who took the stage with the Coda Band, which included saxophonist Mary Beth Ryan-Mastropaolo, keyboards Dennis DiBrizzi, guitarist Joe DeAngelis, bassist Paul Page and drummers Pete Mastropaulo.

Let the crowd applaud Andy Williams’ “More”, Medugno murmurs, “More than the greatest love the world has ever known,” his warm baritone and charming demeanor before he asks Captivated the audience, “Are you ready for today’s great show?” ? “

The crowd answered in the affirmative, with Medugo exclaiming, “PNC, speak up!” When he introduced The Chiclettes — Deanna Carroll, Susan Marten and Sarah Tracey — a trio of backup singers for Medugo’s “I’m” to Lou Christie A bouncy rendition of Gonna Make You Mine” adds three-part harmonies.

Medugno — a high school media studies teacher in addition to being a singer and radio DJ — exclaimed, “My school is here today!” before entering “Silhouettes,” arranged by Herman’s Hermits.

Medugno took out the microphone for the audience to sing along to the song’s catchy “Tok a walk and pass your house/Late last night” lyrics, where Medugno had his students learn first-hand about live entertainment and musical performance.

Medugno spoke to his students, explaining to them that today, they would hear “good music,” describing it as “cool music when most listeners today were in high school.”

Following “Volare,” in which he paid tribute to singer Bobby Rydell, Medugno kicked off one of the highlights of his series with his interpretation of Gene Pitney’s “Town Without Pity,” which he recently performed on TJ Lubinsky’s PBS TV show, Doo Wop, Pop and Soul Generation.

Mary Beth Ryan-Mastropaolo’s saxophone wailing and Chiclettes delivered haunting backing lines, then Medugno followed with an emotional performance of Gene Pitney’s ballad “I’m Gonna Be Strong,” which drew cheers from music lovers in the crowd.

After performing Paul Anka’s “Tonight, Tonight’s Love” and a duet with The Chiclettes’ Deanna Carroll in Anka’s “I Believe There’s Nothing Stronger Than Our Love,” Medugno made the most of his next choice, “Il sings Mundo in English and Italian. Dedicating the song to a couple in the audience celebrating their 53rd wedding anniversary, Medugo serenaded the couple as they danced to the music in the aisle.

Medugno dedicated his next pick, Buddy Holly’s “True Love Ways,” to GSAF Vice President Ron Gravino, singing his mother’s favorite song, the Rogers and Hart classic, “Falling in Love.”

Elvis Presley’s powerful and exciting rendition of “Hurt” put the audience on their feet, while The Archies’ “Sugar Sugar” Concert-goers clapped and sang, while Medunio stepped into the auditorium to sing, dance, and shake hands with fans in the crowd.

Music lovers happily sang along with Medunio on Dion’s “Runaround Sue,” as he continued to stroll through the PNC Bank amphitheater and wave to fans. Back on stage, he danced with saxophonist Mary Beth Ryan-Mastropaolo.

Music lovers cheered when Medugno sang his signature song “Cara Mia,” originally recorded by Jay and American. With his full voice and his falsetto, his powerful performance drew a standing ovation from the crowd.

Medugno ended his show with a fast-paced rendition of Sam Cooke’s “Twistin’ the Night Away,” which had concertgoers of all ages on their feet and having a great time.

“Give up the Coda Band and The Chiclettes!” Meduño announced off the stage, to loud cheers and applause.

During a brief intermission, we chatted with a few of Medunho’s students about their teacher’s performance this afternoon.

Gabriela, from Staten Island, said of Medunio: “As always, he has a great singing voice!” Revealing, “He was always walking up and down the school hallways singing.” From Staten Island’s Alexa agreed, revealing that “he’s been dancing at school too,” before noting, “His stage personality is exactly the same as when he taught us TV and media at school.”

Staten Island’s Frank said of Medunio: “He really inspired all of his students. He told us we can get anywhere if we just work hard,” Surprised by the singing today. I’ve never actually heard him sing like this before!”

We ended up chatting with Brandon from Staten Island, who called Medugno “the best teacher in the world” and exclaimed, “He was amazing today – I was blown away!” Continuing, “I saw him Snippets of performing in the video, but the live experience is completely different,” concludes Brandon, “He has a real passion for music and performance – and I think all the instrumentalists and backup singers are great as well.”

After the intermission, Medugo returned to the stage to introduce Jay Siegel’s tokens – Jay Siegel, Kurt “Frenchy” Yahian and Gabe Dassa – who took the stage in the company of The Coda Band.

The audience applauds The Tokens’ 1961 hit “Tonight I Fall in Love.” Music lovers sing along to “Dom, doobie dom, woo-ooh, doobie, doobie” before Jay Siegels’ signature falsetto hits the “Tonight, Tonight I’m in Love” lyrics.

Siegel, 82, croons in style and ease, making many in the crowd fall back in love with the music of their youth.

Siegel talks about the “B-side” of “I’m in Love Tonight” before he performed “I’ll Always Love You” with the band. On this number, the rich, rich harmonies of his stage mates waft through the audience, accompanied by Siegel’s crisp falsetto.

“We’re going to write a new song — we recorded it in 1967!” joked Siegel about to sing one of The Tokens’ most popular records of the era when his music director Dennis DeBrizzi arrived with his iPad. The audience reminded the name of the song “Portrait of My Love” by Siegel The Tokens.

Singing “Never Impossible/Portrait of My Love/Because No One Can Draw a Dream,” Siegel and his Tokens offered a record-breaking rendition of the band’s top 40 hits of 1967, which drew audiences in Warm cheers and applause.

Kurt “Frenchy” Yahian appears in the trio’s rendition of The Temptations’ “My Girl”. Impressing concertgoers with his soulful singing, Siegel had everyone sing the song’s “Hey, Hey, Hey” lyrics. The group went on to release two hits with Jay Siegel as record producer – “See You in September” by The Happenings and “One Fine Day” by The Chiffons.

Siegel introduces the group’s newest member, Gabe Dassa, as The Tokens roll out a series of ’50s love songs, including The Rays’ “Silhouettes,” The Penguins’ “Earth Angel,” Sam Cooke’s “You Send Me,” Robert and Johnny ‘s “We Belong Together” and Johnny and Joe’s “Over the Mountains and Over the Seas”. It ended with Don and Juan’s “What’s your name”, and the crowd responded with cheers and applause.

While the band sang Dion’s “The Wanderer,” Mary Beth Ryan-Mastropaolo played a cheerful saxophone solo.

Siegel introduced the rest of The Coda Band—Dennis DiBrizzi on keyboards, Joe DeAngelis on guitar, Paul Page on bass, and Pete Mastropaulo on drums—and set about writing “Please Write,” a Siegel song A family of Tokens songs dedicated to all veterans and their people.

After Siegel talked about growing up in Brooklyn and singing on the beach with his high school friends, he and the Tokens thrilled audiences with a rendition of their timeless band’s biggest hit, “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.” The extended live version of the song had music lovers throughout the PNC Bank Arts Center standing up to applaud and sing, before Siegel and Tokens waved goodbye and left the stage to listen to The Coda Band.

As the audience lined up from the amphitheatre, we chatted with several music lovers in the crowd who shared their thoughts on today’s show. Caroline from Manalapan exclaimed, “Jay Siegel’s Tokens were amazing – they put on a phenomenal show!” Her husband Bob – who is originally from Brooklyn – revealed, “I was in high school with Jay Siegel is in the same class,” before pointing out, “I love his performance, and I love Vinnie Meduno!”

Sharon from Marlboro declared: “Today’s show was amazing – the music uplifted everyone!” Admitted, “Jay Siegel is a great performer. He has a great voice and personality and I love listening to me “Portrait of My Love!” Sharon added: “Vinnie Medugno has a special gift too! He’s a great singer and performer who really knows how to work for a crowd.”

While Judy from Mullica Hill called today’s event “one of the best performances I’ve ever seen here – such a great sound!” Ross from Mullica Hill said: “I’m delighted to see Vinnie Medugno here today of high school students,” explains, “I went to the same high school myself, and I think kids need to see a show like this, which can really expand their exposure.”

Stephen, from Rockland County, N.Y., called Jessigle’s performance this afternoon “awesome!” adding, “The crowd just loves him!” His young son Ben revealed, “I loved all the songs today, but ” “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” is my favorite,” he explained, “I love when he sings – it’s so exciting!”

Finally, as we walked out of the PNC Bank Arts Center, we chatted with Jay Siegel himself, and when asked about his enjoyment of performing here today, he replied, “I hope you can see that when we’re on stage, We have as much fun as the audience!” Continuing, “You can’t explain the feeling we get from the crowd,” Siegel concluded, “We just love what we do!”

For more information on Jay Siegel tokens click here jaysiegelstokens.com. To learn more about Vinnie Medugno, visit vincentmedugno.com. For information on future Garden State Arts Foundation concerts at the PNC Bank Arts Center, visit Museumvigate gsafoundation.org.