Still More Theater Saturday - King James and Legacy of Light

We received complimentary tickets to King James for review purposes. Any and all opinions expressed here are our own.

What: King James

Where: NBPAC

             11 Livingston Ave.

              New Brunswick, NJ

Who: Recommended for Ages 14 and Up Due to Adult Language

When: Through April 6, 2025

King James is the story of a decades-long friendship between two men united by their love of sports, specifically the Cleveland Cavaliers basketball team. The show is framed by the trajectory of the career of legendary player LeBron James. It moves from his arrival as a vaunted rookie to his traitorous move to the Miami Heat to his celebrated return, and ends just around the time of his move to the LA Lakers. 

This is a show about connections. It is also about how sports bond us and sometimes tear us apart. Matt and Shawn meet when Shawn comes to buy the remainder of Matt's Cavaliers season tickets in LeBron James's rookie season. They share the ups and downs of their lives throughout the following decades, but always with their love (and sometimes hatred) for their favorite team as its core. 

Doug Harris in the role of Matt and Blake Morris in the role of Shawn, respectively, have a nice rapport that makes their relationship believable. Matt can be a bit brash at times, but he has a good heart and is fiercely loyal to his friend. Shawn is a bit more understated, but also has a good heart. He comes to care not only for Matt but also for his entire family, in a way that sometimes makes Matt jealous, as Shawn seems to have the kind of easy bond with his parents that Matt never could.

The show has not one but two incredible sets. The first location consists of a wine bar, which is beautifully detailed down to the brick walls and the wooden beams overhead. The second is an antiques/junk store that covers the entire stage so perfectly that it's hard to believe there was a whole different set piece there before. The second set includes so many interesting details that it would be fun just to explore it even if there weren't a play. 

And that's our view. For more information or to purchase tickets to one of the few remaining performances of King James, go to www.georgestreetplayhouse.org/events/detail/king-james

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We received complimentary tickets to Legacy of Light for review purposes. Any and all opinions expressed here are our own.

What: Legacy of Light

Where: McCarter Theatre Center

             Matthews Theater

             91 University Pl.

             Princeton, NJ 

Who: Recommended for Ages 14 and Up Due to Sexual Situations, Staged Combat, & Adult Themes

When: Through April 6, 2025

Legacy of Light is a show about women in science and the necessity to balance raising a family with dedication to a demanding career, and the toll it takes on women. The show is split between the story of Emile Du Chatelet, an actual French mathematician and physicist, who was much underrated in her own time, and Olivia Hastings Brown, a modern-day scientist, who is the first and only tenured woman in the department of terrestrial magnetism of the Isaac Newton Institute.  Hastings Brown is not an actual person, but the Isaac Newton Institute is a real place.

Emile wants to dedicate herself to her work, but finds herself unexpectedly pregnant in her 40s. Convinced she is going to die in childbirth, she struggles to complete as much of her work as she can before giving birth. Oliva is doing well in her career, but yearns to have a baby before it's too late. When she is unable to conceive, she and her husband hire a surrogate who is hoping to earn money to pursue her own dream career while struggling to raise her young daughter.

The character of Emile, as written by playwright Karen Zaharias and played by Lenne Klingaman, is a woman ahead of her time because of more than her chosen vocation. She is also extremely confident and exerts agency over her own life and that of her daughter, Pauline. Oliva, played by Kimberly Chatterjee, is a very relatable character. Confident in her work, she is not as confident in her ability to be a good mother. Although balancing the two roles is the ideal, it is not always so easy to be equally good at or confident about both. 

And that's our view. For more about Legacy of Light or to purchase tickets to one of the few remaining performances, go to www.mccarter.org.

Tune in tomorrow for this week's Sunday Scoop.

Photo credits: 

All King James production photos by T. Charles Erickson

All Legacy of Light production photos by Daniel Rader

Images used in this post have been sent to us from publicists, artists, and/or  PR firms and are used by permission. If there is a problem with the rights to any image,  contact us here, and we will look into the matter.