By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
The block party that McCarter Theatre Center threw Wednesday was a feast for the nose and ears, from the aroma of paella being cooked outside to the sound of young jazz musicians filling the night air.
Organizers expected between 500 and 1,000 people to attend the second annual party that doubles as a marketing event for the upcoming season and a way to spread some good will with the community.
”We want an opportunity to be able to mix and mingle with our constituents in the community,” said Christine Murray, special events manager.
Food vendors prepared everything from pizza to grilled chicken to feed the crowd, while performers from the Philadelphia Jazz Orchestra, led by Princeton High School studio band director Joe Bongiovi, provided the entertainment. The 10-year-old musical group, made up of college and high school students from New Jersey and Pennsylvania, toured Italy and Switzerland this summer.
”McCarter contacted us and asked us to play. And we were thrilled to do it,” said Mr. Bongiovi, a distant cousin to music star Jon Bon Jovi.
About 70 staff and volunteers worked at the planned three-hour party, located on the front lawn of the 1,100 seat Matthews Theatre. Organizers set up information tables, offered ticket discounts for the upcoming season, gave away prizes to the crowd and allowed people to walk inside the theater.
McCarter Theatre has been part of Princeton since 1930. But for recent transplants like Katelynn Brack who came to the block party, she never knew the place was here.
The block party helps to raise awareness about the venue, said one official.
”And so this is one more way for us to throw our doors open and to make sure that everyone knows that we welcome the entire community to come see events at McCarter,” said managing director Timothy Shields.
Though McCarter is a regional theater, it draws audiences from New York, Philadelphia, and other parts of New Jersey and Pennsylvania, Mr. Shields said. To McCarter officials, a point of pride is the center’s ability to attract big name talent. The 2012-13 season is scheduled to begin in September with a play featuring Sigourney Weaver and David Hyde-Pierce.

