In 2008, Congress designated them as cultural ambassadors to the world.

And recently, they’ve introduced modern dance to legions of reality TV watchers with guest spots on Dancing With The Stars and So You Think You Can Dance.

Fifty-four years after legendary choreographer Alvin Ailey founded the company in New York City, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater remains one of the most iconic forces in dance.

On Friday, they’ll bring their celebrated routine back to the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark, giving audiences a mix of classical, jazz and hip-hop numbers. And, of course, they’ll end the show as they always do: with their signature piece, “Revelations,” Ailey’s gospel-infused tribute to black history.

For dancer Glenn Allen Sims, returning to New Jersey’s largest city has extra meaning. The 15-year Ailey veteran grew up in the Garden State, living in Long Branch until enrolling at Julliard in 1994. He was asked to join the company three years later.

NJPAC’s audience will also witness a new chapter in Ailey’s history. It’s been less than a year since Robert Battle became the company’s third-ever artistic director.

“I’m sure people want to see how the company is going under the transition,” Sims says. “I would say the company is looking quite right and fresh. People have said the company looks its best in years.”

Culture Vultures’ Brent Johnson spoke with Sims about the strains of becoming a dancer, the health-care benefits of being an Ailey member and why NJPAC is an underrated gem of a venue.

Culture Vultures: If you dream of becoming a dancer, what do you need to do to make that happen?

Glenn Sims: To start off, you have to be determined, to be focused enough to want to be a dancer. If it’s a path you do take, it’s a lot of work. People think being a dancer is glamorous. But we’re the foot soldiers of the arts. As a dancer, monetarily you’re not paid as much as a musician or an opera singer. You have to be already cognizant of the fact that it’s not going to be a very lucrative lifestyle. Especially if you’re a concert dancer.

Secondly, make sure you have the right foundation — that being a dance school with great ballet training, with teachers who have a keen eye and take interest in their students.

CV: Where in New Jersey can someone go to learn?

GS: The school I trained at is the Academy of Dance Arts in Red Bank. It’s based off the Royal Academy of Dance syllabus. Dancers are trained through a syllabus — a set of exercises to help you build muscle, build stability. The director of the school, Jennifer church, made sure we had hours and hours of classes. I think I did nine hours of ballet classes a week. And they have modern dance and jazz classes. She set us up for professionalism.

The academy also had a company that put on productions at Count Basie Theater [in Red Bank] and a theater in Lakewood. Not only did we do something local, but we also had road trips. We had the experience of being outside our home and in our hotel rooms. It’s like a simulation of being a professional dancer. Right now with Alvin Ailey, I spent a lot of my time living in a hotel.

CV: How did you get involved with Ailey?

GS: I went to an audition to see where I would stand. I was going into my senior year [at Julliard]. Alvin Ailey has been a company that has tickled my fancy for a long time. It’s a repertory company that travels nationally and internationally. I have always been interested in seeing the world, seeing different cultures. It’s an organization that allows that.

Not only that, but I was more away that I didn’t just want to be a dancer and not have health insurance. Alvin Ailey provides health insurance and a retirement plan. I knew I needed to have some sort of protection — not just a part-time job.

CV: How proud are you to be involved with such a storied company?

GS: First of all, I’m still blessed that I have been able to be in this organization for 15 years. Being able to see the organization itself grow. To have helped countless individuals, young artists, young dancers make their way to being professional. Not only are we performing on Dancing With The Stars and So You Think You Can Dance — which is a great outlet for a company because our name is becoming familiarized to people who didn’t know us — but we’re also doing outreach. Ailey said dance came from the people, and it should always belong to the people.

CV: What’s the significance of Ailey returning to Newark?

GS: It’s our second home. Our first home is New York, but we’re coming to NJPAC for the 11^th year. And for me being a Jersey boy, even though my family travels to New York to see me, a lot of my family makes an effort to see me at NJPAC. And it’s such a gorgeous place. A lot of people overlook it, because of the reputation of Newark. Even when I tell people in New York that I’ll be at NJPAC, they’re like, “Newark?” But I say it’s a really nice theater and the location is great. It’s only a half-hour drive from midtown New York. It’s another asset for people to see Ailey.

CV: Is it possible overestimate the exposure that is dance getting from TV shows like Dancing With The Stars and So You Think You Can Dance these days?

GS: Before, it was only a couple of shows. You could see dance only on Fame or something like that. Now, it’s something that has become a part of American culture. In Europe, they have had dance shows for years. It seems as thought American culture has finally caught up to another art form.

Finding dance can actually be entertaining. It shows dancers in another light. Not only are we disciplined, but we’re also athletes. Now, people are getting the inside scoop to the mental state of a dancer — what it means to become a professional dancer. It helps America understand that it’s a competitive world. You need to have a competitive spirit to make it to the top.

CV: How does Ailey relate to popular culture in modern dance?

GS: Our repertoire lends itself to that. In our repertoire, we have a piece called “Home” by Rennie Harris, who is a hip-hop coordinator. Alvin Ailey has always deal with issues and situations of the time. Being cultural ambassadors to the world — as we’re coined — it only behooves the company to keep abreast with what’s going on. You’ll get the classical aspects of dance — Paul Taylor or Alvin Ailey himself or Martha Graham — but you’ll also get something that’s fresh and new, dealing with issues of today, dealing with choreographers who are young with great ideas

I often marvel at the never ending flow of the seasons, how fall gives way to winter….or a winter like period followed by a mild couple of days then back to winter again, then the first whispers of spring emerge which turn into the heat of deep summer, then back to spring for a few hours, oh wait, it’s winter again?

It felt that way, didn’t it?

Well, the sun’ll come out tomorrow….or the next day….hopefully, and we can all look ahead to warmer days and a bounty of summer theater experiences to enjoy. But the economy is still sputtering and the cost of gas is through the roof.

Fear not, my fellow New Jerseyans, we live in a state where no matter where you live theatrical fun is just a short drive away. How do we get there, you ask? Well, how ‘bout we take the road in NJ most associated with summer, the Garden State Parkway.

Stretched like a grassy, piney, 172.4 mile ribbon down the back bone of our state, the GSP is the gateway to our state’s theatrical treasures. So mount your E-Z Pass, plug in your GPS, set your coordinates and let’s take a drive down NJ’s venerable highway.

Now, I know I won’t be able to get through this blog without the obligatory, “New Jersey?…What Exit?” line but lets use that to our advantage, shall we? Because we all know
our exit and we all answer the joke quite proudly.

I share mine with our first stop:

Exit 142A, then westward takes you to the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey’s Outdoor Stage at The Greek Theatre, an open-air natural amphitheatre located on the College of
Saint Elizabeth campus in Morris Township. You are guaranteed a ribald time as STNJ transports you back to the days of the Bard where if you’re not careful you could end up on stage and part of the action. A picnic atmosphere is encouraged as many patrons use the opportunity to stage elaborate feasts before the show. Due to its proximity to a local
airport, the action on stage is often paused to let the small aircraft pass. When you go, don’t be surprised to see the cast use the interlude to dance, sing or curse “The Gods!!, The Gods!! as the planes make their approach. Family-friendly performances are chosen and this season is no exception, Comedy of Errors the zany tale of identical twins and mistaken identities, plays June 20 – July 29.

Exit 130 takes us to Edison’s Plays in the Park, currently celebrating their 50 anniversary. Grab the family and your most comfortable lawn chairs and sit back for Broadway’s best. The doors open at 5:30 and the show starts at 8:30 so that gives you plenty of time to get there from the Suburban Diner on Route 1 (the diner to see and be seen before the show) or to enjoy a picnic dinner on the spacious lawn with 1,500 of your favorite friends. Known for its history of grooming talent for the big leagues you may witness a star in the making. The season opens with My Fair Lady, then Damn Yankees (for the baseball fans) and rounds out with a bit of Summer Lovin’ with Grease. See you at the Park!

Exit 105 gets us “Down the Shore” and to a venue a stone’s throw from the beach, NJ Rep. Residing in the Lumia Theatre on Broadway in Long Branch, NJ Rep is known for its
spectacular ensemble theater presenting challenging work from some of the world’s great new playwrights. Couple a great meal at one of the many eateries on the Pier Village boardwalk with a performance at NJ Rep and you are set for a perfect summer’s evening or afternoon. The World Premiere of American Stare runs June 14 – July 22. Come and discover something new.

Exit 63, ahh, Exit 63, so many memories….Long Beach Island or “LBI” to the rest of us, is the home to Surflight Theatre. Presenting a year’s worth of productions in the span of a summer and beyond, vacationers are assured a fantastic time at the theatre’s seemingly endless variety of musicals, concerts and plays. Rainy summer day? No worries! Surflight Theatre offers a wonderful selection of children’s programming to keep the kids occupied until the sun returns.  Steamy summer day? You’re in luck, adjacent to the theater is the famous Show Place Ice Cream Parlor. Stop by for ice cream and be serenaded by the staff or take up a tune yourself!

Exit 0 could seem like the end of the world. Fortunately for us, “Exit Zero” takes us to Cape May where nestled among B&Bs and stately Victorians live Cape May Stage and The East Lynne Theater Company. Cape May Stage offers a mix of new and lesser known works and a series of Monday night concerts featuring some of Broadway’s biggest stars. The Broadway Series for 2012 presents RENT’s Anthony Rapp, The Producers, Lee Roy Reems and Grey Garden’s Christina Ebersole and many others. Rub elbows with the performers after show with a drink at the Washington Inn, you don’t know who you might bump into!

The East Lynne Theater Company celebrates “The American Spirit Onstage”, a mission that perfectly fits this quintessential American town.  Their season opens with Ruth Draper’s Company of Characters. Draper was the original “monologist” inspiring modern American performers such as Lily Tomlin, Mike Nichols and Whoopi Goldberg. East Lynne has the distinction of being only the second theatre company ever given permission to produce this show! Later in the season East Lynne offers a treat for Edgar Allen Poe fans
with The Poe Mysteries. Six actors take on 40+ parts in a tour de force performance. A feat not to be missed! Opening nights feature a cast party after the show at Pier House and the
Washington Inn. Zero never sounded so full.

So, those are a few of my stops New Jersey. “What Exit” are you taking this summer?

Since I began writing blog posts for Culture Vultures, I’ve had the pleasure of talking with a wide variety of talented and fascinating people. With some interviews, my prior knowledge of the person – either from personal interest or by reputation – gave me a sense of what we’d talk about. With others, the project or program the person was involved in provided a framework for the conversation content.

But Margaret Cho seems larger-than-life to me. She plays State Theatre this Sunday, and the idea of a conversation with Cho both excited me and made me a little nervous.

I’m familiar with her work as a stand-up comic. I know the character she portrays in the TV show, “Drop Dead Diva”. And I learned about Cho’s life and what she’s involved in by from reading her website and following her blog.

She also did a hilarious, tongue-firmly-in-cheek turn as Kim Jong-il last season on 30 Rock.

But I had no idea what’s behind her public face.

On stage, she is intense, fearless and exceptionally funny, and I assumed that these polished performances require a lot of prep. I asked if she approaches her shows and tours with a theme in mind. “I just write different things,” she told me.

Cho’s father, who is an author of novels, memoirs, joke books, and also an archivist, genealogist and historian, played a huge part in Cho’s destiny. “He showed me how to use a typewriter. And we have similar prose styles,” she explained. “My father taught me to be writer.”

From early on, hilarious stories about her mother made their way into Cho’s shows. I wondered, perhaps from a maternal vantage point, whether her mother minds being a prominent subject. “No, she loves it. She thinks it’s really funny,” Cho told me. “She often has suggestions for things I can use.”

I asked Cho what makes her laugh. “I like comedy that is really smart and positive and shows strength,” she explained. “I definitely have a more dark sense of humor, but I love it when the underdog prevails.”

And the comedians that Cho admires most are female. “My favorite comics are women – Kathy Griffin, Sarah Silverman, Joan Rivers. Those are the ones I pick out.”

“Joan Rivers really built the idea of a woman being able to be very honest and relentless and funny. She was the architect.”

I have watched Cho often enough to believe she has few boundaries. I asked if there is anything she won’t talk about on stage. “No,” she said. “No taboos. The main thing is to have sensitivity and compassion for people and be nice. I don’t feel like I’m caustic. I’m just challenging ideas.”

If you follow Cho’s stand-up career, you may notice that her focus has changed somewhat. She once drew mostly on her personal experiences. Now Cho routinely brings to light more global issues, and those are often things that others choose not to talk about publicly. I asked her what brought about the shift. “I think it’s just growing up,” she told me, “and starting to think more about the larger world.” And have her fans come along for the ride? “People have been very supportive of everything I do,” she said. “Very supportive.”

Lately, Cho has been on a passionate quest to raise awareness about women and body image. On stage and in her blog, Cho regularly discusses the inappropriate way that people casually discuss women’s bodies. “People talk – especially online – about women’s bodies in a terribly mean way,” she said. “I wrote a long thing on my blog on what the press said about Adele,” she told me, “I want to motivate people to shame that kind of behavior.” Editor’s note: salty language–and incredibly passionate arguments on body image– in the above link. Click at your discretion!

As a person who struggled as a teenager to find a comfort zone, Cho has, according to her online bio, become somewhat of a “Patron Saint” for the disenfranchised.

“I have learned to just enjoy myself and who I am, and I am trying to give young women the power to protect themselves from these pervasive negative ideas and find their own sense of beauty.”

Cho’s professional life has taken her in many creative directions. Cho starred in and was Executive Producer for sitcom All-American Girl in the mid-90s, staged a one-woman Off-Broadway show, I’m The One That I Want, which was later made into a book and feature film, hosted the True Colors Tour to benefit the Human Rights Campaign with artists Cyndi Lauper, Debbie Harry and others, did a VH1 series, The Cho Show, showed her stuff on Season 11 of Dancing with the Stars, and co-stars on the Lifetime show Drop Dead Diva, which returns with Season 4 this June.

Cho has also received two Comedy Album Grammy nominations, most recently for the 2010 record, Cho Dependent, a collection of music featuring collaborations with Fiona Apple, Tegan & Sarah, Andrew Bird, Grant Lee Phillips and more, released on Cho’s own label, Clownery Records. The songs are funny, but the record also showcases Cho’s talent for singing and playing guitar, banjo and dulcimer. A follow-up, also chock-full of duets, is in the works. “The hardest part of making the record is deciding what is going on it,” Cho says. “There is so much material.”

I asked Margaret if there is anything she hasn’t done that she wants to try.

“Stand-up will always be my job,” she explained. “But music is a lot of fun,” she said, “and I would like to do more acting in a substantial way, a different way.”

“In general, I would like to do more of what I’m doing now.”

The success of that video led Jake to introduce the ukelele to audiences around the world.  The ukelele master has three performances in New Jersey in April.

April 14 — New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark (two performances: shows at 6pm and 8:30pm)
April 15 — Dennis Flyer Theater in Blackwood (show at 7:30pm)

Culture Vultures had the opportunity to speak with Jake via phone in-between shows.

CULTURE VULTURES: You’ve got a couple of dates in New Jersey this month.
JAKE: I’m looking forward to them.  I know some people there because I’ve been to New Jersey a couple of times and they’re like, “have you ever had the rolled pork?”

The what?
Maybe they said pork roll.

Oh, yeah, pork roll… Pork roll and cheese is like our official diet around here.  Rolled pork sounds like something you’ve hit with a car!
I haven’t had it yet and my friends say if you haven’t had it than you haven’t been to Jersey.  So I have to try it next time I go.

Well, I know you’re a YouTube star, but are you hooked on the site as well?
Oh definitely! When my video of “When My Guitar Gently Weeps” went viral on YouTube, it was around the time the website had just started so I wasn’t too familiar with the site.  But once I got to know it, I became a huge fan as well.  It’s amazing what is there.  I can spend hours just looking up other artists and checking out other players.  I can’t tell you how many wonderful musicians I’ve discovered through YouTube that I would not have been able to hear of through any other means.

It’s been inspirational; it’s been fantastic; and it really single-handedly changed my life.  We wouldn’t be speaking on the phone if it weren’t for YouTube.

Isn’t it amazing to think that your video has had over 10 million views? Does that just blow your mind?
It does.  It really blows my mind.  I’m so thankful and grateful to all those people who have seen the video and who emailed it to their friends.  Because of them I get to tour all over the world and get to show my passion to people.  It’s amazing and it’s just been a dream come true.  I tell people when I was a kid growing up in Hawaii there was no such thing as a touring solo ukelele player.  So, this is very exciting.  It’s all new to me and I’m enjoying every moment.

It’s one thing if you have a million views but it really depends on who it is.  This video went viral within the music industry — music producers, songwriters, music promoters, other musicians.  I got introduced to people like Jimmy Buffet, Bette Midler, Yo Yo Ma, and Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, all through YouTube.  And I’m so thrilled that it was a George Harrison song because George Harrison is one of my heroes.  He loved the ukelele.

When you cover a song, how does the song change for you? I saw a video of you covering “Time After Time” and you could almost hear the vocals from the way you play that tune.
Oh, thank you very much.  Gosh, I don’t know.  I don’t even know how I come up with the arrangements for the songs.  A lot of times, the songs that I cover are tunes that are very dear to me.  When you cover the song of another artist, it’s like wearing your favorite basketball player’s jersey.  It’s just a celebration and an announcement of your love and appreciation for this incredible athlete or artist or human being.

Covering a song like “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” or Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” or Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time” is really just an expression of my appreciation for their music;  much more so that just capturing the technical side of things like the chords and the notes.  To me, the greater picture is capturing the emotion behind the piece, connecting with the emotional bond that you have with the song.

When I hear a song like Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah”, it just tugs at my heart.  When I was a kid listening to that song — whether it was the Leonard Cohen original version or Jeff Buckley’s — I would put that song on and just close my eyes, and it was like the whole world stopped.

So, when I’m covering a song and I’m up there smiling or just being in the moment, it’s because I honestly love that tune.  And just being able to play it on an instrument and express it to an audience is really something not to take for granted.  I really appreciate it.  I think I love it just as much if not more playing it than people probably do listening to it!

You’re known as such a ukelele virtuoso.  How does it feel to be compared to artists like Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix?
It’s such an honor.  For me, Jimi’s the man! He was everyone’s hero if you played a string instrument or guitar.  I just don’t know what to say to comments like that because it’s a huge honor for me, but sometimes I think I’m kind of glad Jimi hasn’t heard those comments yet!

Well, those comparisons may seem awkward to you, but before you came along I don’t recall seeing anybody use expressions like “shredding on a uke”.  I think that’s a different level you may have played a major role in taking the instrument.
I tell people the story that when I was a kid I started out playing traditional Hawaiian music in Hawaii.  But somewhere down the line I watched some rock concerts.  I remember watching a Van Halen concert with the guys running all over the stage having so much fun.  They were yelling and screaming and the energy was so intense!  As a kid I remember thinking to myself, “That’s what a ukelele concert should be like!”  It should have that kind of energy — people in the audience yelling and screaming.  That’s what I always envisioned, but how do you get there? To do that, I realized you have to put just as much energy into the music that you want to come out of it.  So, when I get up on stage, it’s almost like game time for a sport.  It’s like, “Alright, let’s do it!” All that time you spent in your bedroom practicing and rehearsing… it’s like throw all that out the window! Get up on stage and just play your heart out! And that’s what I enjoy doing.  It’s such a thrill and so exciting to run out on stage and just launch into a song… to connect with an audience and just have fun.

The cool thing about the ukelele is that there are no egos when playing this instrument.  It’s the ukelele and it’s fun.  Most people don’t even see it as a real instrument, which is something I embrace.  I love the fact that people aren’t intimidated by the ukelele.  I feel that music should be for everyone — no one should feel that they can’t play an instrument.  I know it can be quite intimidating for people to pick up the violin or the piano or the cello, but for some reason people aren’t afraid to play a few chords on the ukelele.  My grandmother is 80 years old and never played an instrument before, but her girlfriends and her were like, “let’s take this ukelele class.”  So they all went together and in a couple of weeks they’re playing dozens of songs and they love it! It really is a beautiful vehicle to express yourself or just to use as therapy.

Do you ever wonder if you didn’t grow up in Hawaii where ukelele is so popular if you would have been drawn to the instrument?
To be honest, if I didn’t grow up in Hawaii I don’t know if I’d be playing the ukelele today.  My mom played the ukelele, but had we been a family from the States I don’t know if I would have taken it up.

On a national level, there are many mainstream musicians playing the ukelele these days.  What does it feel like for you when you hear rock musicians like Eddie Vedder play the uke?
I love it. I mean that Eddie Vedder record is one of my favorite albums.  Just being able to hear this instrument that I’ve known my whole life and that I love… to hear it with that iconic voice, I mean Eddie Vedder! He’s not holding back on the vocals and he’s just wailing on the ukelele! It’s just magical for me. It’s like two things that you love — you’re a big fan of Pearl Jam and love Eddie Vedder’s voice and you love the ukelele… you put the two together and it’s like oh my goodness!

How does it feel to be so associated with the ukelele and see the resurgence in the instrument with more and more stores selling the instrument and mainstream artists playing them? You’re a big part of the resurgence.
It’s an honor.  I don’t claim any credit for anything.  I really feel that the ukelele has truly been growing in popularity because of things like the Internet and YouTube and famous artists from other genres picking it up, playing it, and making it cool.  When Eddie Vedder plays ukelele it becomes cool!  Train, with “Hey, Soul Sister” introduced the instrument to a completely new audience.  Many people didn’t even realize they were listening to a ukelele until much later and that song went straight up to number one.  It was the number one song in the country for a number of weeks.  I think it was the first time in history that a number one pop song on the radio had ukelele used in that way.

Used not as a novelty, but as the main instrument?
Exactly! I appreciated that so much.  When I first heard that song I jumped out of my seat I was so excited!

Is there anything like a ukelele jam at the end of the show?
Well, a lot of people bring their ukeleles to the show and after the concert I usually go out to the lobby for a meet and greet.  I’ll sign CDs and ukeleles and other things.  A lot of times the lines are quite long.  Sometimes we’re signing for almost two hours! But I like doing that because everyone has their ukeleles and they’ll have these jam sessions while they’re in line or are waiting.  So, we have live music playing in the lobby while I’m signing, which is very cool.

Final question, your bio lists two rather interesting people as major influences in your career and these aren’t the names I normally come across.  You list Bruce Lee and Bill Cosby as influences.  Can you tell me how those two helped form the artist you are today?
Well with Bruce Lee it was basically his whole philosophy towards martial arts.  I was a huge fan growing up.  His whole thing was about embracing all different styles of martial arts.  He was preaching mixed martial arts thirty years ago, maybe even before then.  I remember as a kid just realizing that all these different forms of martial arts are all like different genres of music.  I remember thinking that if Bruce Lee played the ukelele what would his approach be? That’s kind of what started this whole thing for me.  I just realized its all music.  He believes martial arts is just a form of human expression and I believe music is just a form of human expression.  It’s all about expressing yourself honestly and that’s basically the foundation of my whole approach to playing the ukelele.

And Bill Cosby was a huge influence because he has an amazing ability to connect with an audience.  When he’s on stage and he’s talking or even on the Cosby Show you get the sense that he’s just being who he is.  He’s not trying to be anyone else, he’s expressing himself honestly.  One of the most incredible stand-up comedy performances was Bill Cosby doing that HBO special called “Bill Cosby: Himself”.  When he’s up there telling stories, it’s just so inspiring to me.  I thought that when I get up on stage that’s what I want to do.  I just want to be myself, have fun, not worry about this or that or be something that I’m not, but just get up on stage and try to connect with an audience.  Bill Cosby was a huge influence in that way.

Christopher Benincasa speaks with Eran Egozy and Gary Marcus at The Music, Mind & Invention Workshop at The College of New Jersey.  Egozy is co-founder of Harmonix Music Systems, and one of the creators of the phenomenally popular games Guitar Hero and Rock Band.  Gary Marcus is Professor of Psychology and Director of the NYU Center for Language & Music, and he recently wrote the book Guitar Zero: The New Musician and The Science of Learning.

He knew the man lives in 1954. He knew he works as a house painter.

“I know he’s married because he talks about his wife in the play,” Sellars says. “And you can sort of draw the conclusion that he lives in New York, or he wouldn’t have been picked for jury duty there.”

The role didn’t even come with a name. He’s simply called “Juror No. 6.”

But that’s part of the challenge — and thrill — of acting in Twelve Angry Men. Sellars is one of the stars in the George Street Playhouse’s new production of the classic Reginald Rose play, about a jury of strangers locked in a room to decide whether a teenage boy charged with murder should live or die.

The piece itself is almost 60 years old. Rose wrote it as a television script in 1954 and later adapted it into a play. It was turned into an Oscar-nominated film in 1957. And it’s been made into TV movies and performed on stage countless times since. But it’s the kind of play that audiences keep coming back to, if only to see how different actors interpret it.

“It’s a very malleable piece of theater,” Sellars says. “You can do pretty much anything with it.”

For Sellars, Juror No. 6 is another entry on a long, varied resume that includes TV guest spots on everything from Law & Order to The Sopranos to Chapelle’s Show, roles in films like Groundhog Day and The Savages, and a run playing Officer Krupke in West Side Story on Broadway. This is also his third George Street Playhouse production, having already starred in The Pillowman and The Subject Was Roses at the vaunted New Brunswick theater.

Culture Vultures’ Brent Johnson spoke with Sellars about the mystery of his newest role, how he lied to land a part on ER, and how he moonlights as the lead singer of an alt-rock band named Eelwax Jesus.

Culture Vultures: When you have a role where there character doesn’t have a name and not much of a background, is that liberating as an actor? Or is it terrifying?

Lee Sellars: I’ve never had a character with no name. In TV and film, yeah, all the time. But in a play, no. So it was a little weird. Then you sort of make up a name and you make up a background that you think matches. The whole play is about listening anyway. It’s about these 12 guys
that don’t know each other and get put in the same room, and they have to make some pretty serious decisions. You just sort of see how each
one of them reacts to the stimuli around them. I just took Juror No. 6 and did a lot of listening and sort of drew my conclusions from that.

But it is different. Ordinarily, you get a part and it has a name and you know a lot more about it. But I think Reginald Rose wrote it this way because of his jury experience. And the fact is: You don’t know anything about your fellow 11 jurors. I think he wrote those characters so they wouldn’t know anything, so we would all discover it on our own.

CV: You’ve said you made up a name for the character in your head?

LS: Ordinarily, I’d make up a name. This time, the props people gave the [prison] guard a list of fictitious names for him to just have a prop to check names off of when we came in. And I liked mine so I stuck with it. [laughs]

It was like “D.S. Atkins.” So I came up with “Daniel Stewart Atkins.” I thought it was kismet or something. I could have made up another name, but when I looked at that prop, it was like the first or second day or rehearsal, and I was like, “Okay. That’s my name. I like it.”

CV: You’ve played a judge on Law & Order — one of the many television courtroom dramas. And we live in a world where court cases are often on TV. Does that make this play seem a bit dated or boring? Or is it even more relevant now because of it?

LS: I think more relevant. A little bit is kind of hard to relate to, because times change. The play was written over 50 years ago. But I find it’s more relevant because of the subject matter and because it is about things other than whether this kid is guilty or not. It’s about the way we look at people that aren’t like us. There are
characters in the play assume this young man is guilty simply because he is not white.

There’s one guy — Juror No. 10 — who goes through a huge rant about how they’re not like us. And I think you could see that just as prevalent today as in the 1950s, no matter what minority it’s aimed at. Prejudice and racism is something that as long as human beings exist we’ll probably have to deal with.

One of the things I think the play tries to do is draw the difference between prejudice and racism. To be quite honest with you, I’m not even sure if I’ve discovered what I find the difference to be. The fact that 12 strangers get together and pronounce judgment on somebody they don’t even know, you would hope these people would try to keep their opinions as unbiased as possible. But you take one of the more famous trials in the last 20 years — the O.J. trial — and the racial ramifications of that trial were enormous, inside and outside the jury room.

And some people in that room [in our play] are prejudiced [against the defendant] because they make it personal. There’s another juror who likens this young man to his son, who he hasn’t seen in two years because he ran away. You find he’s trying to punish his son by punishing this young man who he doesn’t even know. Every judge
admonishes a jury before they go into a room that you have to deliberate on the facts and the facts only. But you find out that’s almost impossible for human beings to do. It’s very hard for humans to look at things just black and white.

CV: If this case were real and you were actually a juror on it, do you know how you’d vote?

LS: Wow. I think that I do. I think I would vote the same way that I do in the play.

CV: That’s one of the great things about this play. As it’s going on, even the audience wonders: How would I vote?

LS: Absolutely. I think it’s hard for people to listen to this play and not try to figure out if he really did it or not. I defy you to watch this play or watch that film and not come up with your own opinion as to whether this kid did it or not. It’s a classic piece of writing.

CV: Speaking of the movie, the film itself is iconic. Did you avoid watching it because of that?

LS: Ordinarily, I would avoid that. I remember, I did Of Mice And Men a few years back, and I decided not to watch the movie. I was on Broadway in West Side Story for a couple of years, and I decided not to watch the movie again because I knew my Krupke was going to be so different from the one in the film, I didn’t want to be influenced by it in any way.

But this one, I had just seen it. I didn’t know anything about the play. And I had just seen [the movie] two or three years ago, just on a whim. I rented it and watched it. So it was still kind of fresh in my mind. And I said, “The heck with it.” So I watched it again. And I’m glad I did this, because I really found that it was very helpful
to watch it but also to realize the play is really much different. Sidney Lumet [the director of the 1957 film version] made a wonderful movie. But you’re able to do things on film that you can’t do on stage. You can do close-up shots, you can take your time. It was very informative to watch Edward Binns play Juror No. 6 [in the movie] —
the way he approached it, and the way the other characters approached it.

But in the end, [the play] is a different version of it. When you get on stage and start doing it — as with any play — it’s a family up there. You’re playing with them. I’m incredibly happy. There are some incredibly good actors on that stage.

CV: Do you think some people might not realize there’s great theater at places like the George Street Playhouse, an hour away from Broadway?

LS: I would say that’s very true. I would say people tend to stick with what they know. And it’s hard to go out of those boundaries. I do think it’s unfortunate, but I also see it picking up. I see David Saint [the theater’s artistic director and the director of Twelve Angry Men] and the people at George Street doing everything they can
to draw a new audience to the theater. It’s really a lovely theater. I was just amazed at how many people it will seat, and it’s still so intimate. And there’s a fantastic staff. It looks good, it sounds good, it’s a professional theater.

You have to get out there. I know people complain about traveling on New Jersey transit, but it doesn’t take long at all. And it’s incredibly reasonably priced. It’s just a fun place to be around.

CV: A question about your resume: You guested on both ER AND Chicago Hope — the two famed medical dramas of the 1990s?

LS: I did. ER was a recurring role as a helicopter EMT. I lied to them and told them I had ridden in a helicopter before. So they hired me.

My first day I was on the set, I met George Clooney before he was famous. Anthony Edwards was more well-known before George Clooney at the time. I got into the helicopter, and this guy looks at me. He’s the pilot, and he’s gonna land on the top of the building, and I jump out and yell some medical mumbo jumbo. We get up in the air, and he says, “You better strap yourself in.” What he had been told is [the director] wanted this really exciting loop around the Sears Tower in Chicago. He’s like perpendicular to the ground, man, going around the Sears Tower. And there’s no doors on the thing. I’m literally looking down at the lights of Chicago, and the only thing holding me into that helicopter was a seatbelt. I thought I was going to die. And I was like, “Never, ever lie about anything ever again.”

CV: And you sing in a band called Eelwax Jesus?

LS: My partner in crime is a man named Max Baker. He and I have been friends for something like 20 years now. He and I started improving a bit when we were doing plays. We were sort of doing our Peter Cook-Dudley Moore thing, and we started adding music to it. People really liked it, so we kept doing it.

We’ve got three CDs available on iTunes and all that stuff. It’s called Eelwax Jesus, even though it has absolutely nothing to do with Jesus. It’s just a random name. I don’t know where we came up with it. Some bout of silliness. Probably too much scotch was involved.

Somebody called us art-rock one time. They said we kind of remind them of The Flaming Lips. I don’t know. We just have fun.

CV: The song playing when you click on the band’s website — “Is This Another Love Song?” — sounds like David Bowie fronting a 1980s college-rock band.

LS: It’s off of a CD called Origami Monkeys. [laughs] We have a blast.

“Twelve Angry Men” plays through April 8.

But as the 16-year-old Princeton resident stepped onto a theater stage at The College Of New Jersey on Wednesday morning, you might have mistaken her for a thespian. She looked at the crowd, slipped into character and began reciting lines — contorting her face and wringing her hands, just like an actor would.

Only, Tsuo wasn’t in a play. She was reciting poetry.

And doing it well. Tsuo, a junior at The Lawrenceville School, was named the 2012 New Jersey champion of Poetry Out Loud, a contest in which students across the country perform poems by noted authors.

“I wasn’t expecting it,” Tsuo said of her victory. “Everyone was so good. I’m still kind of in disbelief.”

You can’t blame her. She beat out more than 19,000 students from 108 schools across New Jersey in the seventh annual program, sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation.

Think of it like a spelling bee — only the words come from Edgar Allen Poe and William Blake, not from Webster’s Dictionary.

Students choose poems from the hundreds of selections on the Poetry Out Loud website. First, they compete in their classrooms, then among the whole school, then at regionals. Yesterday, eight students — two young men, six young women — performed at Kendall Hall at the Ewing college in the New Jersey finals.

Tsuo’s performance earned her a trip to the national Poetry Out Loud finals in Washington, D.C., from May 13-15. The winner receives a $20,000 scholarship.

Tsuo fell into the program two years ago. The Lawrenceville School — a private school in Mercer County — required that all sophomores compete in Poetry Out Loud.

“Some people in class were like, ‘What is this?’” Tsuo recalls. “But it was already something I loved to do. I love to get up on stage and perform. And I love poetry. I couldn’t stop doing it.”

She had no acting experience, but she fell in love with public speaking at an early age. Tsuo said reciting poetry was a natural extension.

Memorizing the poems, she says, is the easy part. That only takes a day or two. She spends more time interpreting and reiterating the pieces.

“First, I memorize,” Tsuo said. “Then, I dig deeper.”

No, she doesn’t worry about forgetting lines when she moves to the front of the stage, staring out into the crowd.

“When I’m in the zone, it just flows,” she said. “I’m thinking about the interpretation, my hand movements. Is there an audience member I want to connect with?”

Last year, Tsuo finished second to Clarissa Lotson of West Orange. This year, the two switched places — Tsuo the winner, Lotson the runner-up.

Tsuo took the title by showing incredible command of three very different poems yesterday: “The Meaning Of The Shovel” by Martin Espada, about a latrine digger in Nicaragua; “Pastoral Dialogue” by Anne Killigrew, a 17th century aristocrat; and “Slant” by Suji Kwock Kim, about growing up as a Korean-American.

But Tsuo wasn’t the only New Jersey finalist to impress. Sarah Finnan of Cinnaminson showed elegance. Brianne Barker of Dumont sparked with energy. Daisha Davis of North 13th Street Tech in Newark flashed charm. Jake Ohring of High Tech High School had a flare for the dramatic. Michael Chang of The Hun School used careful intonation. Allison Beres of Vineland displayed poise. Runner-up Lotson shone like a pro, emphasizing words in unexpected ways.

One of the guest speakers was Frankie Faison — who was nominated for a Tony in 1987 for August Wilson’s Fences, played the role of psychiatric-ward orderly Barney the 1991 film Silence Of The Lambs, and portrayed Baltimore City Police Commissioner Ervin Burrell on HBO’s acclaimed TV drama The Wire. After all the performers had finished, Faison walked on stage in front of them and shook his head in amazement.

“I stand in awe of the talent on the stage here today,” he said.

Faison noted that he, too, competed in poetry competitions as a youth — helping lead to his acting career. And more than half of the finalists yesterday are actors, as well.

Lotson, a senior at West Orange High School, said she entered the program thinking reciting poetry wouldn’t be much different than reciting lines with her drama troupe.

“But it turned out to be different,” she explained. “This, the focus is more on the poet. Your own interpretation goes into it, but you have to stay true to the poet. You have to be as accurate as possible.”

Lotson is hoping for an odd double-career: environmental lawyer and actress.

“I could work cases at night and act during the day,” she said, grinning. “Why can’t I do both?”

As for Tsuo? She doesn’t know what career she want to pursue. But she knows she wants to keep speaking publicly — and she knows that’s a plus for any profession.

“Public speaking helps with everything,” she said with a smile.

11 New Jersey dance companies, 2 days, 1 unique experience and, as a guide for the lover of dance both new and seasoned–we present:

Top 5 Reasons to See Jersey Moves! Festival of Dance

1. There’s something for everyone. The festival includes classical ballet, modern, tap, classical Indian Bharata Natyam, traditional West African, and Spanish flamenco.  Whether you are an avid dance fan or a first-time audience member, you will find dance that moves and intrigues you.
2. You WILL understand it (because you don’t have to…) Friends often tell me that they are afraid to attend dance concerts because they won’t “get it”.  I am tired of this excuse.  Sit back, watch, and enjoy.  It is what it is.  I don’t look at a painting and worry if I understand the shade of red that is used.
3. The Victoria Theatre is a wonderful venue to watch dance. The 514-seat Victoria Theatre, the smaller of the two proscenium theaters at NJPAC, is a jewel.  There is not a bad seat in the house, and dance fits well in this more intimate setting.
4. Dancers are eye candy. The professional dancers in these companies dance brilliantly with strong technique, beautiful expression, and impressive athleticism.  I once read a study that dancers are more attractive because of their symmetry.  Well, the 50 + dancers are something to see.
5. This festival is a unique opportunity to see the best of New Jersey dance. This combination of pieces performed by these companies may never be duplicated in another performance.  The companies represent the best of the New Jersey dance community.

Saturday evening’s performance includes works by Alborada Spanish Dance Theatre (flamenco), Carolyn Dorfman Dance Company (modern), Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company (modern), New Jersey Ballet (classical ballet), and Umoja Dance Companies (West African).  The evening will include live music and choreography by George Balanchine.

Sunday afternoon’s performance includes works by American Repertory Ballet (classical ballet), Claire Porter (modern), Freespace Dance (modern), New Jersey Tap Ensemble (rhythm tap), Ramya Ramnarayan (classical Indian dance), and Randy James Dance Works (modern).

Jersey Moves! Festival of Dance, Saturday, March 24, 7:30 pm & Sunday, March 25, 3:00 pm.  Tickets available at www.njpac.org
For more information, check out some other recent articles from the New York  Times and on the Geraldine R. Dodge website. We hope to see you there!