Summer is so glorious. Especially at the Jersey Shore.
I always tell people how much I enjoy living in a place where people save their money all year to vacation. I think locals, including me sometimes, forget how blessed we are to live in such an amazing place.
Unlike many shore communities, we are doubly blessed to have an entertainment, dining and gambling mecca — Atlantic City — attached to us.
Where else in a 10-day span can you go check out one of the biggest fishing tournaments in the world at Golden Nugget, eat gumbo and listen to amazing blues music with the Somers Point bay as the backdrop, watch planes scream, dip and dive over the Atlantic City ocean, witness the opening of two world-class restaurants by one of the greatest restaurateurs of all time — Stephen Starr — at Ocean Casino Resort, cut the ribbon on an expanded beach bar tied to the late, great Jimmy Buffett at Resorts Casino Hotel, and be able to see Rock and Roll Hall of Fame caliber headliners like Daryl Hall and Chicago?
Yes, we are privileged.
Tucked between all of those big events are smaller — albeit just as fun — events that are linked to the community and also do some good.
Two of those are coming up in the next two weeks with the common denominator of Gary Hill and John Schultz, the community leaders and creators of The Schultz-Hill Foundation and the Metropolitan Business & Citizens Association (MBCA Foundation) that respectively fund arts programs and help beautify Atlantic City while providing tens of thousands of dollars in scholarships to college-bound students.
The two events — The Disco Ball at Resorts Casino Hotel on Friday, Aug. 1, and the Sunset Soiree Summer Mixer at Hard Rock Hotel Casino & Atlantic City on Thursday, Aug. 7 — consistently offer amazing summer nights out year after year while also making you feel good about yourself supporting the nonprofit entities.
Here’s all you need to know about both of them.
The Disco Ball
As the name implies, you better get your dancing shoes out for what may be one of the most fun Schultz-Hill benefits of all time.
If you like disco — and who doesn’t on some level? — then you will love The Disco Ball as the night will present two headliners on the legendary Superstar Theater stage at Resorts 8:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 1.
First up is Crystal Stark, a tremendously talented singer who made her mark on “American Idol” by beating out tens of thousands of competitors to land in the Top 44 of the huge reality series. Her time on the show has led to album releases, tours around the globe with fellow “American Idol” finalist Katharine McPhee and a showcase of her original music, as well as the tribute side of her, which is what we will see in Atlantic City.
Stark will pay tribute to Donna Summer and Whitney Houston at The Disco Ball, offering a perfect one-two billing with headliners the New York Bee Gees, which will serve as her backing band and have played with rock ’n’ roll legends like Meat Loaf, The Alan Parsons Project, Queen, Enrique Iglesias and others.
“It is always a pleasure to work with the New York Bee Gees,” Stark said. “When I do my Donna Summer with them, it’s taken to another level. From the first time we worked together, it has been a match made in heaven.”
Stark, an Arizona native who studied music, defied the odds on Season 5 of “American Idol,” and although she didn’t make it to the Top 10, she wouldn’t do much differently if she had to do it all over again.
“It was so stressful,” Stark said. “This was the time when ‘American Idol’ was still really big. It was performance boot camp there. I did well on staying out of the drama and staying out of the fray because I was so worried about being portrayed poorly on TV in some way. But at the same time, drama sells. So, if I got into a little drama, I would have gotten more screen time and made it a little further. So, it’s a double-edged sword. You see it on TV, and it looks like it’s all glitz and glamour, but it’s not.”
“American Idol” did open doors for Stark, leading to her releasing an album of original music rooted in jazz and also joining McPhee on a world tour as a backing singer. It also continues to open doors for her, just like the ones that will lead her to Atlantic City on Aug. 1.
“It’s going to be all disco all the time for the Disco Ball,” Stark said. “I am going to do Donna Summer hits, as well as Gloria Gaynor and some ABBA … as well as some surprises together. It’s definitely a huge dose of disco.”
The headliners — the New York Bee Gees — will undoubtedly get you out of your seat. Known as one of the premier Bee Gees tributes in the world, this Long Island-based six-piece ensemble cuts no corners to present the ultimate Bee Gees tribute.
The band members play all of their own instruments — no tracks here — and they all hit the signature high notes that we once pretended to sing along to when we heard them on the radio in our youth.
Expect to hear disco-era hits including “Stayin’ Alive,” “Night Fever,” “To Love Somebody” and “Massachusetts,” along with other Top 40 smashes and a few deeper cuts to please the Bee Gees loyalists.
“This is truly one of the highlights for us, to play in Atlantic City, especially to do it for the Schultz-Hill Foundation,” said Peter Mazzeo, the frontman of the group playing the Barry Gibb role for the last 11 years when the New York Bee Gees formed. “We see what they do for performing arts in the area and are really looking forward to it.”
Emulating the Bee Gees is no easy feat. Ever since the band formed in 1958 with brothers Barry, Robin and Maurice, the music world was never the same. Known for their three-part harmonies and trademark vibrato and falsetto voices, the Bee Gees are one of the pioneers of disco and arguably the greatest disco band of all time, selling more than 120 million records worldwide and earning their entry to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
“Obviously, there are a number of Bee Gees bands, but a lot of these groups use tracks, many use tracks. We use none,” said Mazzeo of why the New York Bee Gees are considered one of the best Bee Gees tribute bands on the planet. “I was very fortunate to have operatic training, and that has never left me, and I have also been blessed to have a three-octave range. But I am constantly working like an athlete to maintain the voice. I am a very technical singer. I love hitting those notes. We come out and we show people right from the first song that we are going to hit those notes and not going to warm our way into it. We get right to it.”
When you see the New York Bee Gees, the most important thing is fun.
“It brings such joy to everybody,” Mazzeo said. “Everyone will know and sing along to these songs. People know what they are coming for, they get dressed up, and they are there to have a great time. Bee Gees music puts everyone in such a great mood.”
If you decide to go, you will not only be entertained, but your tax-deductible ticket will go to help the Schultz-Hill Foundation’s year-round arts and music outreach programs, which bring creative inspiration to students and seniors across the greater Atlantic City region by producing and sponsoring entertainment and arts events associated with everyone from Stockton University to the Bay-Atlantic Symphony, local schools and even adult care centers.
Tickets, available at Ticketmaster.com, are $40 for general admission and $55 for preferred seating. However, the $175 VIP tickets are the way to go and include premier seating and post-show champagne and dessert reception that also includes a meet-and-greet with the performers. The VIP tickets must be obtained at Schultz-Hill.org.
MBCA Sunset Soiree
Even before I became co-executive director of the MBCA Foundation, the one event I always looked forward to is the summer mixer. John and Gary always put together a fantastic summer party full of great food, music, the best silent auction of the year and more in a variable setting, one prettier than the next.
So, I am proud to have my hands in planning these summer soirees along with Gary, John, our board and committee members, as well as our new team member Aimee Schultz, who has helped plan these summer events long before I was involved.
After an enormously successful and gorgeous event last year at the Island Waterpark at Showboat, this year we rotate to The Pavilion at the Hard Rock, a fabulous space that overlooks the ocean, boardwalk and that magnificent Wheel at Steel Pier.
Like years past, this year’s summer mixer — titled the Sunset Soiree — will have amazing music, once again provided by the always impressive and musically superb DJ I Am Young Hitta, aka Kyshawn Wyman, who can bring any type of music for any type of party in any setting without missing a beat … literally.
The food will be extraordinary — think light appetizers and a fantastic charcuterie with breads kindly donated by Formica Freitag Bakery — thanks to Executive Chef Jeff Braun and his always impressive culinary team that consistently goes above and beyond the call of duty.
And yes, the amazing silent auction — often hailed as the best one of the year in the city full of silent auctions — will be super spectacular.
We couldn’t possibly list all of the items, but the generosity of the donors goes from the small business and restaurant owner offering gift certificates and swag to nearly every casino in town offering show tickets, dinner and overnight stay packages and more. If you are a golfer, this is the place where you can pick up foursomes galore for expensive courses, as well as courses that you can’t get on without being a member, namely Galloway National. Shoutout to our golf donation wrangler Dotsie Toscano, who can also swing the clubs pretty well herself.
If you are a sports fan, we have you covered there, too. The Philadelphia 76ers, thanks to local icon Dave Sholler, donated an amazing courtside VIP ticket package with club access and plenty of swag to go with it, including an autographed Tyrese Maxey photo. And we don’t have one, but two Philadelphia Phillies ticket packages with your name on it.
Please be generous, as the silent auction is the main source of revenue for this event, which will raise money to serve our mission of beautifying Atlantic City to make it a better place to live, work and visit, while also helping us give tens of thousands of dollars in scholarship money to students every year at our Spring Scholarship Luncheon.
Speaking of volunteers, Toscano is just one of many members who make our auction committee simply amazing to work with. So, a special thanks to all of them. If you would like to donate items for the summer mixer, please email me at Scronick@comcast.net.
For Sunset Soiree tickets, priced at $55 per person or an 11-ticket package for $550, you can email scronick@comcast.net, or go online at MBCA.Cliqsuite.com.
Scott Cronick is an award-winning journalist who has written about entertainment, food, news and more in South Jersey for nearly three decades. He hosts a daily radio show – “Off The Press with Scott Cronick” – 4 to 6 p.m. weekdays on Newstalk WOND 1400-AM, 92.3-FM, and WONDRadio.com. He can be reached at scronick@comcast.net
.
