Local star power is coming back home to New Jersey with Lauren Hill, Zach Braff, Christine Ebersole, Max Weinberg, and more South Orange/Maplewood natives joining forces for the South Orange Performing Arts Center’s “Small Town, Big Talent” benefit this Saturday.

Maybe it's because of the economy, which has elicited daily comparisons to—and discussions of—the Great Depression/WWII era. Or maybe it was just the retro red bodice dresses that the Puppini Sisters were wearing. Either way, it was easy for me to be swept into the feeling that I was in a 1940s cabaret hall last night.

The view from inside a storage closet at the Pierro Gallery in South Orange. What was I doing in a storage closet at the Pierro Gallery in South Orange? You'll have to click to find out.

In Meadowland Park in South Orange, a lone spot of green keeps the hardy happy.

There may have been empty seats in South Orange Performing Arts Center on Wednesday night. But the ticketholders who belonged in them weren't far away—they were likely dancing in the aisles or up on stage with Grammy award-winning singer Angelique Kidjo, whose performance electrified the room and got everybody on their feet.