Peddie Boasts Strong Fall Art Trip Lineup

The Peddie Culture Bus has teamed up with Student Life Activities this fall, to provide Peddie students the opportunity to attend four impressive shows. The incredible expansion of Student Life Activities, affectionately known as SLAs, allow Peddie to offer an array of fun activities to students, including movie nights, crafts, snacks and outings to local museums, festivals, events and shows each weekend.

“For many years, the Art Department has been running the Culture Bus, which offers students the opportunity to attend various cultural events in the area,” said Cathy Watkins, director of visual arts. “Since Greg [Wriede] took over Student Life Activities with a mandate to expand offerings, we’ve been teaming up on art events as weekend destinations.”

Greg Wriede, director of student activities, said more No Class Saturdays on this year’s schedule has allowed expanded offerings. With longer weekends, students have time for more outings, from paintball to piano concerts. It also allows students to take full advantage of Peddie’s location. With Princeton, New York City, Philadelphia and the Jersey Shore in such close proximity, the opportunities for fun, excitement and education are literally endless.

Here’s the fall show lineup:

First, on September 22, the Culture Bus drove an excited group of students to New York City to watch The Outsiders: A New Musical, a Tony-winning adaptation of the classic S. E. Hinton novel, on Broadway.

Next, on October 5, students traveled to Madison Square Garden to see Vampire Weekend in concert. The indie rock band (including drummer and Peddie alumnus Chris Tomson ’02) just released their fifth studio album. Students enjoyed a meet and greet with their fellow Peddie Falcon after the show. “Honestly, one of the first things I learned about Peddie was that the drummer for Vampire Weekend went there,” said Eliza Lamar ’25. “I had always been a fan of the band since my mom used to play their albums on every family road trip. As I grew older, I stole my parents’ musical taste. I listened to their albums on loop ‘til I could practically identify all their songs after one second. Vampire Weekend is one of my favorite bands, and as a senior I can’t think of a better way to start my last school year!”

After that, on October 6, students headed to the McCarter Theater at Princeton University to watch their production of Empire Records, a new musical based on the 1995 cult classic film, which is earning rave reviews.

Finally, on October 12, students were off to Asbury Park for a matinee of the Off-Broadway hit Zanna Don’t. This zany musical comedy was written by Peddie alumnus and former music teacher, Tim Acito ’86.