June 16, 2004

Newark Asks, Who's the Boss?

ewark

DANIELLE JONES, a 17-year-old high school student, furrowed her brow but came up blank.

"Bruce Springsteen? No, I've never heard of him.''

She listened intently to a description of his music but didn't look impressed. "Is he still living?'' she asked.

For the Bruce faithful, the ones who pack his concerts, order the "Born to Run'' collection of 14-ounce drinking glasses, and slap "My other car is a '69 Chevy with a 396" bumper stickers on their cars, this is a big week. On Thursday, the Newark Museum opens its doors for its presentation of the first major museum exhibition devoted to his work, a multimedia presentation focusing on his use of cars and highways as a theme. For those who want to argue for Bruce versus Tony Soprano as the ultimate New Jersey icon, it's good grist for their mill.

But few of the faithful actually live in Newark, where the highway is often gridlocked, the Jersey Shore isn't necessarily the weekend destination and the Boss is the guy who busts your chops when you're late for work. So when Mr. Springsteen's name was invoked down the street from the museum at the Ashanti Mart on Broad Street, the Subway next door or the Rutgers University Newark Campus up the hill, almost everyone was pretty much dancing in the dark.

"If there was an exhibit about Mary J. Blige, I might go,'' said Ms. Jones.

"Springsteen? Springsteen? Isn't he the owner of the museum?'' asked Charles Boampong, co-owner of the Ashanti Mart, whose wares include watches, clothes, CD's and Elvis ties.

"I don't know much about him other than he's more for the older crowd,'' said Meha Patel, a 19-year-old Rutgers students from Rahway. "And, also, doesn't he do religious songs about Jesus? So it wouldn't really be my religion.''

The denizens of downtown Newark are hardly his core constituency, and, at 54, Mr. Springsteen is still going strong. His 2002-2003 tour was one of the biggest in history, grossing $221 million. He sold 566,560 tickets at Giants Stadium alone, a world record for one engagement.

Mr. Springsteen told the show's curator, Colleen Sheehy of the Frederick Weisman Art Museum in Minneapolis, that the thought of a museum exhibit about his work left him a little spooked, as if that's what happens when your work is done, not while you're in the middle of it. But if any musician other than Bob Dylan merits the heavy breathing of a serious museum show, Mr. Springsteen is right up there in the pack. The exhibit, "Troubadour of the Highway,'' which runs through Aug. 29, includes videos, lyrics, photography and memorabilia, as well as links to pieces in the museum's permanent collection, most memorably Duane Hanson's sculpture of an eerily lifelike, well-over-the hill "Man on Mower,'' which the museum connects to Mr. Springsteen's "Glory Days." The show also includes 41 photos of the American West by his sister, Pamela Springsteen.

Still, one person's icon is another's fossil. So a lot of the students at Rutgers seemed to see Mr. Springsteen as the evocation of their dad's New Jersey, not their own.

"I go more for Bon Jovi,'' said Dan Ross, who was eating a sub outside at Rutgers with his friend Dan Matlosz. "He's getting old,'' Mr. Matlosz added.

DESPITE some strenuous efforts, Mr. Springsteen has never managed to break out beyond his core audience of suburban and urban whites. So, for the black, Hispanic and foreign-born people in the neighborhood, the show is the ultimate nonevent.

"I've heard of him,'' said Mario Cadena, a 23-year-old student from West New York. "He's sort of older rock from the 70's and 80's, am I right?''

Still, even if the show just lures a horde of creaky old Springsteen boomers and subboomers, it will do just fine at the box office. It might not be "From the Sacred Realm: Treasures of Tibetan Art,'' but you can bet there will be more takers for the Vinylux containers created from old Springsteen records than the usual museum shop fare.

And, the museum insists, it's not the start of a trend.

"His lyrics stand up as poetry, and he's produced art that has affected millions of people,'' said Becky Schutt, who helped coordinate the installation. "Every museum wants to get customers in the door, but it's not like we're going to do an exhibit next of Britney Spears and put the lyrics to 'Hit Me Baby One More Time' on the wall."