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"CAPITOLIO," a photography by Maria Lau, is part of the exhibit "Summer Show 2008 -- Repeating Islands: 6 New Jersey Latino Artists" at the Visual Arts Center of New Jersey.

Summer Show 2008 -- Repeating Islands: 6 New Jersey Latino Artists. Where: Visual Arts Center of New Jersey, 68 Elm St., Summit. When: Through Aug. 29. 9:30 a.m.-8 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays; 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Fridays; 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturdays-Sundays. Howmuch: Free. Call (908) 273-9121 or visit artcenternj.org.

"We've reached the point now in the United States where Latino artists demonstrate a kind of layering about identity and culture that meshes into the dominant society, but with a distinct twist," says Alejandro Anreus, former curator at the Jersey City Museum, now associate professor of art history and Latin American studies at William Paterson University.

This month, he's curating "Repeating Islands: 6 New Jersey Latino Artists," the Summer Show 2008 at the Visual Arts Center of New Jersey in Summit, which illustrates his argument with three painters, two photographers and a sculptor.

MAU. What: "Requiem". Where: Frederick P. Rose Hall of Jazz at Lincoln Center, 60th Street and Broadway, fifth floor, New York. When: 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday. How much: $40-$90. Call (212) 721-6500 or visit LincolnCenter.org.

NEW YORK -- The water isn't up to his chin yet, but Samoan choreographer Lemi Ponifasio sees it rising. In the Kiribati Islands, the tide reaches higher and higher. In nearby Tuvalu, the ocean has swamped and poisoned farmland with its salt.

"Requiem," the evening-length spectacle that Ponifasio's MAU dance-theater company brings to the Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center this weekend, wistfully evokes the cultures of these Pacific islands threatened with extinction.

The choreographer feels the time has come to negotiate. He is stating his case to Western theater audiences, whose economies have led to global warming and to the rising sea levels.

ANDY FOSTER/GALLERY 51 David Murgittroyd is the ambitious Mike in StrangeDog Theatre's world premiere of Ben Clawson's "Bootstraps" at Luna Stage in Montclair.

Starting a new theater company certainly isn't an easy proposition, so how is StrangeDog Theatre managing to make it look effortless?

Considering that the gifted troupe consists mostly of recent Montclair State University graduates, the school's theater department is getting the best kind of advertising. Meanwhile, locals should be happy that these young artists have brought "Bootstraps," its first world premiere comedy, to Luna Stage Company, also in Montclair.

Playwright Ben Clawson is a mere 24, though he has powers of observation usually possessed by those with substantially more life experience. For nearly two hours, he defines his characters by their truthful-sounding dialogue.

STEPHEN LOVEKIN/GETTY IMAGESMary-Kate Olsen

Looks like Mary-Kate Olsen is off the hook in the federal probe into how Heath Ledger obtained the powerful painkiller OxyContin, which was found in his system after his death, according to the Associated Press.

Ledger's death in January was ruled an accidental overdose of prescription medication, all obtained legally through doctors except the OxyContin. The Drug Enforcement Administration had wanted to talk to Olsen about how Ledger might have gotten his hands on the OxyContin, but sources say Olsen wanted immunity before talking.

Now prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan have shut down the problem "because they don't believe there's a viable target," an official tells the AP. Olsen, a Ledger pal, was the first person called after a masseuse found Ledger's lifeless body in his SoHo loft. Her lawyer said earlier this week that Olsen didn't know where Ledger got the drugs.

JOHN MUNSON/THE STAR-LEDGERBroadway actor Nobert Leo Butz has signed on for "Fifty Words" with Elizabeth Marvel.

NEW YORK -- Last seen as a beleagured French painter in Broadway's "Is He Dead?" last season, Norbert Leo Butz will portray a contemporary Brooklyn husband and dad whose happy domestic existence unexpectedly falls apart one night in "Fifty Words."

A Tony Award winner for "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels," the Maplewood resident will perform opposite Elizabeth Marvel as his wife in the dark drama by Michael Weller, author of plays like "Loose Ends" and the screenplay for "Ragtime." In addition to this world premiere by MCC Theater, Weller also will be represented off-Broadway by a second new play, "Beast," which begins showings Aug. 29 at New York Theatre Workshop.

NOAH K. MURRAY/THE STAR-LEDGERAdelmo Guidarelli makes mirth and music in "Operation Adelmo."

The New York International Fringe Festival. Where: 20 downtown theaters in Manhattan. When: Now through Aug. 24. Some 200 shows are performed on various days and times. How much: $15. Call (866) 468-7619 or visit fringenyc.org. Fringe Central is at 201 Mulberry St., between Spring and Kenmare streets in SoHo.

NEW YORK -- "Pretty eclectic" is the way producing artistic director Elena K. Holy characterizes the slate of shows popping up all over Downtown this month in the 12th annual New York International Fringe Festival.

That's expressing such multi-arts madness pretty mildly. From "Anais Nin Goes to Hell" (where the feminist icon encounters Cleopatra and Queen Victoria) to "Zombie" (a solo piece adapted from Joyce Carol Oates' novella about a serial killer), the Fringe offers more than 200 productions embracing practically every sort of topic and theatrical discipline imaginable.

JIM COOPER/AP PHOTOEmily Robison

A rooster has left the hen house. A judge in San Antonio has granted a divorce to Dixie Chick Emily Robison and singer Charlie Robison. He filed for divorce in January due to "discord or conflict of personalities," according to the San Antonio Express-News. The couple had been married for nine years and have three children.

TONY KURDZUK/THE STAR-LEDGER"That stuff that got you excited in the first place should always be there," says saxophonist Ed Palermo of West Orange. "It makes what you do more genuine."

Ed Palermo Big Band. When: 8:30 and 10:30 p.m. Wednesday. Where: Iridium Jazz Club, 1650 Broadway at 51st Street, New York. How much: $25 music charge, $15 minimum. Call (212) 582-2121 or visit iridiumjazzclub.com. What else: Palermo's big band plays Aug. 20, 7:30-9:30 p.m., at Echo Lake Park, Park Drive, Mountainside; free; (908) 527-4900; ucnj.org/parks/summerarts.html.

Nineteen sixty-nine was a watershed year for Ed Palermo. The then-ninth-grader, a novice guitarist, went to concerts by two artists who have remained his heroes: forward-looking rock guitarist and composer Frank Zappa and blues harmonica player and singer Paul Butterfield.

That year, Ocean City native Palermo saw Zappa with the Mothers of Invention Band at the Electric Factory in Philadelphia. The ensemble included such notables as pianist Don Preston and saxophonists Bunk Gardner and Ian Underwood.

"It was the most unique, surreal experience," says Palermo, 54, now a composer, arranger and jazz saxophonist. "There have been very few things that could match it in terms of originality, sheer expertise and musicality. It was just incredible."

Rob Halford, center, and his band, Judas Priest .

Judas Priest, with Heaven and Hell, Motorhead and Testament. Where: PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel. When: 5:30 p.m. Saturday. How much: $25.25-$125.25. Call (201) 507-8900 or visit ticketmaster.com

Heavy metal quintet Judas Priest has been making music for almost 40 years, but is trying something new this year. In June, the band released its first concept album: "Nostradamus," a two-CD set focusing on the life and visions of the 16th century prophet.

The band, featuring singer Rob Halford, guitarists Glenn Tipton and K.K. Downing, bassist Ian Hill and drummer Scott Travis, is currently on tour with Heaven and Hell (featuring members of Black Sabbath), Motorhead and Testament, and will be playing PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel on Saturday.

ARIADNA

Rosie's Wine Bar. 514 North Ave. Garwood. (908) 518-9463. rosieswinebar.com. Hours: Dinner: 5-9 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays (bar open until 11 p.m.); 5-10 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays (bar open until 1 a.m.). Open Sundays for dinner after Labor Day weekend. Area: Union County. TWO AND A HALF STARS

Best-selling novelist and screenwriter Tom Perrotta might not recognize the bourgeois little world his hometown has become.

The new housing development in Garwood boasts a mews(!) on the ground floor -- a cluster of little shops, one of which is a spa. Another recent development is Rosie's Wine Bar, a fresh, crisp-looking little restaurant.