Born in a refugee camp on the Thai-Cambodia border, Hon Eui Chen moved to Mississippi at the age of six. Growing up in the American South, while still trying to preserve memories of her childhood in Asia brought up questions about identity that influence her work. The concept of travel and memory are also embedded in her current series of mixed media paintings – layered earthy, dark colored background with graphite drawn trees and foliage and an overlay of concrete. Lecture: January 29, 4:30 – 5:30 pm, Wilson Hall Auditorium. Opening Reception: January 29 5:30 – 7 pm
Jacob Landau (1917-2001), printmaker, painter, humanist, and teacher was an artist whose works explored the basic themes of human existence and morality with an insight that was both passionate and indignant. The art he created gained him an impressive reputation, with many of his works included in the permanent collections of the world’s finest museums. In 2008, the Jacob Landau Institute donated more than 300 of the artist’s prints, drawings and paintings to Monmouth University. This exhibition will feature approximately 20 original paintings.
Heeseop Yoon studied at Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture and received her MFA from City University of New York and BFA from Chung-Ang University in Korea. Yoon’s subjects—interiors of junk shops and storage facilities—test the ability of the line to make order out chaos. Working from photographs, Yoon draws her subject matter freehand on sheets of transparent polyester film that are later attached to the gallery wall. She retains her exploratory sketches, her mistakes, and the corrections on each drawing. The lines not only situate the forms in the clutter, they also cross over, search out, and assess the entire scene. Illustrated Lecture: February 5, Wilson Hall Auditorium, 4:30 – 5:30 pm, Opening Reception: February 5, from 5:30 – 7 pm
New Production On the heels of her triumphant Met performances in Eugene Onegin, soprano Anna Netrebko takes on another Tchaikovsky heroine in the first opera of this intriguing double bill, consisting of an enchanting fairy tale (Iolanta) followed by an erotic psychological thriller (Duke Bluebeard’s Castle).
From an American town in the early 20th century, we flash forward to a future dystopia where a severe water shortage has made public pay-per-use toilets a legal necessity. Urinetown was a hit Broadway musical in the early 21st century, running for two and a half years. It won Tony Awards for its composer and lyricists Mark Hollman and Greg Kotis and Mr. Kotis also won for the book of the musical. The show is a satirical take on social change (the police are represented by Officers Lockstock and Barrel), corporate greed (the pay toilets are run by “Urine Good Company”), and Broadway musicals themselves. One of the show’s characters – its hero Bobby Strong – was included as one of the 100 Greatest Roles in Musical Theatre.
Born Daphne Scholinski, Dylan was locked up in a mental hospital at age 15 for being an “inappropriate female.” Now a distinguished public speaker, author of award winning memoir The Last Time I Wore a Dress and artist, Dylan will be exhibiting his own work – which portrays the anguish of his hospital years and his ultimate triumph – as well as examples of artwork by participants in his “lead with your heart” workshop.
Still Dreaming follows a group of elderly entertainers living at the Lillian Booth Actors Home in New York and a pair of young directors hired to stage an in-house performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. As the once-celebrated performers struggle with Alzheimer’s, dementia, and physical disabilities, the play’s themes of perception, reality and memory take on new relevance and poignancy. There will be a post screening Q&A with the co-directors Jilann Spitzmiller and Hank Rogerson.
See the Off-Broadway sensation that audiences can’t get enough of from coast to coast! Share the fun and laughter in this hilarious, feel-good comedy as five girlfriends re-live their past, celebrate their present, and look to the future on a wild night out! Featuring the most famous female empowerment hits of the last four decades including “Lady Marmalade,” “It’s Raining Men,” “Man I Feel Like A Woman,” “I Will Survive,” and many more.
The students in Room 207 were the worst-behaved class in the whole school: spitballs stuck to the ceiling; paper airplanes whizzing through the air – even though they had the sweetest teacher of all, Miss Nelson. But when Miss Nelson unexpectedly does not come to school one day, the class gets the strictest substitute they have ever met: Miss Viola Swamp! This event has been rescheduled from the original 3/26 date.
Joe Bertolino and Bil Leipold explore the realities and human dimensions of living in a world of heterosexual privilege. Drawing from their own lives, their experiences as fraternity men and student affairs professionals, their family experiences, and the dynamics of their own relationship, Joe & Bil present this difficult topic in a non-threatening, humorous way.
Golden Globe® winner and Academy Award® nominee James Franco (127 Hours, Milk) and Tony Award® nominee Chris O’Dowd (Bridesmaids, Girls) star in the hit Broadway production Of Mice And Men, filmed on stage by National Theatre Live. This landmark revival of Nobel Prize winner John Steinbeck’s play is a powerful portrait of the American spirit and a heartbreaking testament to the bonds of friendship.
Bel canto superstars Joyce DiDonato and Juan Diego Flórez join forces for this Rossini showcase of vocal virtuosity, set in the medieval Scottish highlands and based on a beloved novel by Sir Walter Scott.
Returning to the Pollak stage after wowing audiences last season with her recreation of the love story between Leonard Cohen and Joni Mitchell that resulted in some of the biggest hits of their careers, Lauren Fox’s new show is wistful journey through a time and place where today’s musical icons became legends. From the mid-sixties to the early-seventies, something magical took place in Southern California…and it all happened in a bucolic stretch of hills, just above the Sunset Strip, called Laurel Canyon. Jackson Browne, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, The Byrds, The Mamas & The Papas, The Eagles, and Crosby, Stills & Nash, to name just a few, all lived, loved, created, and collaborated there. Lauren Fox tells the story of this epic time in American music history, and sings the songs that it inspired.
William Shakespeare’s timeless story, written in 1595, is brought to the stage through breathtaking choreography and Sergei Prokofiev’s much-loved score. With its famous melodies, rhythmic variety and universal theme, this story of impossible love remains an all-time favourite, and is one of the world’s most popular ballets.
Brooks Haxton, born in Greenville, Mississippi, in 1950, is the son of the novelist Ellen Douglas and the composer Kenneth Haxton. He has published six previous collections of poetry, two book-length narrative poems one book of creative non-fiction, and two books of translations from the ancient Greek. The recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Guggenheim Foundation, Haxton teaches in the writing programs at Syracuse University and Warren Wilson College. He lives in Syracuse with his wife and three children.
A panel presentation with Dr. Enoch Nappen, Dept. of Political Science and Sociology, Dr. Katherine Parkin, Dept. of History and Anthropology, and Dr. Johanna Foster, Dept. of Political Science and Sociology. Part of the Artful Explorations of Gender Series.
Max Faberbock’s “A Woman in Berlin” (Unrated) A woman tries to survive the invasion of Berlin by the Soviet troops during the last days of World War II.
Featuring the work of Monmouth University graduating seniors who will receive their degrees in Graphic Design and Animation. Opening reception: Friday, March 27, from 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.
This event has been postponed until further notice. Daughter of Bernice Johnson Reagon, founder of Sweet Honey in the Rock, Toshi Reagon is a one-woman celebration of all that’s dynamic, progressive and uplifting in American music. This versatile singer-songwriter has moved audiences of all kinds with her big-hearted, hold-nothing-back approach to rock, blues, R&B, country, folk, spirituals and funk. The New York Times described her blend as “…a love of mixing things up… vocal style ranges from a dirty blues moan to a gospel shout to an ethereal croon.” Leading her renowned band–BIGLovely, launched in 1996–she instantly connects, inspires and empowers. Reagon has collaborated with top innovators in music field including Lenny Kravitz, Elvis Costello, Ani DiFranco, Pete Seeger, Dar Williams, Lizz Wright, Me’shell Ndegéocello and Marc Anthony Thompson (aka Chocolate Genius). There will be a post-show discussion with Toshi Reagon free to all ticket holders.
Songwriters By The Sea hosts, and accomplished New Jersey songwriters, Joe D’Urso and Joe Rapolla, bring their popular songwriters series to the historic Lauren K. Woods Theater. This show features the tireless touring Greenwich Village troubadour, Willie Nile and breakthrough artist Anthony D’Amato. Monmouth University Blue Hawk Records’ artists Natalie Zeller and Brittany Cannarozzi will open the show. Included with the ticket price is a reception, sponsored by the Leon Hess Business School, before the show at 7 p.m.
New Production Bel canto superstars Joyce DiDonato and Juan Diego Flórez join forces for this Rossini showcase of vocal virtuosity, set in the medieval Scottish highlands and based on a beloved novel by Sir Walter Scott.
Pulitzer Prize-winner Katherine Boo spent three years in Annawadi recording the lives of its residents. From her uncompromising book, winner of the National Book Award for Non-Fiction 2012, David Hare has fashioned a tumultuous play on an epic scale.
A look at how women sports reporters, Lisa Olson, Melissa Ludtke, Claire Smith, Lesley Visser, and Jane Gross fought to be accepted, regardless of gender, and create a harassment-free work environment. Nine for IX is a series of documentary films which originally aired on ESPN celebrating the 40th anniversary of Title IX, the federal civil rights law that prohibits sex discrimination in education. Four of the episodes will be screened during the year.
From the world-renowned Black Maria Film Festival, the Department of Communication presents a screening of highly-recognized and award-winning short films, spanning across several genres and topics. Introduction and post-screening discussion to be held by Specialist Professor Matthew Lawrence.
