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  • Wailin’ Jennys

    The Wailin Jennys are Nicky Mehta, Ruth Moody and Heather Masse three distinct voices that together make an achingly perfect vocal sound.

    Starting as a happy accident of solo singer/songwriters getting together for a one-time-only performance at a tiny guitar shop in Winnipeg, Manitoba, The Wailin’ Jennys have grown over the years into one of today’s most beloved international folk acts. Founding members Moody and Mehta along with New York-based Masse continue to create some of the most exciting music on the folk-roots scene, stepping up their musical game with each critically lauded recording and thrilling audiences with their renowned live performances.

    In 2004, The Wailin’ Jennys released their first full-length album 40 Days to great critical acclaim, netting a 2005 Juno Award (Canadian Grammy) for Roots & Traditional Album of the Year. Bolstered by their frequent appearances on Garrison Keillor’s public radio show A Prairie Home Companion, The Jennys exploded onto the roots music scene, performing at packed venues across the Canada, the U.S. and throughout the world. 

    The Jennys’ sophomore album, 2006’s Firecracker, served as a powerful follow-up to their career-making debut. Artistically, the record found The Jennys stepping out of the folk realm and into the world of alt-country, pop and rock. Garnering much attention, it was nominated for a Juno Award and won a 2007 Folk Alliance Award for Contemporary Release of the Year. Firecracker had legs, spending over 56 weeks on the Billboard charts.

     The trio’s 2009 release, Live at Mauch Chunk Opera House, also spent over a year on the Billboard bluegrass charts. That landmark live album bottled the lightning of The Jennys’ live performances with show-stopping harmonies, impressive instrumental prowess, breathtaking songs and, of course, witty stage banter. 

    For their latest album, 2011’s Juno-winning Bright Morning Stars, The Wailin’ Jennys joined the ranks of Lucinda Williams and Emmylou Harris and recorded with award-winning producer Mark Howard. Co-produced by frequent Jennys collaborator and Juno Award-nominated David Travers-Smith, the album combines fresh and innovative sounds with the band’s signature harmonies — a perfect mix of Americana, pop and traditional folk that is destined to be a modern classic.

    Although known primarily as an acoustic outfit, The Wailin’ Jennys have a diverse musical background that has shaped their musical sensibilities. Soprano Ruth Moody (vocals, guitar, accordion, banjo, bodhrán) is a classically trained vocalist and pianist with a burgeoning solo career. She made a splash in 2010 with the Juno-nominated The Garden which was followed up with 2013’s gorgeous These Wilder Things. She’s  an accomplished, versatile singer of traditional and Celtic music and as the former lead singer of Juno-nominated roots band Scruj MacDuhk. Mezzo Nicky Mehta (vocals, guitar, harmonica, drums, ukulele), a classically trained dancer raised on ’70s a.m. radio and heavily influenced by alternative pop, was nominated for a Canadian Indie Music Award for her  striking debut solo album, 2002’s Weather Vane. In July 2009 she became the proud mother to twin boys, Beck and Finn. Alto Heather Masse (vocals, upright bass) is a Jazz Voice graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music, who has performed in Mark O’Connor’s Hot Swing, Darol Anger’s Republic of Strings and is a regular guest on A Prairie Home Companion. She has also toured with her own band, supporting her 2009 Red House release Bird Song. Her latest, 2013’s Lock My Heart, is an inspired album of jazz standards and originals with legendary pianist Dick Hyman.

    With their varying backgrounds, each of the Jennys is unique in their individual expression. Together they forge a unified folk-pop sound — all delivered with the irresistible vocal power of three.

     ”…perhaps more beautiful than ever. The Wailin’ Jennys are the darlings of the North American roots music arena.” Greg Quill, The Toronto Star

    “Like three little birds singing softly
    and sweetly in the early morn, the harmony of the Wailin’ Jennys
    pleasantly rises from the speakers and greets the listener with a
    refreshing start to the day.” David McPherson, Exclaim!  

    Website: http://www.thewailinjennys.com/ 

  • Rockin’ Road to Dublin

    Rockin’ Road to Dublin returns to Pollak Theatre in 2018 by popular demand! Created by the 2009 World Champion of Irish Dance Scott Doherty (Riverdance & Lord of the Dance) and worldwide touring Irish musician Chris Smith, Rockin’ Road is the new generation of Irish music and dance. RRTD is a breathtaking display of classic Irish tunes accented by rock ‘n’ roll riffs, electrifying dancers and a dynamic light show. Enjoy the thrilling sights and sounds as daring performers execute rapid-fire leaps, twirls and footwork, and nimble fiddlers square off with driving electric guitar chords and pulse-pounding drum beats. Fans say, “Rockin’ Road to Dublin not only combines Riverdance and Lord of the Dance perfectly, but actually surpasses them!”

    “The artists were unbelievable. The dancers took my breath away. I didn’t want it to end!” ~Patron

  • Catapult

    Catapult is, technically, a shadow dance company.  What it really is:  a theatrical art form that is an amazingly imaginative combination of dance, story-telling, and sculpture.   Founded in 2009, by Adam Battlestein (choreographer, Creative Director and Master Teaching Artist for Pilobolus Dance Theatre for 19 years), Catapult catapulted to fame on Season 8 of America’s Got Talent, earning their way to the finals of the NBC-TV hit show.

    Catapult is all about the human body and its ability to transform.  The talented Catapult dancers work behind a screen to create seemingly impossible dancing shadow silhouettes of shapes from the world around us. You won’t believe your eyes as you watch these incredible dancers become a mountain, a full size elephant, a helicopter, a house with a window and people inside the window.  You will never figure out how they do it, and you won’t know what they will make next – you will be surprised and delighted again and again. Audiences of all ages love what appear to be effortless transformations and applaud over and over as more and more unbelievable images appear.

    Catapult’s “Magic Shadows” show is packed with hundreds of shape transformations, and it is full of humor, emotion, and engaging stories.  There are 8 fully realized stories told through music and shadows and 6 short shadow dance videos which play between the live dances – brief moments of poetry or humor which perfectly cleanse the palate and prepare the audience for their next shadow journey.  Audiences leave this show dazed and happy, and they will never look at their own shadow the same way again!

     

  • Doo Wop Explosion III “A Celebration of Acapella Harmony”

    Doo Wop harmony returns to Pollak Theatre with another spectacular line-up of acapella groups. The evening’s line-up includes one of the East Coast’s top acapella groups Quiet Storm, who in addition to their own set will join international recording artist, songwriter and pianist, Gaynel Hodge on stage for a special performance. Gaynel Hodge co-wrote the 1950’s Platinum hit song, Earth Angel and is founding member and musical director of
    such famous groups as The Platters, the Turks and The Hollywood Flames. Also performing are Joel & The Dynamics, featuring Joel Katz, who has sung with The Autumns, Cliftonaires, Del Satins, Impalas, Five Discs and others; Frankie & The Fashions who formed on a street corner in Philadelphia in the early 60’s by Frank LaFaro, who wrote their signature song What Do I Have To Do; Nostalgia 5, known for their complex vocal harmonies; Re-MemberThen, whose recent video singing in a train tunnel went viral, attracting 50,000 views; and 5/3 Woodland, entertainers extraordinaire known for mixing their great harmonies with a touch of humor.

    [This line up is subject to change]
    produced by Classic Urban Harmonies

     

    Gold Circle seats will include Preshow Meet & Greet Reception

  • Rare Wildlife Revealed: The James Fiorentino Traveling Art Exhibition

    Artist James Fiorentino of Hunterdon County, NJ, has won national acclaim for his ability to create uncanny likenesses of people. The youngest artist ever inducted into the prestigious New York Society of Illustrators, James uses his self-taught watercolor expression to paint some of the most recognized faces in the world, from sports icons and presidents to Nobel Prize winners and CEOs. His award-winning art is showcased in museums, galleries, and private collections across the globe, and his story has been told on national television and in the pages of magazines and newspapers.

    Fiorentino uses his trademark detail and realism in watercolor to paint New Jersey’s most endangered and vulnerable wildlife species. His evocative artwork inspires viewers through his life-like depictions of rare wildlife in their natural surroundings. His paintings truly bring wildlife to life on paper, and in doing so, his art helps to educate and engage viewers about the precipitous declines that many of these species have undergone.

    “Though their painting styles differ, Fiorentino is adept, like Neiman
    was, at drawing, which is of course the most fundamental skill required
    to succeed as a figurative artist. Very few wildlife artists that I know
    of can handle the human figure in convincing fashion. Fiorentino has
    distinguished himself as a wildlife artist with skill and versatility
    that positions him above the rest in this regard.”

    In keeping with his expanding body of work, James is a signature member of the Society of Animal Artists and Artists for Conservation in addition to the American and New Jersey Watercolor Societies and the Salmagundi Club. He also serves as a trustee for The Raptor Trust and D & R Greenway Land Trust, both in New Jersey.

    Rare Wildlife Revealed: The James Fiorentino Traveling Art Exhibition is sponsored by Omni Distribution, LLC, Flying Fish Brewing Company, Merrill G. & Emita Hastings Foundation, Studio 7 Fine Art Gallery, and Somerset Patriots.

    This exhibition is presented in partnership with Conserve Wildlife Foundation

  • Young Marx

    Rory Kinnear (The Threepenny Opera, Penny Dreadful, Othello) is Marx and Oliver Chris (Twelfth Night, Green Wing) is Engels, in this new comedy written by Richard Bean and Clive Coleman. Broadcast live from The Bridge Theatre, London, the production is directed by Nicholas Hytner and reunites the creative team behind Broadway and West End hit comedy One Man, Two Guvnors.

    1850, and Europe’s most feared terrorist is hiding in Dean Street, Soho. Broke, restless and horny, the thirty-two-year-old revolutionary is a frothing combination of intellectual brilliance, invective, satiric wit, and child-like emotional illiteracy.

    Creditors, spies, rival revolutionary factions and prospective seducers of his beautiful wife all circle like vultures. His writing blocked, his marriage dying, his friend Engels in despair at his wasted genius, his only hope is a job on the railway. But there’s still no one in the capital who can show you a better night on the piss than Karl Heinrich Marx.

    Run Time: 220 Minutes

  • Julius Caesar

    Ben Whishaw (The Danish Girl, Skyfall, Hamlet) and Michelle Fairley (Fortitude, Game of Thrones) play Brutus and Cassius, David Calder (The Lost City of Z, The Hatton Garden Job) plays Caesar and David Morrissey (The Missing, Hangmen, The Walking Dead) is Mark Antony. Broadcast live from The Bridge Theatre, London.

    Caesar returns in triumph to Rome and the people pour out of their homes to celebrate. Alarmed by the autocrat’s popularity, the educated élite conspire to bring him down. After his assassination, civil war erupts on the streets of the capital.

    Nicholas Hytner’s production will thrust the audience into the street party that greets Caesar’s return, the congress that witnesses his murder, the rally that assembles for his funeral and the chaos that explodes in its wake. 

    Run Time: 180 minutes 

  • Mariza

    Grammy Award winning singer Mariza returns to captivate audiences with her personal take on traditional fado. In less than 12 years, Mariza has risen from a well-hidden local phenomenon, known only to a small circle of admirers in Lisbon, to one of the most widely acclaimed stars of the World Music circuit.

    Since then Mariza has continued to wow audiences with her powerful talent as a live performer, recording the album Concerto Em Lisboa to a hometown audience of several thousand right next to that most visual icon of fado — the sea. She has also traveled the world, selling out concert halls, from Carnegie Hall and Disney Concert Hall to London’s Royal Albert Hall and the Sydney Opera House, and winning awards, including a BBC World Music Award and 2008 Latin Grammy nomination.

     

  • Orchestra of St. Peter by the Sea

    Please note this event event is sold out. Call 732.263.6889 to be added to the waitlist if more tickets become available. There’s no better way to celebrate the holiday season than to spend a special evening with the Orchestra of Saint Peter by the Sea in a program of holiday classics and carols under the direction of Reverend Alphonse Stephenson. Distinguished vocalists perform beautiful arias and treasured classics in between humorous and personal anecdotes imparted by Reverend Alphonse Stephenson, the consummate entertainer. Be sure to get your tickets early for this annual sell out!

  • CSNsongs – Celebrating the music of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

    Returning to Monmouth by popular renowned for an encore engagement, CSN Songs is an ensemble of accomplished musicians who pay homage to the folk/rock legends that revolutionized music in the 1960’s and 70’s. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s compositions are perfectly and respectfully reproduced as they were originally written and recorded. Relive these historical musical moments with CSN Songs impeccable recreations of Suite Judy Blue Eyes, Ohio, Love the One Your With, Just a Song Before I Go, Southern Man and many other CSN&Y treasures.     


    “If you closed your eyes you would think it was the real CSN!”