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  • POSTPONED – Songwriters By The Sea

    Distinguished NJ Songwriters Joe Rapolla and Joe D’Urso are back this year hosting the celebrated Songwriters by the Sea series at the Lauren K. Woods Theatre. What once started in a small coffee shop as an area for local songwriters has now grown into a series that features some of the top songwriters in the country. This year, the show features special guest artists Tom Chapin and Jen Chapin with an intro set by George Wurzbach. The show will also feature Monmouth University student openers.

    In a career that spans six decades, 26 albums and three GRAMMY awards, Hudson Valley Troubadour Tom Chapin has covered an incredible amount of creative ground. In addition to his work as a recording artist and concert performer, Chapin has acted on Broadway, as well as working extensively in television, radio and film. As a music-maker, the multi-talented singer/songwriter/guitarist has maintained two long and productive parallel careers, both as a highly respected contemporary folk artist and as a pioneer in the field of children’s music. Chapin has established a reputation for insightful, heartfelt songcraft and effortlessly charismatic live performances. Chapin’s infectious songs, sterling musicianship and personal warmth consistently shine through, whether he’s performing on record or in a concert hall, an outdoor festival, a school, in front of a symphony orchestra or in an intimate coffeehouse. The New York Times called Chapin “one of the great personalities in contemporary folk music.”

    Jen Chapin has been celebrated for writing “brilliant soulfully poetic urban folk music” (NPR) for almost two decades, beginning with her debut, Open Wide, in 2002. Nurtured in and around NYC by a large family of artists, writers, and musicians, Jen’s “observant, lyrically deft, politically aware and emotionally intuitive” (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel) songwriting features both her “extraordinary voice” (De krenten uit de pop, The Netherlands) and “astonishing jazz band” (popmatters). As much as an artistic legacy, the roots of Jen’s upbringing have inspired her “potent, jazzy, layered folk” (Newsday) songs and a lifetime of passionate activism, through ongoing work with WhyHunger (founded by her late father Harry Chapin), and teaching high school global history in Brooklyn. She has performed on stage with Bruce Springsteen, on bills with Aimee Mann, Bruce Hornsby, and The Neville Brothers, and her rendition of Van Morrison’s “Into The Mystic” was featured in an episode of the SyFy TV series “Defiance”. Jen Chapin’s 2013 release Reckoning, produced and engineered by five-time GRAMMY© Winner Kevin Killen (U2, Elvis Costello, Kate Bush) was named among the best Americana albums of that year by Examiner.com and awarded First Prize, Lyrics category by the USA Songwriting Competition (for the song “Go Away”). Her new trio album “Desert or Sea” was released in summer 2019.

    Sponsored by the Leon Hess Business School
    All proceeds benefit the Music Industry Endowed Scholarship 

  • Winter Dance Concert

    Winter brings us the joy and the wonder of the holiday season. Join us to celebrate the power of young artists’ imagination and their faculty’s interpretation of winter rhythms of the magical music of the season. Let the magic of dance be part of your holidays! The concert is created by our talented faculty, staff and students.

  • SOLD OUT – Annual Holiday Concert: Season’s Greetings

    Please note that advance tickets to this event are SOLD OUT! A limited amount of STANDING ROOM only tickets will be available the evening of the event by CASH ONLY for $10 each. MU Students can also attend in the STANDING ROOM Section for free with their ID.

    A cavalcade of Holiday favorites featuring the Monmouth University Chamber Orchestra, The Jazz Hawks, The Concert Choir, the Chamber Choir, soloists, and a special appearance by the Colts Neck Reformed Church Exultation Ringers, all in the magisterial setting of the Great Hall.

  • 5678 Dance Club Recital

    Come out and see 5678 dance club’s wonderful spring recital for all ages on Easter weekend.

  • My Way: A Musical Tribute to Frank Sinatra presented by Shadow Lawn Stage

    A swinging tribute to Ol’ Blue Eyes, My Way: A Musical Tribute to Frank Sinatra relives Sinatra’s legendary career as four actors take you on a musical revue spanning the breadth of his career from his early beginnings as a crooner in New York, to the bright lights of Las Vegas with the Rat Pack, to his final performances. Conceived by David Grapes and Todd Olson, My Way invites its audience to take a trip down memory lane while reliving Sinatra’s remarkable five-decade career the 1950s to the1990s. From a songbook of over 1300 tunes, My Way chooses fifty-four of Sinatra’s songs that include “Fly Me to the Moon,” “Chicago,” “New York, New York,” and “That’s Life.” It’s a celebration just as Ol’ Blue Eyes would have wanted it – a few stories, a few drinks, and plenty of knockout tunes.

    Director: Michael Perreca
    Choreographer: Bob Boross
    Musical Director: Michael Gilch
    Shadow Lawn Stage Artistic Director: Sheri Anderson

  • Blue Hawk Records Compilation Album Release

    Come and join Blue Hawk in releasing their 14th compilation album! Music and live performances. An event you do not want to miss!

  • From Rock and Roll to Recovery and Everything In Between with Ricky Byrd

    Ricky Byrd is first and foremost – a man living in long term recovery. He also happens to be part of rock ‘n roll royalty. He is a well-recognized musician who was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as the lead guitarist and former original member of Joan Jett and The Blackhearts. Ricky played with Joan from 1981-1992, and has also recorded or toured with Roger Daltrey, Ian Hunter, Southside Johnny and many other talented musicians since that time.

    Ricky most recently has been combining his love for music with his passion and mission to help carry the torch of change surrounding the stigma of drug and alcohol use. He hopes to break down the barriers and spread the message of hope, education, awareness and addiction resources to his audiences. Using the healing powers of music as a touchstone, Ricky likes to motivate those early in recovery or still struggling, along with their family members. Whether it’s through his various speaking appearances, concert events, music outreach sessions, small recovery music groups, or prevention programs, Ricky is dedicated to inspiring change.

    As a songwriter, who now often focuses on recovery lyrics, Ricky moves people to laugh, cry and think. He’s played his songs in the most intimate of rooms as well as to hundreds of thousands all over the world. He recognizes the power of the word and the music and often combines both into a message of hope and encouragement for sobriety.

    Ricky can contribute to an event by sharing famous rock ‘n roll stories in a keynote address or by performing recovery music from his latest CD, Clean Getaway. There is also a special place in his heart for smaller group settings where he can play acoustic guitar and clearly see the faces, tears, smiles and struggles up close. Ricky feels that music therapy and the open discussion that follows can lead broken souls to find that little bit of happiness – and encouragement they need to move forward.

    He presents on the benefits of a sober lifestyle and likes talking to youth, who are at that age, where pressures and experimenting can often lead them down a crooked and deadly path. Ricky takes pride in also educating those individuals  in our communities that are somehow unaware and uninformed of the deadly drug and alcohol pandemic we are facing in this country.

    In 2017, Ricky received the Drug Free Heroes Award, presented by Foundation For a Drug free World. He is proud to help others find a message and purpose to getting clean and sober.

    Cosponsored by: Monmouth University’s Office of Substance Awareness, Students in Recovery, Student Activities Board, The Music and Theatre Department
    FREE and OPEN to the public, but registration is recommended.

  • The Laramie Project

    Location: Lauren K. Woods Theater

    The Laramie Project
    by Moises Kaufman and the Tectonic Theatre Project
    Nov 7- 9 & 13-16 at 8 p.m.
    Nov. 10 at 3 p.m.

    In 1998, University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard was murdered near the outskirts of Laramie. The ensuing investigation led to the conclusion that he had been tortured because he was gay. Reaction to the event led members of the Tectonic Theatre Project to conduct hundreds of interviews with inhabitants of Laramie and turn their comments and thoughts, combined with news reports, into a play which has been performed across the nation and was made into a 2002 HBO film. The play features a small number of actors performing the exact words of more than 60 characters from the town, the media, and the original actors themselves.

    Presented by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service

  • WinterSong, A Holiday Concert

    ALL SEATED TICKETS ARE SOLD OUT! Standing room tickets will be sold the night of the show.

    An evening of holiday poetry and music for choir, orchestra, and handbells performed in the majestic festive atmosphere of Wilson Hall. The concert is conducted by Professor Michael Gillette and Dr. David M. Tripold and features the Colts Neck Reformed Church Exultation Ringers conducted by Maggie Tripold.

  • Little Shop of Horrors

    Location: Lauren K. Woods Theatre

    Spring Musical
    Little Shop of Horrors
    March 5-8 & 11-13 at 8 p.m.
    March 9 at 3 p.m.     (This performance is SOLD OUT)

    Little Shop of Horrors, the story of a hapless florist shop worker who raises a plant from outer space that feeds on human blood, has become a comedy classic since its origins as a sci-fi “B” movie in the 50s, an off-Broadway hit in the 80s and a hit film in 1986. With a book by Howard Ashman, the music by composer Alan Menken (also the composer of the current Broadway hit Newsies and the Disney film The Little Mermaid) includes several well-known tunes, including the title song, “Somewhere That’s Green”, and “Suddenly, Seymour”.

    Presented by special arrangement with Music Theatre International