Center for the Arts

Gallery Exhibitions

Transition: Vietnam – Photography by Mark Ludak and Andrew Cohen

Vietnam is a country in transition. Intrigued by the rapid transformation of Vietnam, one of the fastest growing economies of the world Monmouth University professors, Mark Ludak and Andrew Cohen have returned multiple times to photograph this region. A dynamic, youthful country, especially seen in mega-cities like Ho Chi Minh City (Sai Gon), it is a country where the traditional and contemporary are reconstituted into distinctively Vietnamese manifestations.

Gallery Exhibitions

NATURE AND NURTURE – Mother/Daughter Artists: The Paintings of Cheryl Griesbach and Claudia Griesbach-Martucci

In 2000, Cheryl Griesbach began creating a body of paintings based on her interests in European 18th and 19th century still-life, botanical and landscape art. Her method includes the
manipulation of segments of Northern European paintings and incorporating that imagery in building a new landscape, like a stage. Following
in her parent’s footsteps Claudia Griesbach also attended the School of Visual Arts and with her background in illustration and oil painting, a
skill she learned from her mother, each of her paintings tells a story. In her most recent work she explores the notion “that behind every exquisite thing that exists there is something tragic,” a quote from Oscar Wilde’s Portrait of Dorian Gray.

Gallery Exhibitions

Sheba Sharrow

As one of its series of events around the theme of “Activism,” Monmouth University hosts an exhibition of paintings by the 20th-century artist who chronicled outrage and compassion for the struggles against injustice. Figurative painter Sheba Sharrow bore witness to human suffering, struggle and liberation. She was a child of the Great Depression and World War II, a participant in the social justice movements of the 1960s and ’70s, saw the bloody roads walked for civil rights and the damages wrought by wars.

The Metropolitan Opera: Live in HD

Die Zauberflöte

Met Music Director Emeritus James Levine conducts Tony Award winner Julie Taymor’s production of Mozart’s masterpiece, Die Zauberflöte. Golda Schultz makes her Met debut as Pamina with Kathryn Lewek as the Queen of the Night, Charles Castronovo as the fairy tale prince Tamino, Markus Werba as the bird-catching Papageno, Christian Van Horn as Sprecher, and René Pape as Sarastro. The holiday presentation of The Magic Flute, an abridged staging sung in English for families, was the first Live in HD performance to be transmitted. This is the first time the full-length German opera will be seen in the series.

Performing Arts Series

Colin Hay

As the singer, guitarist, and main songwriter of Australia’s Men At Work, Colin Hay was responsible for penning several of the quirkiest pop hits of the early ’80s including “Overkill”, “(The Land) Down Under”, “It’s A Mistake” and “Who Can IT Be Now”. Although forever associated with “the land down under”, Hay hailed from Scotland but relocated to Australia in 1967. In 2017 Hay recorded and released his 13th solo album, Fierce Mercy, an epic, cinematic step forward from the singer-songwriter who has become increasingly known for his wonderfully witty and intimate performances as well as his ever-present great voice and incisive song writing . The range of artists who have chosen to cite him as a muse is vast and varied and include the likes of Metallica and The Lumineers, reflecting his continuing relevance and broad appeal.

Children's Theatre

The Three Pigettes and The Big Bad Lady Wolf/Las Tres Cerditas y La Loba Feroz

Presented by Teatro SEA, the premiere Bilingual Arts-in-Education Organization and Latino Children’s Theatre in the United States, Mama Piggy narrates this bilingual adaptation that features a vegetarian wolf and the three cutest little pigs on this side of town. Action, adventure and not to mention Salsa, as well as other Latin music keep audiences clapping en route to a happy ending.
Recommended for Pre-K to 5th Grade.

Live Theatre Broadcasts in HD

National Theatre: Broadcast in HD

National Theatre Live: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf

Sonia Friedman Productions present Imelda Staunton (Gypsy, Vera Drake, the Harry Potter films), Conleth Hill (Game Of Thrones, The Producers), Luke Treadaway (A Street Cat Named Bob, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, The Hollow Crown) and Imogen Poots (A Long Way Down, Jane Eyre) in James Macdonald’s critically acclaimed, 5 star production of Edward Albee’s landmark play, broadcast live to cinemas from the Harold Pinter Theatre, London.

In the early hours of the morning on the campus of an American college, Martha, much to her husband George’s displeasure, has invited the new professor and his wife to their home for some after-party drinks. As the alcohol flows and dawn approaches, the young couple are drawn into George and Martha’s toxic games until the evening reaches its climax in a moment of devastating truth-telling.

Performing Arts Series

The Doo Wop Project

Featuring current and former stars of Broadway’s smash hits Jersey Boys and Motown: The Musical, The DOO WOP PROJECT is street corner singing for a whole new generation. Their show begins at the beginning, tracing the evolution of Doo Wop from the classic sound of five guys singing tight harmonies on a street corner to the biggest hits on the radio today. Throughout the show, DWP takes you on a journey from foundational tunes of groups like the Crests, Belmonts and Flamingos through their influences on the sounds of Smokey Robinson, the Temptations, and the Four Seasons…all the way to Michael Jackson, Jason Mraz and Amy Winehouse.

Performing Arts Series

A Marvelous Night: The Music of Van Morrison

Legendary front man Rob Paparozzi (Original Blues Brothers Band, Blood Sweat ‘n Tears) and master song stylist Pat Guadagno (BobFest, The Candle Brothers) lead an all-star band on a musical journey through the lifework of one of the most influential and unusual artists of our time. Last year’s capacity crowd was mesmerized by an eclectic selection of Morrison’s mystical compositions, performed by an ensemble of Jersey musical nobility including: Steven Delopoulos (Burlap to Cashmere), Michael Ghegan (Michael Jackson, Cirque de Soleil), John Korba (Hall & Oates, Phoebe Snow, Rosanne Cash), Tom Labella (Bruce Springsteen), and Joe Bellia (Dave Mason, Allman Brothers). The whole crew is back for a transcendental evening of genre defying music. You will be healed!
Produced by Nearmor Productions

The Metropolitan Opera: Live in HD

Norma (Encore)

The season opens with a new production of Bellini’s bel canto tragedy Norma, starring Sondra Radvanovsky in the title role, which she has sung to acclaim at the Met in 2013, as well as at the Canadian Opera Company, San Francisco Opera, Bavarian State Opera, Gran Teatre del Liceu, and Lyric Opera of Chicago—making her one of the world’s leading interpreters of the iconic title character. Joyce DiDonato co-stars as Norma’s colleague and rival, Adalgisa, opposite Joseph Calleja as Pollione and Matthew Rose as Oroveso. Carlo Rizzi conducts and Sir David McVicar directs the new production.

Jewish Cultural Studies

Visiting Writers

Alicia Ostriker

Alicia Ostriker is a poet and critic, author of seventeen collections of poetry, most recently The Book of Seventy (winner of the National Jewish book Award), The Old Woman, the Tulip and the Dog, and Waiting for the Light. She has received the Paterson Poetry Prize, the San Francisco State Poetry Center Award, the William Carlos Williams Award, and has been twice nominated for the National Book Award, among other honors. As a critic she is the author of Stealing the Language; the Emergence of Women’s Poetry in America, and other books on poetry and on the Bible. She is distinguished Professor Emerita of Rutgers University, teaches in the low-residency Poetry MFA program at Drew university, and is currently a Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets.

Performing Arts Series

Improvedy – Spontaneous Comedy!

Join us for a fun improve show on Friday nights in November! A cast of five will use: your suggestions, props, “Cards Against Humanity”, music, something you throw at them and miss, actually YOU on stage! Their quick-wits and dangerous minds to keep you entertained for AT LEAST AN HOUR!

Performing Arts Series

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.

Department of Music & Theatre Arts Productions

HAIR – 50th Anniversary!

November 10-12 & 15-19. All shows 8 PM except Sun. matinees at 3 PM. HAIR celebrates the sixties counterculture in all its barefoot, long-haired, bell-bottomed, beaded and fringed glory. To an infectiously energetic rock beat, the show wows audiences with songs like “Aquarius,” “Good Morning, Starshine,” “Hair,” “I Got Life,” and “Let The Sun Shine.” Exploring ideas of identity, community, global responsibility and peace, HAIR remains relevant as ever as it examines what it means to be a young person in a changing world. Directed by Sheri Anderson.

The Metropolitan Opera: Live in HD

Die Zauberflöte (Encore)

Met Music Director Emeritus James Levine conducts Tony Award winner Julie Taymor’s production of Mozart’s masterpiece, Die Zauberflöte. Golda Schultz makes her Met debut as Pamina with Kathryn Lewek as the Queen of the Night, Charles Castronovo as the fairy tale prince Tamino, Markus Werba as the bird-catching Papageno, Christian Van Horn as Sprecher, and René Pape as Sarastro. The holiday presentation of The Magic Flute, an abridged staging sung in English for families, was the first Live in HD performance to be transmitted. This is the first time the full-length German opera will be seen in the series.

The Metropolitan Opera: Live in HD

The Exterminating Angel

The Exterminating Angel has its Met premiere this season, conducted by the composer, Thomas Adès. The 2016 opera, co-commissioned by the Met and sung in English, is based on the screenplay by Luis Buñuel and Luis Alcoriza for the acclaimed 1962 Buñuel film. Directed by the librettist Tom Cairns, the ensemble cast features Audrey Luna as Leticia Maynar; Amanda Echalaz as Lucia de Nobile; Sally Matthews as Silvia de Ávila and Sophie Bevan as Beatriz, both in Met debuts; Alice Coote as Leonora Palma; Christine Rice as Blanca Delgado; Iestyn Davies as Francisco de Ávila; Joseph Kaiser as Edundo de Nobile; Frédéric Antoun in his Met debut as Raúl Yebenes; David Portillo as Edmundo; David Adam Moore in his Met debut as Col. Álvaro Gómez; Rod Gilfry as Alberto Roc; Kevin Burdette as Señor Russell; Christian Van Horn as Julio; and John Tomlinson as Dr Carlos Conde. The Exterminating Angel is a co-commission and co-production with the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; Royal Danish Theatre; and Salzburg Festival, where the production premiered in 2016.

Grammy Museum Affiliation

Tuesday Night Record Club

TUESDAY NIGHT RECORD CLUB: Miles Davis, Kind of Blue

It’s just like book club but with albums! With new advances in technology, the way we consume music through our devices, apps and on demand streaming services like Pandora, Spotify and iTunes is making the idea of the “album” as an art form extinct. Get together with other music enthusiasts on Tuesday nights in Woods Theatre to discuss some of the greatest records of all-time! Listen to the album beforehand and then come prepared to discuss… there will be special guest moderators and panelists at each event!
This discussion will feature Miles Davis Kind of Blue and the special guests will include: Ashley Kahn, American music historian, journalist, producer, and author of KIND OF BLUE, the making of the Miles Davis Masterpiece; and Jay Sweet, Musician and Adjunct Professor, Monmouth University’s Department of Music and Theatre.

Performing Arts Series

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!

The Metropolitan Opera: Live in HD

The Exterminating Angel (Encore)

The Exterminating Angel has its Met premiere this season, conducted by the composer, Thomas Adès. The 2016 opera, co-commissioned by the Met and sung in English, is based on the screenplay by Luis Buñuel and Luis Alcoriza for the acclaimed 1962 Buñuel film. Directed by the librettist Tom Cairns, the ensemble cast features Audrey Luna as Leticia Maynar; Amanda Echalaz as Lucia de Nobile; Sally Matthews as Silvia de Ávila and Sophie Bevan as Beatriz, both in Met debuts; Alice Coote as Leonora Palma; Christine Rice as Blanca Delgado; Iestyn Davies as Francisco de Ávila; Joseph Kaiser as Edundo de Nobile; Frédéric Antoun in his Met debut as Raúl Yebenes; David Portillo as Edmundo; David Adam Moore in his Met debut as Col. Álvaro Gómez; Rod Gilfry as Alberto Roc; Kevin Burdette as Señor Russell; Christian Van Horn as Julio; and John Tomlinson as Dr Carlos Conde. The Exterminating Angel is a co-commission and co-production with the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; Royal Danish Theatre; and Salzburg Festival, where the production premiered in 2016.

Department of Music & Theatre Arts Productions

Winter Dance Showcase

Join us for an evening of Dance performed by the dance program students, the University Dance Team, and candidates for the National Honor Society for Dance Arts. Students will perform original works by faculty members and distinguished students.