Monmouth University Center for the Arts Spring 2023 Brochure

COMING UP IN 2023...

TICKETS AT: 732.263.6889 OR MONMOUTH.EDU/MCA

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TO 15%

ON SELECT SHOWS, DETAILS INSIDE.

PERFORMING ARTS SERIES A NEW season of live shows that will delight, inspire, enlighten, engage and entertain ...

SPECIAL 50 TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION!

PILOBOLUS BIG FIVE-OH! Sat. January 21 ● 8 PM

POLLAK THEATRE | Tickets: $45-$75

For this 50TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION, Pilobolus questions its own “givens,” turns its traditions sideways, and brings its past into the future. As fresh and vibrant as ever, Pilobolus –that feisty arts organism– puts the “Oh!” in BIG FIVE OH! , and continues to morph its way thrillingly into audiences’ hearts and minds. The celebration includes signature works from vintage classics to their trend setting innovative work in shadow.

THE DOO WOP PROJECT Sat. February 4 ● 8 PM

POLLAK THEATRE | Tickets: $43-$65

Featuring stars of Broadway’s smash hits Jersey Boys and Motown: The Musical, THE DOO WOP PROJECT takes audiences on a journey featuring foundational tunes from the Crests, Belmonts and Flamingos through their influences on the sounds of Smokey Robinson, The Temptations, and The Four Seasons all the way to DooWopified versions of modern musicians Michael Jackson, Jason Mraz and Maroon 5. Be ready to experience unparalleled authenticity of sound and vocal excellence that recreates—and in some cases entirely reimagines—the greatest music in American pop and rock history!

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PERFORMING ARTS SERIES

LOS LOBOS Fri. February 24 ● 8 PM

POLLAK THEATRE | Tickets: $40-$65

LOS LOBOS has sold millions of records, won prestigious awards and made fans around the world. But perhaps its most lasting impact will be how well its music embodies the idea of America as a cultural melting pot. In it, styles like son jarocho, norteño, Tejano, folk, country, doo-wop, soul, R&B, rock ’n’ roll and punk all come together to create a new sound that’s greater than the sum of its parts.

CHERISH THE LADIES Sat. March 4 ● 8 PM

POLLAK THEATRE | Tickets: $43-$65

One of America’s most heralded Irish music ensembles for the last 37 years, CHERISH THE LADIES has won the hearts of audiences worldwide with their rousing blend of traditional music, captivating vocals, and propulsive step dancing.

Under the leadership of JOANIE MADDEN, these extremely gifted women create a moving experience with a blend of virtuoso instrumentals, beautiful vocals, traditional and original arrangements along with stunning step dancing.

TELL PHARAOH Sat. April 22 ● 8 PM and Sun. April 23 ● 4 PM

POLLAK THEATRE | Tickets: $20

Produced by DUNBAR REPERTORY COMPANY, Tell Pharaoh is a concert drama about Harlem, our nation’s foremost Black community, from the time of slavery all the way through the 21st century. Written by playwright Loften Mitchell who was part of a groundswell of writers that contributed to the Black American theatre movement in the 1960s, the play is a masterfully crafted and poetic recitation of a history that began long before the slave trade.

Los Lobos

PERFORMING ARTS SERIES

ARLO GUTHRIE What’s Left Of Me

A Conversation with Bob Santelli

Fri. April 28 ● 8 PM

POLLAK THEATRE | Tickets: $50-$60

Featuring Arlo Guthrie in conversation with Bob Santelli - includes rarely seen video footage along with an audience Q&A. Unscripted, unrehearsed, and under no illusions but his own, Arlo Guthrie returns to venerable venues as a man who has seen it all, and lived to tell the story after 60 years on the road.“These engagements won’t be musical events,” said Guthrie. “We’ll be setting this as an interview with talking, joking, telling stories…as well as answering questions from the audience. We’ll have some fun, and we’ll talk about serious subjects, as well”.

THE BOXMASTERS

Billy Bob Thornton and J.D. Andrew

Sat. June 24 ● 8 PM

POLLAK THEATRE | Tickets: $40-$60

Formed in 2007 by actor-musician BILLY BOB THORNTON and award-winning engineer J.D. ANDREW, The Boxmasters have recorded an impressive and diverse catalogue of music that touches on their love of a wide array of influences, but most importantly, the rock and roll of the 1960’s. Listening to The Boxmasters, one can hear obvious odes to the Beatles, Byrds and Beach Boys, but also The Mothers of Invention, Kris Kristofferson, John Prine and Big Star. As a touring band, The Boxmasters have cultivated a cult fanbase opening for ZZ Top, Steve Miller, and George Thorogood.

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When you buy tickets to three Performing Arts Series shows you get a 15% discount!

LIVE IN HD in surround sound with easy-to-read subtitles on our 30’ screen What our audiences are saying: “When I see an opera at Pollak, I feel as if I am at the Met. It’s wonderful.”

GIORDANO’S FEDORA

BLANCHARD’S CHAMPION

Tickets: $23 | Run Time: 2:41

Tickets: $23 | Run Time: 3:20

Sat. January 14 ● 1 PM

Sat. April 29 ● 1 PM

Giordano’s exhilarating drama returns to the Met for the first time in 25 years, starring soprano Sonya Yoncheva in the title role of the 19th-century princess who falls in love with her fiancé’s murderer, Count Loris, sung by tenor Piotr Beczała.

In Terence Blanchard’s first opera after Fire Shut Up in My Bones, bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green is the young boxer Emile Griffith, who rises from obscurity to become a world champion.

Bass-baritone Eric Owens portrays Griffith’s older self, haunted by ghosts from his past.

WAGNER’S LOHENGRIN

MOZART’S DON GIOVANNI

Sat. March 18 ● 12 PM

Sat. May 20 ● 1 PM

Tickets: $23 | Run Time: 4:54

Tickets: $23 | Run Time: 3:14

Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts a cast led by tenor Piotr Beczała in the title role of the mysterious swan knight. Soprano Tamara Wilson is the duchess Elsa, falsely accused of murder, going head-to-head with soprano Christine Goerke as the sorceress Ortrud.

VERDI’S FALSTAFF

MOZART’S DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE

Sat. April 1 ● 12:30 PM Tickets: $23 | Run Time: 3:00

Michael Volle is the knight Falstaff, in Verdi’s comedy alongside a cast that features sopranos Hera Hyesang Park and Ailyn Pérez, mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnson Cano, contralto Marie-Nicole Lemieux, tenor Bogdan Volkov, and baritone Christopher Maltman.

STRAUSS’S DER ROSENKAVALIER Sat. April 15 ● 12 PM

Sat. June 3 ● 1 PM

Tickets: $23 | Run Time: 3:30

Nathalie Stutzmann conducts her second work this season with a brilliant cast that includes soprano Erin Morley as Pamina, tenor Lawrence Brownlee as Tamino, and baritone Thomas Oliemans in his Met debut as Papageno.

ALL BROADCASTS AT THE POLLAK THEATRE

Tickets: $23 | Run Time: 4:42

A stellar trio assembles to take on the lead roles of Strauss’s comedy, with soprano Lise Davidsen in her Met role debut as the Marschallin, opposite mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard in her Met role debut as Octavian, and soprano Erin Morley as Sophie.

The Met: Live in HD series is made possible by a generous grant from its founding sponsor

Tony Award–winning director Ivo van Hove makes his Met debut in a new staging of Mozart’s tragicomedy. Nathalie Stutzmann makes her Met debut conducting a starstudded cast with baritone Peter Mattei as Don Giovanni, and the Leporello of bassbaritone Adam Plachetka.

Digital support of The Met: Live in HD is provided by

Large print programs are available at each performance Presentations of the Met: Live in HD series at Monmouth University are made possible by a generous gift from University Trustee Robert Sculthorpe, as well as gifts from the Fairleigh S. Dickinson, Jr. Foundation Inc. and the Nicola Musso Charitable Foundation.

The Met: Live in HD series is supported by

HD Broadcasts are supported by

With state-of-the-art filming techniques, the British theatre behind the Tony Award winning WAR HORSE & ONE MAN, TWO GUVNORS brings thrilling HD broadcasts to Pollak Theatre.

Proudly supported by

THE CRUCIBLE Thurs. March 2 ● 7:30 PM Tickets: $23 | Run Time: 3 hours

A witch hunt is beginning in Arthur Miller’s captivating parable of power with ERIN DOHERTY (The Crown) and BRENDAN COWELL (Yerma). Lyndsey Turner (Hamlet) directs this contemporary new staging, designed by Tony Award-winner Es Devlin (The Lehman Trilogy).

Captured live from the Olivier stage at the National Theatre.

OTHELLO Thurs. April 27 ● 7:30 PM Tickets: $23 | Run Time: 3 hours

An extraordinary new production of Shakespeare’s most enduring tragedy, directed by Clint Dyer with a cast that includes GILES TERERA (Hamilton), ROSY MCEWEN (The Alienist) and PAUL HILTON (The Inheritance). Othello is filmed live on the Lyttleton stage of the National Theatre.

GOOD Thurs. June 29 ● 7:30 PM

Tickets: $23 | Run Time: 3 hours

DAVID TENNANT (Doctor Who) makes a much-anticipated return to the West End in a blistering reimagining of one of Britain’s most powerful, political plays. As the world faces its Second World War, John Halder, a good, intelligent German professor, finds himself pulled into a movement with unthinkable consequences.

Check our website for more titles to be announced throughout the year!

ADULT EDUCATION SERIES COURSES ARE JUST $50 FOR THREE VIRTUAL SESSIONS!*

Join Monmouth University faculty and friends as they host virtual courses exploring topics that blend leisure and learning.

THE ROOTS OF ROCK ’N’ ROLL, PART III Class Schedule: Thursdays - Jan. 12, 19 & 26 | 7:30 - 9 PM

This three-session virtual course taught by KIT O’TOOLE, Every Sound There Is: Influences on the Beatles examines lesser-known inspirations for some of the Beatles most well-known songs as well as rock and roll itself. British Music Hall, Blue Beat (predecessor to ska and reggae), swamp pop, the avant garde, and more will be explored.

WRITING MEMOIR (ADVANCED) Class Schedule: Thursdays - Feb. 9, 16 & 23 | 7:30 - 9 PM

This three-session virtual course taught by MIKE FARRAGHER (88) builds on the wildly popular Intro to Memoir Writing workshops with an emphasis on character development, dialogue, and scene setting that will make any story a page turner. Practical lessons are interspersed with writing prompts to get the creativity going during this 3 week course. No prior writing experience needed and all levels welcome!

PSYCHEDELIA IN POPULAR MUSIC & FILM Class Schedule: Thursdays - Mar. 2, 9 & 16 | 7:30 - 9 PM

This three-session virtual course taught by RUSSELL REISING will examine some of the ways in which popular music and film from the mid-1960s to the present embodies many of the insights, ideas, and emotions generated by experiences with psychedelic substances.

DAVID BOWIE, ZIGGY TO ALADDIN Class Schedule: Thursdays - Mar. 23 & 30, Apr. 6 | 7:30 - 9 PM

This three session virtual course, taught by ANDREW WOMACK, will examine a year-long period bookended by two seminal albums, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars and Aladdin Sane. Through concert footage and television appearances, news articles and, of course, the music—we’ll experience how Ziggy refracted and reflected popular and underground culture.

THE ROOTS OF ROCK ’N’ ROLL, PART IV Class Schedule: Thursdays - Apr. 13, 20 & 27 | 7:30 - 9 PM

This three session virtual course, taught by KIT O’TOOLE, will provide an overview of some of the cultures and traditions that contributed to the melting pot that is rock music. Africa, Cuba, Italy, and Mexico are among the places visited on this three-week musical tour.

THE ENDURING MYSTERY OF KING TUT Class Schedule: Thursday, May 4 | 7:30 - 9 PM*

The tomb of Tutankhamun was arguably the most famous archaeological find of the 20th century. How was the tomb discovered? Who were the scholars responsible for the find and, who was the Boy King and why did his tomb survive largely intact for thousands of years? This well-illustrated presentation

by RICH VEIT, will seek to answer those questions as we celebrate the centennial of this amazing discovery. *One virtual class for $20

Monmouth University Center for the Ars is committed to making its facilities and performances accessible for all patrons. If you require special assistance attending our events please advise the Box Office when ordering your tickets.

u Visiting Writer’s Series

“This was my first time at this wonderful theater. [We] were quite impressed with the seating layout, intimacy and proximity to the entertainment. We will be looking into attending more programs at this venue. We all left the theater feeling joy.”

MONMOUTH.EDU/MCA ∙ 732.263.6889

BUY TICKETS ONLINE OR BY PHONE AT:

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u Department of Music & Theatre Productions

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Also check our website for information about our additional events at the CENTER FOR THE ARTS including:

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