Center for the Arts

Tuesday Night Record Club

Paul and Linda McCartney’s Ram

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 to discuss some of the greatest records of all-time! Listen to the album beforehand and then come prepared to discuss. This event will feature Paul and Linda McCartney’s Ram.

Tuesday Night Book Club

Erik Larson’s The Devil in the White City

Join us for Tuesday Night Book Club! Hosted by Monmouth University’s Ken Womack and special guests each month we’ll explore a different novel. All you have to do is Zoom in and join the discussion! This month’s novel is Erik Larson’s The Devil in the White City. #1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER • NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST • From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Splendid and the Vile comes the true tale of the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago and the cunning serial killer who used the magic and majesty of the fair to lure his victims to their death.

Live Theatre Broadcasts in HD

National Theatre: Broadcast in HD

Nye

Michael Sheen plays Nye Bevan in a surreal and spectacular journey through the life and legacy of the man who transformed Britain’s welfare state. From campaigning at the coalfield to leading the battle to create the National Health Service, Aneurin ‘Nye’ Bevan is often referred to as the politician with greatest influence over the UK without ever being Prime Minister. Confronted with death, Aneurin ‘Nye’ Bevan’s deepest memories lead him on a mind-bending journey back through his life; from childhood to mining underground, Parliament and fights with Churchill.

Tuesday Night Record Club

Elvis Costello’s Imperial Bedroom

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 to discuss some of the greatest records of all-time! Listen to the album beforehand and then come prepared to discuss. This event will feature Elvis Costello’s Imperial Bedroom

Tuesday Night Book Club

Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar

Join us for Tuesday Night Book Club! Hosted by Monmouth University’s Ken Womack and special guests each month we’ll explore a different novel. All you have to do is Zoom in and join the discussion! This month’s novel is Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar. In the hauntingly beautiful pages of The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath takes us on a gripping journey into the fragile psyche of Esther Greenwood. Set against the backdrop of 1950s America, this semiautobiographical novel explores the stifling expectations placed upon women and the suffocating grasp of societal norms.

Grammy Museum Affiliation

Tuesday Night Record Club

The Rolling Stones, Sticky Fingers

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 to discuss some of the greatest records of all-time! Listen to the album beforehand and then come prepared to discuss. This event will feature The Rolling Stones, Sticky Fingers.

Tuesday Night Book Club

Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird

Join us for Tuesday Night Book Club! Hosted by Monmouth University’s Ken Womack. This month’s novel is Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. The unforgettable novel of a childhood in a sleepy Southern town and the crisis of conscience that rocked it, To Kill A Mockingbird became both an instant bestseller and a critical success when it was first published in 1960. It went on to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1961 and was later made into an Academy Award-winning film, also a classic.

Great Art on Screen

Picasso: Rebel in Paris

Fifty years after his passing, we embark on a journey through Pablo Picasso’s Paris, amidst sunshine and shadow, convictions and contradictions, from a young, impoverished foreigner to one of the most important icons of the 20th-century. The film moves continuously in and out of the Musée Picasso in Paris which has the largest existing collection dedicated to the painter with 6,000 masterpieces and 200,000 pieces of archive material, and follows Picasso through the Parisian neighborhoods where he lived, from the early days in ateliers with no heating to the large middle-class apartments where his success began: a physical and intellectual journey to gain a deeper understanding of his work and spirit.

Tickets on sale July 15

Grammy Museum Affiliation

Tuesday Night Record Club

Cat Stevens, Tea for the Tillerman

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 to discuss some of the greatest records of all-time! Listen to the album beforehand and then come prepared to discuss. This event will feature Cat Stevens, Tea for the Tillerman.

The Metropolitan Opera: Live in HD

Les Contes d’Hoffmann

On October 5, an ensemble of leading lights take the stage for Offenbach’s fantastical final work, headlined by tenor Benjamin Bernheim in the title role of the tormented poet. Hoffmann’s trio of lovers are sung by soprano Erin Morley as the mechanical doll Olympia, soprano Pretty Yende as the plagued diva Antonia, and mezzo-soprano Clémentine Margaine as the Venetian seductress Giulietta. Marco Armiliato conducts Bartlett Sher’s evocative production, which also features bass-baritone Christian Van Horn as the Four Villains and mezzo-soprano Vasilisa Berzhanskaya in an important company debut as Hoffmann’s friend Nicklausse. This live cinema transmission is part of the Met’s award-winning Live in HD series, bringing opera to movie theaters across the globe.

Tickets on sale July 22 to Center for the Arts members and July 24 to general public.

Tuesday Night Book Club

Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s 100 Years of Solitude

Join us for Tuesday Night Book Club! Hosted by Monmouth University’s Ken Womack. This month’s novel is Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s 100 Years of Solitude. One of the most influential literary works of our time, One Hundred Years of Solitude remains a dazzling and original achievement by the masterful Gabriel Garcia Marquez, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature. One Hundred Years of Solitude tells the story of the rise and fall, birth and death of the mythical town of Macondo through the history of the Buendiá family. Inventive, amusing, magnetic, sad and alive with unforgettable men and women—brimming with truth, compassion, and a lyrical magic that strikes the soul—this novel is a masterpiece in the art of fiction.

Performing Arts Series

Billy Bob Thornton & The Boxmasters

The Boxmasters make a triumphant return to Pollak Theatre, bringing their latest album, “Love & Hate In Desperate Places,” and their electrifying North American tour to the stage. With J.D. Andrew and Bud Thornton leading the charge, the album introduces Kirk McKim and Raymond Hardy to the lineup, adding new dimensions to their sound. Kirk, a seasoned guitarist, and Raymond, a powerhouse on bass, bring fresh energy to the band’s recordings.

Performing Arts Series

An Evening with Rickie Lee Jones

Rickie Lee Jones is an American musician, storyteller and two-time Grammy winner who has been inspiring pop culture for decades, beginning with her star-making self-titled debut, followed by the seminal Pirates.  Named the “premiere song-stylist and songwriter of her generation” by The New Yorker, and “The Duchess of Coolsville” by Time magazine, Jones released her Grammy-nominated album Pieces of Treasure in 2023, a reunion with Russ Titelman, who produced her first two records.  Jones’ celebrated memoir Last Chance Texaco was named Book of the Year by MOJO and a Best Book of the Year at Pitchfork and NPR.  The Independent writes, “There has always been something defiant about Rickie Lee Jones . . . a voice from a dream, elusive yet familiar, transcendent, a messenger from another place.” 

The Metropolitan Opera: Live in HD

Grounded

Two-time Tony Award–winning composer Jeanine Tesori’s powerful new opera Grounded, commissioned by the Met and based on librettist George Brant’s acclaimed play, wrestles with the ethical quandaries and psychological toll of 21st-century warfare. Mezzo-soprano Emily D’Angelo, one of opera’s most compelling young stars, portrays Jess, a hot-shot fighter pilot whose unplanned pregnancy takes her out of the cockpit and lands her in Las Vegas, operating a Reaper drone halfway around the world. As she struggles to adjust to this new way of doing battle, she fights to maintain her sanity, and her soul, as she is called to rain down death by remote control. Met Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin oversees the Met premiere of Tesori’s kaleidoscopic score and a cast that also features tenor Ben Bliss as the Wyoming rancher who becomes Jess’s husband. Michael Mayer’s high-tech staging, using a vast array of LED screens, presents a variety of perspectives on the action, including the drone’s predatory view from high above. This live cinema transmission is part of the Met’s award-winning Live in HD series, bringing opera to movie theaters across the globe.

Tickets on sale July 22 to Center for the Arts members and July 24 to general public.

Great Art on Screen

Munch: Love, Ghosts and Lady Vampires

Munch: Love, Ghosts and Lady Vampires strives to shed new light on Edvard Munch, a profoundly mysterious, fascinating man, a trailblazer and a master for everyone who came after him. Now marks a turning point in our knowledge of the artist: the new MUNCH museum which opened in October 2021 in Oslo houses the immense legacy the artist left to his city: 28,000 works of art including paintings, prints, drawings, notebooks, sketches, photographs and his experiments with film. This extraordinary legacy gives us an exceptional insight into the mind, the passions and the art of this genius.

Tickets on sale July 15

Grammy Museum Affiliation

Tuesday Night Record Club

Bruce Springsteen, The Ghost of Tom Joad

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 to discuss some of the greatest records of all-time! Listen to the album beforehand and then come prepared to discuss. This event will feature The Ghost of Tom Joad.

Tuesday Night Book Club

Louise Erdrich, The Night Watchman

Join us for Tuesday Night Book Club! Hosted by Monmouth University’s Ken Womack. This month’s novel is Louise Erdrich’s The Night Watchman. Based on the extraordinary life of National Book Award-winning author Louise Erdrich’s grandfather who worked as a night watchman and carried the fight against Native dispossession from rural North Dakota all the way to Washington, D.C., this powerful novel explores themes of love and death with lightness and gravity and unfolds with the elegant prose, sly humor, and depth of feeling of a master craftsman.

The Metropolitan Opera: Live in HD

Tosca

Extraordinary soprano Lise Davidsen stars as the volatile diva Floria Tosca for her first time at the Met. David McVicar’s thrilling production also features tenor Freddie De Tommaso in his eagerly anticipated company debut as Tosca’s revolutionary lover, Cavaradossi, and powerhouse baritone Quinn Kelsey as the sadistic chief of police Scarpia. Maestro Xian Zhang conducts the electrifying score, which features some of Puccini’s most memorable melodies. This live cinema transmission is part of the Met’s award-winning Live in HD series, bringing opera to movie theaters across the globe.

Tickets on sale July 22 to Center for the Arts members and July 24 to general public.

Performing Arts Series

The Wailin’ Jennys

Join us for a night of unforgettable folk music as The Wailin’ Jennys grace the stage at Pollak Theatre. From their humble beginnings in a tiny guitar shop to becoming one of today’s most beloved international folk acts, The Wailin’ Jennys have captured hearts around the world. Founding members Moody, Mehta, and Masse continue to impress with each critically acclaimed recording, elevating their music to new heights while thrilling audiences with their renowned live performances.

Great Art on Screen

Perugio: Eternal Renaissance

Perugino: Eternal Renaissance is a journey to discover Perugino, one of the most revered artists of the 15th Century and to celebrate the 500th Anniversary of his death. Journey through Italy to discover his great masterpieces, from the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel to the two rooms entirely dedicated to him in the National Gallery of Umbria. Spectators will be led on a guided discovery of the artist’s harmonious work: a perfect balance between man and nature, realism and idealism, as seen in paintings such as “The Delivery of the Keys” in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel, “Lamentation over the Dead Christ” in the Galleria Palatina in Florence, the “Pietà” and “Agony in the Garden” in the Uffizi Gallery.