Center for the Arts

Tuesday Night Book Club

Hernan Diaz, Trust

Join us for Tuesday Night Book Club! Hosted by Monmouth University’s Ken Womack. This month’s novel is Hernan Diaz’s Trust. Even through the roar and effervescence of the 1920s, everyone in New York has heard of Benjamin and Helen Rask. He is a legendary Wall Street tycoon; she is the daughter of eccentric aristocrats. Together, they have risen to the very top of a world of seemingly endless wealth—all as a decade of excess and speculation draws to an end. But at what cost have they acquired their immense fortune? This is the mystery at the center of Bonds, a successful 1937 novel that all of New York seems to have read. Yet there are other versions of this tale of privilege and deceit. Hernan Diaz’s TRUST elegantly puts these competing narratives into conversation with one another—and in tension with the perspective of one woman bent on disentangling fact from fiction. The result is a novel that spans over a century and becomes more exhilarating with each new revelation.

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

Salome

Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts his first Met performances of Strauss’s white-hot one-act tragedy, which receives its first new production at the company in 20 years. Claus Guth, one of Europe’s leading opera directors, gives the biblical story—already filtered through the beautiful and strange imagination of Oscar Wilde’s play—a psychologically perceptive, Victorian-era setting rich in symbolism and subtle shades of darkness and light. Headlining the new staging is soprano Elza van den Heever as the abused and unhinged antiheroine, who demands the head of Jochanaan, sung by celebrated baritone Peter Mattei. Tenor Gerhard Siegel is Salome’s lecherous stepfather, King Herod, with mezzo-soprano Michelle DeYoung as his wife, Herodias, and tenor Piotr Buszewski as Narraboth. This live cinema transmission is part of the Met’s award-winning Live in HD series, bringing opera to movie theaters across the globe.

Candlelight Concerts

Candlelight Spring: Tribute to Adele

Candlelight Spring concerts bring the magic of a live, multi-sensory musical experience to awe-inspiring locations like never before. Fever Up’s concert series was created with the intention of democratizing access to classical music, and the space and performers are illuminated by thousands of candles to create a truly magical experience. The String Quartet has a tentative program that includes songs such as Hello, Rumour Has It, Set Fire to the Rain, Rolling in the Deep, and many more!

The Metropolitan Opera: Live in HD

Il Barbiere di Siviglia

Rossini’s effervescent comedy retakes the stage in Bartlett Sher’s madcap production. Mezzo-soprano Aigul Akhmetshina headlines a winning ensemble as the feisty heroine, Rosina, alongside high-flying tenor Jack Swanson, in his Met debut, as her secret beloved, Count Almaviva. Baritone Andrey Zhilikhovsky stars as Figaro, the titular barber of Seville, with bass-baritone Peter Kálmán as Dr. Bartolo and bass Alexander Vinogradov as Don Basilio rounding out the principal cast. Giacomo Sagripanti conducts. This live cinema transmission is part of the Met’s award-winning Live in HD series, bringing opera to movie theaters across the globe.

Tuesday Night Record Club

Cheap Trick at Budokan

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 Cheap Trick at Budokan.

Free and open to the public, but registration is required.

Art on Screen

Michelangelo: Love & Death

Spanning his 88 years, Michelangelo – Love and Death takes a cinematic journey through the print and drawing rooms of Europe through the great chapels and museums of Florence, Rome and the Vatican to seek out a deeper understanding of this legendary figure’s tempestuous life, his relationship with his contemporaries and his incredible legacy.

Tuesday Night Book Club

John Irving, The World According to Garp

Join us for Tuesday Night Book Club! Hosted by Monmouth University’s Ken Womack, each month we’ll explore a different novel. All you have to do is Zoom in and join the discussion! This weeks book is The World According to Garp by John Irving. This is the life and times of T. S. Garp, the bastard son of Jenny Fields–a feminist leader ahead of her times. This is the life and death of a famous mother and her almost-famous son; theirs is a world of sexual extremes–even of sexual assassinations. It is a novel rich with “lunacy and sorrow”; yet the dark, violent events of the story do not undermine a comedy both ribald and robust. In more than thirty languages, in more than forty countries– with more than ten million copies in print–this novel provides almost cheerful, even hilarious evidence of its famous last line: “In the world according to Garp, we are all terminal cases.”

Candlelight Concerts

Candlelight Spring: Tribute to Coldplay

Candlelight Spring concerts bring the magic of a live, multi-sensory musical experience to awe-inspiring locations like never before. Fever Up’s concert series was created with the intention of democratizing access to classical music, and the space and performers are illuminated by thousands of candles to create a truly magical experience. The String Quartet has a tentative program that includes songs such as Clocks, Shiver, Speed of Sound, Trouble, Fix You, Paradise, Yellow, and many more!

The Metropolitan Opera: Live in HD

Le Nozze di Figaro

Conductor Joana Mallwitz makes her Met debut leading an extraordinary cast in Mozart’s comic masterpiece. Bass-baritone Michael Sumuel stars as the clever valet Figaro, opposite soprano Olga Kulchynska as his betrothed, the wily maid Susanna. Baritone Joshua Hopkins is the skirt-chasing Count, with soprano Federica Lombardi as his anguished wife and mezzo-soprano Marianne Crebassa as the adolescent page Cherubino. This live cinema transmission is part of the Met’s award-winning Live in HD series, bringing opera to movie theaters across the globe.

Please note due to a University Scheduling conflict this screening has been moved from it's originally scheduled date to June 14.

Adult Education Series

Classic for a Reason: Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours

Join music historians Ken Womack & Kit O’Toole as they revisit classic record albums. With Classic for a Reason, Ken & Kit will take listeners on a guided tour of our history’s most enduring popular musical accomplishments. Classic for a Reason is part of Monmouth University’s Adult Education series.

Zoom Link will be provided upon registration.

Tuesday Night Record Club

Crowded House

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 Crowded House’s debut album.

Free and open to the public, but registration is required.

Tuesday Night Book Club

Mark Haddon, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Join us for Tuesday Night Book Club! Hosted by Monmouth University’s Ken Womack, each month we’ll explore a different novel. All you have to do is Zoom in and join the discussion! This week’s book is The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. Christopher John Francis Boone knows all the countries of the world and their capitals and every prime number up to 7,057. He relates well to animals but has no understanding of human emotions. He cannot stand to be touched. And he detests the color yellow. This improbable story of Christopher’s quest to investigate the suspicious death of a neighborhood dog makes for one of the most captivating, unusual, and widely heralded novels in recent years.

Candlelight Concerts

Candlelight Concert: Tribute to Queen and The Beatles

Candlelight concerts bring the magic of a live, multi-sensory musical experience to awe-inspiring locations like never seen before. Get your tickets now to discover the music of Queen and The Beatles at Pollak Theatre under the gentle glow of candlelight. The String Quartet has a tentative program that includes songs such as Here Comes the Sun, Yesterday, I Want to Break Free, Bohemian Rhapsody, and more!

Tuesday Night Record Club

Jeff Buckley, Grace

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 Jeff Buckley’s Grace.

Free and open to the public, but registration is required.

National Theatre: Broadcast in HD

A Streetcar Named Desire

The fastest-selling production in the Young Vic’s history, directed by Benedict Andrews and filmed live in 2014, received critical acclaim and 5-star reviews. It is one of National Theatre Live’s most popular titles and has been watched by 1.2 million people worldwide.

Candlelight Concerts

Candlelight Concert: Neo-Soul and Hip-Hop Favorites

Candlelight concerts bring the magic of a live, multi-sensory musical experience to awe-inspiring locations like never seen before in Long Branch. Get your tickets now to discover the music of Neo-Soul and Hip-Hop Favorites at Pollak Theatre under the gentle glow of candlelight. The String Quartet has a tentative program that includes musicians such as Lauryn Hill, Miguel, Childish Gambino, Alicia Keys, and more!

Tuesday Night Book Club

Cormac McCarthy, Blood Meridian

Join us for Tuesday Night Book Club! Hosted by Monmouth University’s Ken Womack, each month we’ll explore a different novel. All you have to do is Zoom in and join the discussion! This week’s book is Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy. Based on historical events that took place on the Texas-Mexico border in the 1850s, Blood Meridian traces the fortunes of the Kid, a fourteen-year-old Tennesseean who stumbles into the nightmarish world where Indians are being murdered and the market for their scalps is thriving.

Tuesday Night Record Club

Bruce Springsteen, Born to Run

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 Born to Run and is offered both in person and via Zoom.

Free and open to the public, but registration is required.

Tuesday Night Book Club

Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall

Join us for Tuesday Night Book Club! Hosted by Monmouth University’s Ken Womack, each month we’ll explore a different novel. All you have to do is Zoom in and join the discussion! This week’s book is Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel. England in the 1520s is a heartbeat from disaster. If the king dies without a male heir, the country could be destroyed by civil war. Henry VIII wants to annul his marriage of twenty years and marry Anne Boleyn. The pope and most of Europe opposes him. Into this impasse steps Thomas Cromwell: a wholly original man, a charmer and a bully, both idealist and opportunist, astute in reading people, and implacable in his ambition. But Henry is volatile: one day tender, one day murderous. Cromwell helps him break the opposition, but what will be the price of his triumph?