Featured
Catapult
Pollak TheatreAn America’s Got Talent finalist from Season 8, Catapult is a features incredible dancers who work behind a screen to create magical shadow silhouettes of shapes from the world around us. Be amazed as you watch their bodies transform into a mountain, an elephant, a dragon, even a helicopter! You’ll never figure out how they do it, and you won’t know what they will create next – you’ll be surprised and delighted again and again. Packed with hundreds of shape transformation, the show is full of humor, emotion and engaging stories.
The Book of Ice: Multimedia Performance by Paul D. Miller aka DJ Spooky
Pollak TheatrePaul D. Miller, aka DJ Spooky, will visit Monmouth University to present his The Book of Ice—a multimedia performance and discussion he will stage with musicians from campus and the region. Antarctica, the only uninhabited continent, belongs to no single country, and has no government. While certain countries lay claim to portions of the landmass, it is the only solid land on the planet with no unified national affiliation. Drawing on the continent’s rich history of inspiring exploration and artistic endeavors, Miller has put together his own multimedia, multidisciplinary study of Antarctica. The Book of Ice is one aspect of this ongoing project. In this multimedia talk, Miller discusses his journeys to Antarctica, climate change, and the creation of The Book of Ice, using Antarctica-related data to create maps, graphics, sound, music, and multimedia performances.
The Hunts
Pollak TheatreKnown for their harmony-laced take on alt-folk, The Hunts are a Chesapeake, Virginia-based band of seven siblings who’ve been playing music together almost their entire lives. Twin sisters Jessi and Jenni and five brothers Josh, Jonathan, Jordan, Justin, and Jamison, now ranging in age from 26 down to 17, learned to sing and play violin as young kids and spent much of their childhood performing in their community. After widening their following and playing at theaters, festivals and universities around the country—and teaching themselves to play instruments like mandolin, piano, ukulele, banjo, and drums — The Hunts started experimenting with songwriting and soon brought to life a batch of songs that reveal their sophisticated sense of melody and undeniably dreamy innocence.
Samson et Dalila (Encore)
Pollak TheatreSaint-Saëns’s biblical epic Samson et Dalila stars Elīna Garanča and Roberto Alagna in the title roles; the pair was last seen together by HD audiences in the acclaimed 2010 transmission of Bizet’s Carmen. Laurent Naouri co-stars as the High Priest, with Elchin Azizov as the Philistine King Abimélech and Dmitry Belosselskiy as the Old Hebrew. Darko Tresnjak, the Tony Award–winning director of A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder, makes his Met debut directing the first new Met production of the opera in 20 years. Sir Mark Elder conducts.
Wilson Hall Holiday Concert
The Great HallPlease 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. 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 Wilson Hall.
Van Gogh: Of Wheat Fields and Clouded Skies
Pollak TheatreTake a fresh look at Van Gogh through the legacy of the greatest private collector of the Dutch artist’s work: Helene Kröller-Müller (1869-1939), one of the first to recognize the genius of Van Gogh. In the early 20th century, Kröller-Müller amassed nearly 300 of Van Gogh’s paintings and drawings now housed at her namesake museum in Holland.
The Basilica Palladina exhibition in Vicenza, “Amid Wheat Fields and Clouded Skies,” with 40 paintings and 85 drawings on loan from the Kröller-Müller Museum, lends the basis of this program, revealing Van Gogh’s art and his genius, while allowing audiences to understand the importance of drawing as part of his craft.
Van Gogh’s seemingly instinctive canvases were the result of long, preparatory studies very rarely exhibited – not just sketches but stunning works of art in and of themselves, where the broken flow of lines that characterize the style and strokes in Van Gogh’s paintings can already be seen.
Lonesome Traveler with special guest Peter Yarrow
Pollak TheatreThe roots of American folk music with special guest star & folk legend Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul & Mary!
The story of folk music is truly the story of an ever-changing America.
Experience the enduring power and popularity of American folk music with Lonesome Traveler, the stirring concert version of the acclaimed Off-Broadway musical that the New York Times called “illuminating…revelatory…achingly beautiful.” The show celebrates the music of great folk artists including Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly, Pete Seeger and the Weavers, The Kingston Trio, Peter, Paul and Mary, Bob Dylan, The Byrds, Joni Mitchell, Joan Baez, Crosby Stills & Nash and more, plus a special tribute to Leonard Cohen.
Songwriters by the Sea
Lauren K. Woods TheatreDistinguished 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 Jeffrey Gaines and ERYN with an intro set by Mark Geary. The show will also feature Monmouth University student openers: Max Adolf and Kelli Misenheimer.