Arts and Cultural Programming

Mission Statement

To provide important performing artists the unconditional opportunity to take risks and to create work across multiple disciplines.

To present work by contemporary artists of all fields of the performing arts in the highest professional capacity available.

To integrate fully that work into the academic life of the university in multiple ways to foster learning, participation, and creativity.

To maintain The Alexander Kasser Theater as a state of the performing arts facility and therefore superbly responsive to distinctive artistic impulses.

To maximize the value to the University of having its public arts programming positioned as innovative and daring.

ACP’s overarching premise is to sustain its role as a leader in the advocacy of contemporary artists in this country by producing and presenting their works at Montclair State University, and in doing so to ensure that work of exemplary artists is seen at venues worldwide.

Integral to this mission is the need to encourage audiences to become more adventurous and open to new artistic experiences. Since its inception, the Peak Performances series has set out to challenge and rethink the way independent theaters operate and to create a bold new model for presenters in the Garden state.

ACP is embedded in a public university campus setting and is committed to engaging more than 21,000 undergraduate and graduate students. Under the ACP umbrella, Peak Performances is a leading model nationally for innovative producing and presenting.

Peak Performances

Under the artistic direction of ACP’s Executive Director, Jedediah Wheeler, PEAK Performances has achieved international recognition for presenting and producing innovative works in dance, music theater and opera. With a celebrated emphasis on interdisciplinary work, PEAK hosted 75 World and American Premieres since 2005. Notable among the artists whose work has been seen on the Alexander Kasser Theater stage are Richard Alston, David Rousseve, Bill T Jones, Camille A. Brown, Wayne MacGregor, Robyn Orlin, Romeo Castelucci, Crystal Pite, Liz Gerring, Faye Driscoll, Angelica Liddell, Jan Fabre, Emma Dante and Pam Tanowitz.

Robert Wilson conceived and directed The Life of Clementine Hunter for the Kasser stage and has also directed Samuel Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape with himself in the title role. Writer, director, designer and choreographer David Gordon revived his production of Robert Brustein’s seminal musical, Schlemiel the First.

PEAK commissions work notably Dog Days by David T. Little and Royce Vavrek, Spinning by Maya Beiser, Julia Wolfe and Laurie Olinder,Leonora and Alejandro by Stacy Klein for Double Edge Theater and My Coma Dreams by Fred Hersch. Companies making their American debuts include Gandini Juggling (UK), Via Katlehong (South Africa), Inbal Oshman (Israel), Charlotte Vincent (UK) and Raphaelle Boitel (France).

By bringing together artists of uncommon imagination with diverse audi-ences of adventuresome spirit, PEAK promotes a greater appreciation of human possibility.

Office of Arts + Cultural Programming

Jedediah Wheeler | Executive Director
Stephanie Haggerstone | Managing Director
Jill Dombrowski | Producing Director
J. Ryan Graves | Director of Production
Chrissy D’Aleo Fels | Cultural Engagement Director
Camille Spaccavento | Marketing & Media Director
Robert Hermida | Audience Services Director
Regina Vorria | Associate Producer
Colin Van Horn | Technical Director
Andrew Dickerson | Production Coordinator
Andrew R. Wilsey | Master Stage Electrician
Jeff Lambert Wingfield | Box Office Manager
Laurel Brolly | Business Administrator
Patrick Flood @ Flood Design | Art Director
Blake Zidell Associates | Media Representative
Natalie Marx | Digital Marketing Associate
Martin Halo | Website
Claudia La Rocco | PEAK Journal Editor
David DeWitt | PEAK Journal Managing Editor
Susan R. Case | Program Copy Editor
Bart Solenthaler | Program Layout Design
Maureen Grimaldi | House Manager
Stephanie Benjamin-Flores, Vici Chirumbolo, Kevin Johnson | Production Run Crew
Maya Siguenza | Student Assistant, Administration and Marketing

Memberships

Theater Tech Specs

Montclair State University is located on Valley Rd. and Normal Ave. in Montclair, NJ; directly by the University’s main entrance on Normal Avenue. Hourly paid parking is available at the Red Hawk Deck next to the theater.

View the Tech Spec Datasheet

Seating Capacity

Permanent Seating Capacity is 463.
The Kasser has:
Orchestra Seats: 288
Mezzanine Seats: 175
Presidential: 36
Orchestra Pit Cover Seats: 35

Usual Seating Capacity: 463
Add Presidential Seating: 499
Add Pit Cover and Presidential: 534

**Additional Standing Room Capacity is available for some engagements.

Technical Contacts

Production Coordinator:
Andrew Dickerson
dickersona@montclair.edu
O: 973-655-3189

Mailing Address:
Alexander Kasser Theater
Montclair State University
1 Normal Ave
Montclair, NJ 07043

Traveling Directions

Below you will find directions to the Kasser Theater from all points by car. If you are utilizing GPS to visit us, please use the following information when entering directions into your GPS: Enter 22 Normal Avenue, Montclair, NJ 07043. This will take you to the entrance of the campus. Turn right off of Normal Ave. on to campus, the Kasser Theater and Red Hawk parking deck will be directly in front of you.

News

Racial Justice: a message from President Cole
Last month, shortly after the killing of George Floyd, I sent a message to the University community about his death, expressing our University's unequivocal commitment to racial justice and equality. Today I sent our students a video message explaining in detail Montclair State's longstanding efforts to build an inclusive campus and do the hard work of preparing the next generation to go out and make the changes necessary to create a more just world.
Watch Dr. Cole's Address

PEAK's Partner, The Walker Art Center, Cuts Ties With Minneapolis Police Department
The museum announced it would stop working with the MPD until it “implements meaningful change,” including “demilitarizing training programs, holding officers accountable for the use of excessive force, and treating communities of color with dignity and respect.”
Learn More

THE NEW YORK TIMES: 6 Dance Performances to See in N.Y.C. This Weekend
Richard Alston at the Alexander Kasser Theater at Montclair State University in Montclair, N.J. (Feb. 20-21, 7:30 p.m.; through Feb. 23). Alston has been making vibrant, lyrical dances for a half-century and has been a pillar of British dance for nearly that long, serving as the artistic director of the Place, an important center of dance training and performance in London.
Learn More

THE NEW YORKER:Richard Alston Dance Company
Recently knighted, Alston has long been an establishment figure in British modern dance, admired for his detailed musicality and his old-school craftsmanship. So it was a bit of a shock when he announced, in 2018, that funding cuts were forcing him to shut down his company. For its last show in the U.S., at Peak Performances, in Montclair, New Jersey...
Read More