Events

Spend a lively and memorable afternoon with a theater maker who has changed, broadened, and deepened the form, Anna Deavere Smith. In twenty-one plays created over forty years, playwright and actor, Anna Deavere Smith has created a singular body of work under the title On the Road: A Search for American Character. These plays are comprised of the exact words of hundreds, if not thousands, of individuals she has interviewed. She creates rich and human tapestries that represent complex communities or social issues.

$15 EACH | FOUR PACK $40 plus handling
In the event of rain, this performance will take place in Memorial Auditorium.

Spend an early Fall evening with us outdoors in the historic Montclair State University Amphitheater watching the acclaimed Disney/Pixar animated film inspired by the Mexican holiday Day of the Dead. The film will be accompanied by a 20-member Latin music ensemble. Food trucks on-site.

2013 MacArthur Fellowship-winning contemporary choreographer, Kyle Abraham is perhaps the most exciting American dance maker of his generation. Known for his use of popular music and his choreographic explorations of love in all its aspects. "Kyle Abraham has a mission - and it's bigger than himself. He likes to spread the love with his company A.I.M., and, in doing so, broaden the viewer's experience of what a dance concert by a choreographer—led company can be."  -- The New York Times

To what lengths would you go to get home? In this brand-new production by The Acting Company, two-time OBIE Award-winning director Lisa Peterson brings new life to Homer’s homecoming epic, The Odyssey. Four young women, trapped in the limbo of a refugee camp, retell Odysseus' adventures as they struggle with their own search for a home. Based on the revelatory translation by MacArthur Fellow Emily Wilson, which was named to The New York Times’ top 100 notable books list for 2018; this bold adaptation brings fresh humor and grace to a timeless story we all think we know.

A screening of the award-winning animated French film comedy accompanied by a live jazz orchestra playing the original score, which will be conducted by the score’s composer, Benoît Charest.  When Madame Souza’s grandson is kidnapped during the Tour de France, she and her beloved pooch, Bruno, team up with the Belleville sisters – an aged song-and-dance team from the days of Fred Astaire – to rescue him.

An arresting and entrancing vocal quartet from Kyiv, Ukraine. Reflecting fundamental elements of sound and soul, Ukrainian “ethnic chaos” band DakhaBrakha, create a world of unexpected new music. Accompanied by traditional instrumentation from different countries, the quartet’s astonishingly powerful and uncompromising vocal range creates a trans-national sound rooted in Ukrainian culture. At the crossroads of Ukrainian folklore and theatre, their musical spectrum is intimate then riotous, plumbing the depths of contemporary roots and rhythms, inspiring “cultural and artistic liberation”.

Cécile McLorin Salvant is a composer, singer, and visual artist. An eclectic curator unearthing rarely recorded, forgotten songs with strong narratives, interesting power dynamics, unexpected twists, and humor. Winner of Thelonious Monk competition, and three consecutive Grammy Awards for Best Jazz Vocal Album. In 2020, Salvant received the MacArthur Fellowship and the Doris Duke Award. The New York Times called Ghost Song, released in March 2022, “her most revealing and rewarding album yet," Mélusine, an album mostly sung in French, along with Occitan, English, and Haitian Kreyòl, was released on March 24, 2023.

Composed by Montclair State University College of the Arts faculty member, Scott Davenport Richards, Blind Injustice explores the true stories of six people who were tried, unjustly convicted, imprisoned, and who ultimately freed themselves with the help of the Ohio Innocence Project. “A powerful piece of music theater.” — The Wall Street Journal

Before he was an Emmy-winning TV star, Mandy Patinkin was already a Tony-winning Broadway legend. Mandy Patinkin in Concert: BEING ALIVE presents the acclaimed actor/singer/storyteller in his most electrifying role: concert performer. “Mandy Patinkin is in the business of showstopping,” raves The New Yorker, and that’s exactly what he does in this powerful, passionate evening of song. BEING ALIVE is a collection of many of Mandy’s favorite Broadway and classic American tunes. From Irving Berlin to Stephen Sondheim, from Cole Porter to Harry Chapin, Mandy Patinkin takes you on a dazzling musical journey you’ll never forget.

Acclaimed choreographer Larry Keigwin and Keigwin + Company co-founder Nicole Wolcott create and perform in an all-new, community-enhanced show inspired by the artist’s post-pandemic life on the other side of the stage door featuring a number of performers from Montclair and surrounding towns. Larry and Nicole explore the universal themes of acceptance, aging, and finding your place in the world through the lens of the audition. Stage Door is full of backstage antics and surprising emotional moments that capture the imagination and magic of the theater.