Mutts Gone Nuts
2023-04-29 13:00 (America/New_York)
This event has passed.
Main Stage
Adults $20 / Children $15
plus $3 processing fee per ticket

About Mutts Gone Nuts
Imagine nine of the world’s most talented 4-legged performers in an uproariously funny, comedy dog spectacular that is leaving audiences everywhere howling for more! The all-star lineup includes the highest jumping dog in the universe, two Guinness World Record Champions, a hilarious six pound Pomeranian Pikachu mix, and a host of previously discarded dogs that will dance, prance, flip, and skip their way right in to your heart. Deemed “A must see!” by the Washington Post, Mutts Gone Nuts is sure to win Best in Show!

This performance is sponsored by RWJBarnabas Health Community Medical Center.
Share This:

Mutts Gone Nuts
2023-04-29 16:00
Get Tickets
Main Stage
Adults $20 / Children $15
plus $3 processing fee per ticket
Relaxed Performance
About Mutts Gone Nuts
Imagine nine of the world’s most talented 4-legged performers in an uproariously funny, comedy dog spectacular that is leaving audiences everywhere howling for more! The all-star lineup includes the highest jumping dog in the universe, two Guinness World Record Champions, a hilarious six pound Pomeranian Pikachu mix, and a host of previously discarded dogs that will dance, prance, flip, and skip their way right in to your heart. Deemed “A must see!” by the Washington Post, Mutts Gone Nuts is sure to win Best in Show! The 4:00pm performance will be a relaxed performance.
RELAXED PERFORMANCES
Relaxed performances are designed to be a welcoming environment for all visitors, including neurodiverse individuals with sensory needs. These dedicated performances will contain all the joy of a typical theater setting with a few adjustments to help those in attendance feel more comfortable. This can include alterations to light and sound, an environment that will allow for movement and breaks when needed, and inclusive staff that will welcome guests from the moment they arrive. Families who do not require these accommodations are still welcome to attend.
We have created a Social Narrative to help your family prepare for the show!

This performance is sponsored by RWJBarnabas Health Community Medical Center.
Share This:

Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company: Red Firecrackers
2024-01-21 13:00
This event has passed.

Please note: the date for this event has moved to Sunday, January 21, 2024
Main Stage
Adults $15 / Children $12
plus $3 processing fee per ticket
Family Fun Subscription Eligible
About Red Firecrackers
The Story of Nian and The Origin Chinese Lunar New Year Customs
A spectacular production of dazzling props, colorful costumes, mesmerizing music, fantastic acrobatics and lively dance by top notch performers telling the story of the origin of the Chinese Lunar New Year. In this legend, a group of villagers, working, dancing and praying together, defeated an a terrifying monster of the ages. A heartwarming story highlights the intrinsic value of coming together, courage, hard-work and ingenuity. It also explains some of the origin of the tradition of the Chinese Lunar New Year when everyone is wearing red, giving red envelopes to children, putting up red decorations, and lighting up all the dark corners the red firecracker to make loud noises.
Suitable for children ages 6-15.
Please note, it is the Grunin Center Policy for all Family Shows that all attendees, regardless of age, require a ticket.

This performance is sponsored by RWJBarnabas Health Community Medical Center.
Share This:

Buckets N Boards
2024-02-24 11:00, 2024-02-24 14:00
This event has passed.
Main Stage
Adults $20 / Children $15
plus $3 processing fee per ticket
Family Fun Subscription Eligible
About Buckets N Boards
Buckets N Boards is a hilarious and high-energy show chock-full of amazing percussion, ridiculous songs, spectacular tap dancing, inventive instrumentation and an incredible variety of musical talents!

Matthew Levingston and Gareth Sever have hand crafted a fresh and unique clean comedy experience for the entire family to enjoy, have toured the world, and are currently one of the top requested headlining acts for Disney Cruise Lines!
Regarded as a must see show for any afternoon out with the family, their unexpected comedy and upbeat personalities will leave you laughing for the rest of your week!
Please note, it is the Grunin Center Policy for all Family Shows that all attendees, regardless of age, require a ticket.

This performance is sponsored by RWJBarnabas Health Community Medical Center.
Share This:

Aspirations of a Professional Athlete
2024-03-06 18:00
This event has passed.
Main Stage, Free
Advance Registration Required
The event will also be live-streamed

The cost of this ticket has been generously underwritten by the sponsors of the Blauvelt Speaker Series
About Aspirations of a Professional Athlete
Join us for a captivating evening of success stories from the Jersey Shore’s finest professional athletes! In this panel discussion led by Kevin Williams, a 40-year veteran in local sports broadcasting, we’ll explore the highs and lows of making it in the world of sports.
You will hear insights from invited sports leaders from Professional Baseball, Football, Mixed Martial Arts, and more. Local athletes currently scheduled to appear include Frankie Edgar, Keith Elias, Todd Frazier, and Al Leiter. There will be time for Q&A at the end of the panel.

Frankie Edgar

Keith Elias

Todd Frazier

Al Leiter

The Blauvelt Speaker Series is funded in part by the generosity of the late Bradford Thomas & Eleanor G. Blauvelt and the Wintrode Family Foundation. This year’s 2023-2024 additional sponsors include Carluccio, Leone, Dimon, Doyle & Sacks, LLC, The Citta Foundation, Arlene and Frank Dupignac, Jr., Kean University, Stella and Marshall Kern, New Jersey Natural Gas, and Novins, York, Jacobus & Dooley.
ASL Interpretation
An ASL Interpreter will be available at this event. Seats with a dark blue icon are optimal viewing seats.
Share This:

The Doo Wop Project
2024-03-08 20:00
This event has passed.
Main Stage
Orchestra: $49, Mezzanine: $45
plus $3 processing fee per ticket
About The Doo Wop Project
The Doo Wop Project begins at the beginning: tracing the evolution of Doo Wop from the classic sound of five guys singing harmonies on a street corner to the biggest hits on the radio today. In their epic shows The Doo Wop Project takes audiences on a journey featuring foundational tunes from the Crests, Belmonts and Flamingos through the vocal artistry of Smokey Robinson, The Temptations, and The Four Seasons all the way to DooWopified versions of modern hits from Michael Jackson, Jason Mraz, Maroon 5, and Sam Smith.

Featuring stars from the Broadway hits Jersey Boys, Motown: The Musical, and A Bronx Tale, The Doo Wop Project brings unparalleled authenticity of sound and vocal excellence to recreate—and in some cases entirely reimagine—the greatest music in American pop and rock history.
Share This:

Rhythm of the Dance
2024-03-13 19:00
This event has passed.
Main Stage
Orchestra: $42, Mezzanine: $38
plus $3 processing fee per ticket

About Rhythm of the Dance
Rhythm of the Dance will undertake a Global tour in 2024 to celebrate its “25th Anniversary Tour”. Featuring world-class musicians who play LIVE on stage, star vocalists, and world-champion dancers, the show is a completely captivating experience of pulsating rhythms performed at lightning speed. Enjoy slick choreography by the ensemble of Champion step dancers who have brought audiences to their feet around the World.
Join us on a journey through Ireland’s history from the ancient, rich in legend and myth, to the modern, urban Ireland that we see today, bursting with talent.

It will be Irish in essence with a new edge from its roots in Sean Nos (meaning old style) to the modern style we see today, this new Production of Rhythm of the dance takes the audience on a thrilling breathless journey for two hours.
Share This:

ELLA the Early Years
2024-03-15 20:00
This event has passed.
Main Stage
Orchestra: $35, Mezzanine: $30
plus $3 processing fee per ticket

Grunin Presents and Jazz Club Subscription Eligible
About ELLA the Early Years
Before she became the First Lady of Song, Ella Fitzgerald was a young girl with a dream and determination who overcame extraordinary odds. Acclaimed chanteuse and music historian Amanda King shares Ella Fitzgerald’s origins, inspirations, and music from the 1930s era and her time with the Chick Webb Orchestra in ELLA The Early Years, a swinging show of song and history!
ELLA The Early Years focuses on the formative time Ella spent with the pioneering drummer, Chick Webb, and his orchestra. Webb’s orchestra also served as the musical foundation for many legendary sidemen, many of whom Ella would go on to work with for decades. This early partnership of Ella and Chick catapulted both their careers to new heights and is the backdrop for a heartwarming, joy-filled celebration of an American icon by a voice that was born to sing Fitzgerald!

About Amanda King
A classic chanteuse who performs standards and jazz, Amanda King is an avid preservationist of the music and performers of the early 20th century. Amanda has been hailed by The New York Times critic Stephen Holden as one of the nightclub world’s “exceptional rising talents” and is a repeat performer at the Mabel Mercer Cabaret Convention. A long-time San Francisco resident, she moved to Las Vegas in 2017 and has quickly become one of its top jazz performers. The Las Vegas Review Journal says, “King is Queen”.
Combining the best of the jazz and cabaret worlds by focusing on the words, the music, and the swing, Amanda masterfully interprets the music she performs. She relishes diving into history by sharing the stories, songs and people that make up the treasure trove of pre-1950’s American Popular Music. A knowledgeable educator, she teaches jazz history classes for OLLI (Osher Lifelong Learning Institute) at UNLV and has presented workshops for the SFJAZZ Discover Jazz series. Amanda is the proud parent of a Gen Z child who could survive without his cell phone.
Learn more about Amanda and her upcoming performances by visiting www.amandaking.com.

Share This:

Time for Three
2024-03-24 14:00
This event has passed.
Main Stage
Orchestra: $35, Mezzanine: $30
plus $3 processing fee per ticket

Grunin Presents Subscription Eligible
About Time for Three
Bonded by an uncommon blend of instruments and vocals, Charles Yang (violin), Nick Kendall (violin), and Ranaan Meyer (double bass), have found a unique voice of expression. To experience Time for Three live is to hear the various eras, styles, and traditions of Western music fold in on themselves and emerge anew.

Earning praise from NPR, NBC, The Wall Street Journal, Time for Three is renowned for their charismatic and energetic performances in venues including Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, and The Royal Albert Hall. In 2020, the band partnered with cellist and composer Ben Sollee to put together the soundtrack to the new Focus Features’ film Land, starring and directed by Robin Wright. The film first premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 31, 2021. They have collaborated with artists as diverse as Ben Folds, Branford Marsalis, and Joshua Bell, and have premiered original works by composers Chris Brubeck and Pulitzer Prize-winners Jennifer Higdon and William Bolcom. Their most recent commission by Pulitzer Prize-winner Kevin Puts, Contact, premiered with the San Francisco Symphony and the Philadelphia Orchestra in summer 2022. This concerto is featured on their new album, Letters for the Future, alongside Jennifer Higdon’s Concerto 4-3, released on June 10th, 2022 on Deutsche Grammophon. The album was recorded with The Philadelphia Orchestra, conducted by Xian Zhang and has been on Billboard top 10 Classical Recordings charts, was nominated for an Opus Klassik award and won a Grammy in the Best Classical Instrumental Solo category.
Management: Park Avenue Artists
Booking: Opus 3 Artists
Share This:

Medal of Honor Recipient & Author Kyle Carpenter
2024-04-03 11:00
This event has passed.
Due to popular demand, this event has moved to the Grunin Center Main Stage
General Admission Seating, Free
Advance Registration Required
The event will also be live-streamed

The cost of this ticket has been generously underwritten by the sponsors of the Blauvelt Speaker Series
About Kyle Carpenter
While serving as a Marine rifleman in Afghanistan at age 20, on the morning of November 21st, 2010, Lance Corporal Kyle Carpenter’s squad was attacked by Taliban forces. During the attack, a live grenade landed between Kyle and a fellow Marine. In a courageous act to save his fellow Marine, Kyle threw himself on the grenade.
Kyle’s injuries were severe – he was unconscious for five weeks and spent over two and a half years recovering at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. He had lost his right eye, most of his lower jaw and teeth, and his right arm was broken in 30 places. He went through roughly 40 surgeries during his recovery. During this grueling recovery process, Kyle’s spirit remained strong. He set several post-recovery goals for himself: run a marathon, earn a college degree, backpack through Europe, and go skydiving. After nearly three years of recovery, Kyle was released from the hospital at age 24 and has since been able to accomplish every post-recovery goal and many more. And on June 19, 2014, Kyle was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Obama for his self-sacrificing act of valor. Kyle is the youngest living recipient of the Medal of Honor, our country’s highest military honor.
In 2019, Kyle published his autobiography, You are Worth It: Building A Life Worth Fighting For. It not only tells the story of the events leading up to November 20, 2010 and the recovery period which followed, but it is also a story of rebirth and overcoming adversity, of how Kyle battled back from the gravest challenge to forge a life of joyful purpose. In the words of General Jim Mattis “Kyle Carpenter’s memoir of gallantry beyond the call of duty provides a vivid reminder that grit and valor remain American hallmarks.” He is also host of “The Kyle Carpenter Podcast” in which he shares the stories of people who inspire him, expanding perspectives through meaningful conversations on leadership, adversity, and finding a joyful purpose in life.
In addition to the Medal of Honor, Kyle’s military awards include a Navy and Marine Corps
Achievement Medal, NATO Service Medal, Navy Sea Service Deployment Ribbon, Combat Action Ribbon and a Purple Heart, the award for which he is most proud.

The Blauvelt Speaker Series is funded in part by the generosity of the late Bradford Thomas & Eleanor G. Blauvelt and the Wintrode Family Foundation. This year’s 2023-2024 additional sponsors include Carluccio, Leone, Dimon, Doyle & Sacks, LLC, The Citta Foundation, Arlene and Frank Dupignac, Jr., Kean University, Stella and Marshall Kern, New Jersey Natural Gas, and Novins, York, Jacobus & Dooley.

This event is presented in collaboration with the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office

ASL Interpretation
An ASL Interpreter will be available at this event.
Share This:

Afternoon Recital: Margarita Rovenskaya
2024-04-05 14:00
This event has passed.
Main Stage
Tickets $7
plus $3 processing fee per ticket
Classic Club Subscription Eligible
About Margarita Rovenskaya
Join Margarita Rovenskaya for a journey through the world of Czech music! This recital will feature the music of Dvorak, Smetana, Janacek, and Ivana Loudova, with each composer showcasing their use of Czech history, language, fairy tales, folk dance, and folk song.
These composers expanded musical forms to include dances such as dumkas, furiants, polkas and sousedskas, using new harmonies and creating melodies inspired by the countryside, language, and traditions around them. These works embody their nationalistic spirit and the Czech identity within the classical tradition. This recital will illustrate the folk harmonies, forms, and spirit of Czech music.
Pianist Margarita Rovenskaya has performed extensively in the US and abroad, with performances in Weill Recital Hall in Carnegie Hall, Steinway Hall, Merkin Hall at the Kaufman Center, Zimmerli Museum, Ukrainian Museum, Teatro Machiavelli in Sicily, and Salmagundi Art Gallery, among others. Prizewinner of the WPTA Finland International Competition, Constantine the Great International Competition, American Music Talent Competition, Mary Smart International Concerto Competition, and Chopin Society Malaysia Competition, Margarita has also performed and studied internationally at festivals such as the Sicily International Piano Competition, Tel Hai Piano Masterclasses, Summit Music Festival, PianoSummer at New Paltz, Beethoven Institute at Mannes, and Round Top Festival Institute. Margarita performs in several chamber concert series as well as the annual Ukrainian Contemporary Music Festival, which celebrates the music of avant-garde Ukrainian composers.
Dr. Rovenskaya especially enjoys chamber music, and has collaborated with internationally acclaimed artists, including concertmaster of Russian orchestra Moscow Virtuosi, Alexey Lundin. In summer of 2013, she performed in Vermont as part of the six-week Manchester Music Festival chamber series. In the summer of 2015, Margarita was Visiting Artist and Piano Fellow at the Heifetz. Her performances also include premieres of new music, such as the US premier of Frank Ticheli’s Clarinet Concerto, where she was the orchestral pianist, and Christopher Dietz’s premiere of Sonoromoro for chamber orchestra, piano and percussion. Dr. Rovenskaya is also a member of the Desdemona Ensemble, a chamber ensemble which commissions and performs music of living composers; composer Finola Merivale’s album, Tus, was recorded by Desdemona Ensemble and won Best Contemporary Classical Album this year. It features “Release”, a work for violin and piano, with Dr. Rovenskaya on piano.
Born in Ukraine, Margarita Rovenskaya began studying the piano at the age of six in Chicago. She earned her Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance at Oberlin Conservatory in May 2012, her Masters in Piano Studies at New York University in May 2014, and earned her Doctorate of Musical Arts at Rutgers University in 2022. Her teachers include Efrem Briskin, Peter Takacs, Eteri Andjaparidze, and Vladimir Valjarevic. Dr. Rovenskaya is currently based in New York City. She has served as Co-Adjunct Faculty at Rutgers University, Adjunct Piano Instructor at New York University, and is currently Head of the Piano Department at Newark School of the Arts as well as Piano Faculty at the Spence School.

The Afternoon Recital Series is made possible, in part, through the support of the Ocean County College Foundation.
Share This:

The Rodney Marsalis Philadelphia Big Brass
2024-04-06 20:00
This event has passed.
Main Stage
Orchestra: $48, Mezzanine: $40
plus $3 processing fee per ticket

Grunin Presents and Jazz Club Subscription Eligible
About The Rodney Marsalis Philadelphia Big Brass
The Rodney Marsalis Philadelphia Big Brass is America’s premier large brass ensemble. A group that always reflects the diverse makeup of men and women in the American culture, RMPBB is dedicated to the notion that music is a gift to be enjoyed by everyone.
The Rodney Marsalis Philadelphia Big Brass is a family-owned and operated business that had its beginnings on the streets of New Orleans. On the advice of family patriarch Ellis Marsalis, the group created a concert format that breaks the usual barriers between genres and strives to create a connection between the audience and performers.

The ensemble is especially dedicated to reaching out to the world’s youth and inspiring them to reach for their dreams. A veritable “dream team” of virtuoso brass players, the group burst onto the music scene with a debut performance in Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center in Verizon Hall, a residency for the Mann Center for the Performing Arts, and a special feature on the National Public Radio show, “All Things Considered.”
In recent years the group has been invited to perform in performing arts centers around the world including China’s National Center for the Performing Arts, Guangzhou Opera House, Tangelwood’s Seiji Ozawa Hall, and prominent performing arts centers throughout the United States, South America, Asia, and Europe.
Share This:

Reginald Dwayne Betts
2024-04-10 11:00
This event has passed.
Main Stage, Free
Advance Registration Required
The event will also be live-streamed

The cost of this ticket has been generously underwritten by the sponsors of the Blauvelt Speaker Series
About Reginald Dwayne Betts
Reginald Dwayne Betts is a poet and lawyer. A 2021 MacArthur Fellow, he is the Founder & CEO of Freedom Reads, a not-for-profit organization that is radically transforming the access to literature in prisons through the opening of Freedom Libraries in prisons across this country.
For more than twenty-years, he has used his poetry and essays to explore the world of prison and the effects of violence and incarceration on American society. The author of a memoir and three collections of poetry, he has transformed his latest collection of poetry, the American Book Award winning Felon, into a solo theater show that explores the post incarceration experience and lingering consequences of a criminal record through poetry, stories, and engaging with the timeless and transcendental art of paper-making.
In 2019, Betts won the National Magazine Award in the Essays and Criticism category for his New York Times Magazine essay that chronicles his journey from prison to becoming a licensed attorney. He has been awarded a Radcliffe Fellowship from Harvard’s Radcliffe Institute of Advanced Study, a Guggenheim Fellowship, an Emerson Fellowship at New America, and most recently a Civil Society Fellow at Aspen. Betts holds a J.D. from Yale Law School.
📷: Mamadi Doumbouya

The Blauvelt Speaker Series is funded in part by the generosity of the late Bradford Thomas & Eleanor G. Blauvelt and the Wintrode Family Foundation. This year’s 2023-2024 additional sponsors include Carluccio, Leone, Dimon, Doyle & Sacks, LLC, The Citta Foundation, Arlene and Frank Dupignac, Jr., Kean University, Stella and Marshall Kern, New Jersey Natural Gas, and Novins, York, Jacobus & Dooley.
ASL Interpretation
An ASL Interpreter will be available at this event. Seats with a dark blue icon are optimal viewing seats.
Share This:

The Importance of Being Earnest
2024-04-12 19:30, 2024-04-13 19:30, 2024-04-14 14:00, 2024-04-19 19:30, 2024-04-20 14:00, 2024-04-20 19:30, 2024-04-21 14:00
This event has passed.
Black Box Theater
Adults $15, Seniors $12
plus $3 processing fee per ticket

Presented by the OCC Repertory Theatre Company
About The Importance of Being Earnest
Experience Oscar Wilde’s comedic masterpiece, The Importance of Being
Earnest, where two witty bachelors craft alter egos to escape their mundane
lives. Join them in a hilarious journey of love and deception as they vie for
the hearts of two women who insist on loving only men named Ernest. This
uproarious tale, filled with absurd characters and clever twists, playfully mocks
Victorian norms. Don’t miss this unforgettable theatrical delight!
Performances
Friday, April 12, 2024 at 7:30pm
Saturday, April 13, 2024 at 7:30pm
Sunday, April 14, 2024 at 2:00pm
Friday, April 19, 2024 at 7:30pm
Saturday, April 20, 2024 at 2:00pm & 7:30pm
Sunday, April 21, 2024 at 2:00pm
Cast
Jack Worthing – Brendan Keffner
Algernon Moncrieff – Nathan Magno
The Honorable Gwendolyn Fairfax – Maria Heitmann
Lady Bracknell – Gwenne Weber
Cecily Cardew – Bridget Magnusson
Dr. Chasuble – Evan Williamson
Miss Prism – Kyra Griggs
Lane – Grey Kellerman
Merriman – Shea Gaughan
Crew
Set Design – George Allison
Lighting Design – Douglas Cox
Production Stage Manager – Jamie Kasprovitz
Asst. Stage Manager – Shea Gaughan
Props – Alex Garcia
Costumes – Riley Weeman
Crew – Samantha Acquaviva and Devyn Donahue
Share This:

The Weeklings BeatlesBash!
2024-04-13 20:00
This event has passed.
Main Stage
Orchestra: $49, Mezzanine: $39
plus $3 processing fee per ticket

Grunin Presents Subscription Eligible

About The Weeklings BeatlesBash!

A Journey Through Music of The Beatles feat. The Horns & Strings Orchestra & more!
THE WEEKLINGS “BEATLESBASH” starring Glen Burtnik, Bob Burger, John Merjave and Joe Bellia, is a joyously rocking celebration of the timeless music of The Beatles featuring the incredible 10-piece Horns & Strings Orchestra! The 2-hour show highlights selections from The Beatle’s “Ed Sullivan” years in the first half and after a brief intermission, takes you on a trip through the psychedelically tinged, musically sophisticated, with the addition of orchestral arrangements, music from their later recordings including Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, Magical Mystery Tour, The White Album, the seminal Abbey Road and Let It Be.

And since this is, of course, The Weeklings, a sprinkling of Weeklings’ fan-fave original songs, placed perfectly within the sets, will be included and since 2024 marks the 60th anniversary of The Beatles coming to America we’ll highlight some of the great songs that America heard on those fateful 3 weeks in February of 1964when The Beatles captured our hearts on the Ed Sullivan Show!

Share This:

Mary Poppins, Jr. presented by BCCT
2024-04-19 19:00, 2024-04-20 14:00, 2024-04-20 19:00, 2024-04-21 14:00
This event has passed.
Main Stage
Adults $19, Seniors $17,
Children 12 & Under $17
plus a $3 processing fee per ticket
Please note, it is the Grunin Center Policy that all attendees, regardless of age, require a ticket.
Presented by BCCT
Rental Presenter
About Mary Poppins, Jr.
BCCT presents
Disney & Cameron Mackintosh’s
Mary Poppins JR.
Your favorite practically perfect nanny takes center stage in this Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious adventure!
Disney & Cameron Mackintosh’s Mary Poppins JR. is an enchanting mixture of irresistible story, unforgettable songs and breathtaking dance numbers. Even grown-ups can learn a lesson or two from the nanny who advises that “Anything can happen if you let it!”
Run Time: approx. 75 minutes
PERFORMANCES
Friday, April 19, 2024 ∙ 7:00 pm
Saturday, April 20, 2024 ∙ 2:00 pm and 7:00 pm
Sunday, April 21, 2024 ∙ 2:00 pm
About BCCT
BCCT is a non-profit theatre company. BCCT strives to be the best community theatre by enriching, entertaining and educating our communities through outstanding theatrical experiences featuring youth actors. To learn more about BCCT, please visit our website at www.bcct.org.

Share This:

The Works of Langston Hughes
2024-04-23 12:30, 2024-04-23 19:00
This event has passed.
Black Box
12:30 PM Educational Workshop – Free
7:00 PM Performance $15
plus $3 processing fee per ticket
Free for OCC Students with ID at the Box Office
About The Works of Langston Hughes
Actor and writer David Mills’ performance takes the audience on an odyssey spanning five decades—from the 1920s-through the 1960s– of Hughes’ writings, where Mr. Mills portrays Hughes’ notable characters, such as Madam Alberta K. Johnson and Jessie B. Simple. Mr. Mills enacts excerpts of Hughes’ iconic, poetry collection “Montage of A Dream Deferred,” too. Hughes’ work lends itself to dramatic interpretation because Langston frequently wrote persona poems (poems in the first-person voices of people such as the aforementioned Alberta K.)
Mr. Mills brings to life Hughes’ African-American characters–individuals who migrated to Harlem during the early 20th century. Mr. Mills’ performance highlights Hughes’ unending love for Harlem–with its foibles and fantasies, its beauty and brutality. Mr. Mills plays both white and black Americans, young and old, and male and female characters whom Langston created.
The show explores Hughes’ penchant for both humor and pathos. And Mr. Mills dramatically interprets Langston Hughes’ contribution to modernist poetry–the blues poem. Hughes’ classic pieces such as “I’ve Known Rivers,” “Mother to Son,” “Theme for English B” and “I, Too” are enacted alongside lesser-known, but equally powerful Hughes poems such as Merry Go Round, and Advice, giving the audience a nuanced look at Langston. Mr. Mills also performs short-stories such as Hughes’ “Thank You Ma’am” and the hilarious, ironic and little known “Rock, Church” is one of the evening’s centerpieces.
About David Mills
Mr. Mills lived in Langston Hughes’ landmark Harlem home for three years and has been performing a show of his works for two decades. he has performed for the Mayor of Washington D.C., Yale University, James Madison University and many other venues. Mr. Mills has also published four collections: Boneyarn—the first book of poems about slavery in New York City, 2022 winner of the Poetry Society of Virginia North American Book Award and finalist for the Housatonic Book Award—The Sudden Country, The Dream Detective and After Mistic. His poems have appeared in Callaloo, Ploughshares, Colorado Review, Crab Orchard Review, Jubilat, The Common, Worcester Review, Fence, Rattapallax, The Literary Review. He has received fellowships from the Schomburg Center, the New York Foundation for the Arts, Breadloaf, The American Antiquarian Society, The Queens Council on the Arts and Flushing Town Hall and Washington College. He has been a recipient of the Langston Hughes Society Award and the Brooklyn Non-Fiction Prize. He wrote the audio script for Macarthur-Genius-Award Winner Deborah Willis’ curated exhibition: Reflections in Black:100 Years of Black Photography. The Juilliard School of Drama commissioned and produced a play by Mr. Mills.

This event is sponsored by the Ocean County College Foundation.
Share This:

Sentimental Journey Big Band
2024-04-28 15:00
This event has passed.
Main Stage
Tickets Adults $24, Seniors $20
plus $3 processing fee per ticket

Jazz Club Subscription Eligible
Performing “The Music That Won World War II”
Immerse yourself in melodies that once carried our nation through a pivotal moment in American history. Sentimental Journey Big Band is here to transport you back to the 1940s with the timeless sounds of swing and jazz in The Music That Won World War II.
Vocalist Altha Morton has appeared throughout the East singing Big Band, Jazz, Country, Gospel, and Pop music. Some of her career highlights include national record releases, opening for Johnny Cash, Bobby Bare, Johnny Lee, and Mel Tillis. Sentimental Journey was formed in 1991 by Frank Richetti who played with the 2nd Marine Air Wing Band during World War II, and continued to perform with the band until he was 96. Altha and Curt Morton currently direct Sentimental Journey Big Band, playing such favorites as Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy, A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square, American Patrol, and In The Mood.

Jazz on a Sunday Afternoon is made possible, in part, through the support of the Wintrode Family Foundation.

New Jersey Jazz Society is a proud supporter of this event.
Share This:

GPAA Spring Showcases
2024-05-03 19:00
Join the OCVTS Grunin Performing Arts Academy for their Spring 2023 Showcases! All showcase tickets are $15 plus a $3 processing fee.
Spring Upperclassman Vocal Showcase

Friday, May 3, 2024, at 7:00 PM
Tickets $15
plus $3 processing fee per ticket

Spring Upperclassman Dance Showcase

Thursday, May 9, 2024 and
Friday, May 10, 2024 at 7:00 PM
Tickets $15
plus $3 processing fee per ticket

Underclassman Vocal & Dance Showcase

Tuesday, May 14, 2024 at 7:00 PM
Tickets $15
plus $3 processing fee per ticket

Share This:
