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Thursday, May 13th, 2021 at 1:00 p.m.
Virtual Event

Acclaimed pianist Barron Ryan will share three lessons from his performance career, through inspirational stories and musical selections that will outline a blueprint audiences can use to create their own destined plan for greatness. He will dispel the notion that leaders were born for their success, as well as equipping the audience with tools they can use, in order to form their own tales of triumph.

(Grades 6-12)

Tuesday, April 26th, 2022 at 10:00 a.m.
Virtual event with a recorded performance and live post-show talkback

Literature to Life stage presentation
THE BRIEF WONDROUS LIFE OF OSCAR WAO 
Based on the novel by Junot Diaz
Adaptation and Direction: Elise Thoron
Performed by Kelvin Grullon

*It is our goal to share arts programming with our community. We thank you for any support you are able to give. 

This thrilling adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel chronicles the life of Oscar, an overweight science-fiction enthusiast who dreams of becoming the Dominican J. R. R. Tolkien. Growing up in Paterson, he obsesses over fantasy novels, falling in love, and the curse that has plagued his family for generations. Despite the endless taunting from friends, family, and foes, Oscar remains true to himself, as the family curse declares its power and the violence of Oscar's family history collides with his present. 

Encapsulating magical realism and Dominican-American history, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao presents audiences with an astonishing vision of the contemporary American experience, and through this 60-minute exploration of brotherhood, fantasy stories, and what it means to be a “Dominican man”, we come to understand the culture of fear and violence that resulted from Trujillo's 30+ years dictatorship of the Dominican Republic, and the importance of facing fear with love.

Kelvin Grullon is a Dominican American actor from Washington Heights, NYC. He is a multi-talented artist with a passion for storytelling, often working as a filmmaker, producer, spoken word performer, and DJ.  He has starred in theater projects (She Hates Coffee, Room28 Comedy and King Lear), film (La Tierra, No More Lonely People), voiceover (Corner Wolves), and new media works (Guap, DominicanYork). 

Appropriate for high school and college ages
Study guide available upon request.

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Wednesday, May 18, 10:00 a.m.
Virtual event with a recorded performance and live post-show talkback

Literature to Life stage presentation of
The Latehomecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir
By Kao Kalia Yang
Performed by Gaosong Heu
Adapted by Aurea Tomeski & Elise Thoron

Directed by Elise Thoron
Based on the novel The Latehomecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir by Kao Kalia Yang, © 2008, published by Coffee House Press

Free admission with RSVP.

Told with the immediacy of the author as a young girl, born in the Ban Vinai Refugee camp in Thailand, Kao Kalia arrives in the US when she is six. The story follows her journey from a quiet, reticent student struggling to speak English while facing racial discrimination, to a self-empowered young woman claiming her voice to tell the untold story of her people. In search of a place to call home, thousands of Hmong families made the journey from the war-torn jungles of Laos to the overcrowded refugee camps of Thailand, finally emigrating to America; but lacking a written language of their own. 

Driven to tell her family’s story after her grandmother’s death - the Hmong experience has been primarily recorded by others - The Latehomecomer is Kao Kalia Yang’s tribute to her remarkable grandmother whose spirit held them all together. It is also an eloquent, firsthand account of a people who have worked hard to make their voices heard.

Gaosong V. Heu is a Hmong American performance artist, musician, vocalist, published writer, educator, and traditional Flower Singer, Gaosong has over 15 years of training in Western Classical music, as well as training in traditional styles of Hmong folk music. The performance tells a universal story of immigration, through the specific lens of this ancient culture inextricably bound to the history of the war in Vietnam.

“I fell from the clouds into my grandmother’s hands.”

Appropriate for elementary, middle, high school, and college ages
Study guide available upon request.

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Friday, March 3rd, 2023 @ 10:30 am 

Right in the Eye (En plein dans l’œil) is a multimedia show composed of 12 films by Georges Méliès, a pioneer of the Cinema and a wizard of special effects.

On stage, three virtuoso musicians play some fifty different instruments, including rare and unique ones, breathing fresh impetus into these cinematographic gems.

In a subtly-staged setting, in perfect symbiosis with the imagery, the musicians transport us in an inventive production, performed both onstage and onscreen, that reflects the creative genius of Méliès. 

For more information, please visit the 

A BROADWAY MUSICAL PRESENTED BY NJCU MUSIC, DANCE, AND THEATER DEPARTMENT AND THE JOFFREY BALLET SCHOOL

A Chorus Line examines one day in the life of a dancer, vying for a spot in the chorus of a Broadway musical. After the first round of cuts, each dancer is asked to speak, personally, about themselves. Discomfort opens into revelation, confession leads to redemption, and within the bright, outwardly homogenous chorus, the audience begins to see each dancer’s individuality.

Based on real Broadway dancers’ stories, compiled by dancer and choreographer Michael Bennett, and with an award-winning score by Marvin Hamlisch, A Chorus Line is a funny, heartbreaking, and refreshingly honest journey through these stories of strength, determination, and fortitude on the path to artistic fulfillment.

A Chorus Line marks the second consecutive year of artistic collaboration between the two schools, after the launch of the Joffrey-NJCU partnership which allows students the opportunity to pursue a B.F.A. in Dance.

** A Chorus Line contains moderate language and adult themes and is recommended for ages 12 and up. **

Thursday, April 27, 2023, 10:30 a.m.

West Side Theatre
General Admission $25/Students-Seniors $15

Nunsense begins when the Little Sisters of Hoboken discover that their cook, Sister Julia, Child of God, has accidentally poisoned 52 of the sisters, and they are in dire need of funds for the burials. The sisters decide that the best way to raise the money is to put on a variety show.  Here we meet Reverend Mother Regina, a former circus performer; Sister Mary Hubert, the Mistress of Novices; a streetwise nun from Brooklyn named Sister Robert Anne; Sister Mary Leo, a novice who is a wannabe ballerina; and the delightfully wacky Sister Mary Amnesia, the nun who lost her memory when a crucifix fell on her head. This show has become an international phenomenon. With more than 5000 productions worldwide, it has been translated into 21 languages.

Thursday, May 4, 2023, 10:30 a.m.

Margaret Williams Theatre
Pay What You Can: Suggested Student Price $5 

SciFi Ensemble is a string quartet with percussion specialized in movie and video game music. It combines music and body make-up in the same show, creating a fresh, genuine, and fun experience for all audiences. An original show with exclusive arrangements and a multidisciplinary artistic team form the basis of this unique project.

SciFi Ensemble was born with the aim of making known the great compositions of both cinema and television, with a big emphasis on video games music. Showing a repertoire, with great names and high-quality scores, that is not usually heard in concert.

Let yourself be carried away by the music of the classics of animation, the dazzling energy of the heroes and heroines of video games, and the fantasy of science fiction hits.

For more information, please visit the .

Thursday, April 11, 2024 at 10:30 A.M.
Margaret Williams Theatre

| General Admission: $25 | Students/Seniors: $15 |

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is an award-winning musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice that reimagines the biblical story of Joseph, his father Jacob, his eleven siblings, and the coat of many colors.