Monroe Center Arts Community Blog http://blog.monroecenter.com Keeping a creative eye on the world of art, entertainment and ideas. Tue, 24 Aug 2010 16:32:07 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.4 en Hoboken Open Studio Day http://blog.monroecenter.com/2010/08/24/hoboken-open-studio-day/ http://blog.monroecenter.com/2010/08/24/hoboken-open-studio-day/#comments Tue, 24 Aug 2010 16:32:07 +0000 Angelina Redpath Art-Events http://blog.monroecenter.com/2010/08/24/hoboken-open-studio-day/ The Hoboken Open Studio Day this year will be held on November 7. Artists, musicians, photographers, artisans and vendors are welcome to come to The Monroe Center and exhibit/sell their creations.

For information on this, the biggest studio exhibition of the year, please contact: Godfrey Pereira: gp@monroedev.com or 201 978 3027

]]> http://blog.monroecenter.com/2010/08/24/hoboken-open-studio-day/feed/ Urban Arts and Circus Murals http://blog.monroecenter.com/2010/05/24/urban-arts-and-circus-murals/ http://blog.monroecenter.com/2010/05/24/urban-arts-and-circus-murals/#comments Mon, 24 May 2010 14:12:07 +0000 Godfrey What’s New http://blog.monroecenter.com/2010/05/24/urban-arts-and-circus-murals/ Urban Arts at the Monroe Center will present ‘Circus Murals’ inspired by Alexander Calder. The opening reception is on Sunday, June 6th, 2010 from 3 to 5 pm.

The Exhibition is Free and Open To All.

Urban Arts offers Quality Art Classes For Children ands Adults.

For Further Information Contact: urbanartsatmonroe@yahoo.com

]]> http://blog.monroecenter.com/2010/05/24/urban-arts-and-circus-murals/feed/ Urban Arts At City Hall: A Touch Of The Orient http://blog.monroecenter.com/2010/03/11/urban-arts-at-city-hall-a-touch-of-the-orient/ http://blog.monroecenter.com/2010/03/11/urban-arts-at-city-hall-a-touch-of-the-orient/#comments Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:27:23 +0000 Angelina Redpath Art-News http://blog.monroecenter.com/2010/03/11/urban-arts-at-city-hall-a-touch-of-the-orient/ The Mayor of Hoboken, Dawn Zimmer, The City of Hoboken and Urban Arts of Monroe Center will present an Exhibition of  student work, inspired by Oriental Art at Hoboken City Hall, situated at: 94 Washington Street, Hoboken, N.J.

The exhibition will be on from the 1st of March to April 8th.

 

The opening reception will be held on Friday, March 12, 2010 from 3:00 to 5:00. There will be Live Music and refreshments.

For additional information please call: 201 222-5400

 

 

 

 

 

 

]]> http://blog.monroecenter.com/2010/03/11/urban-arts-at-city-hall-a-touch-of-the-orient/feed/ AN INVITATION TO EXHIBIT AND SELL http://blog.monroecenter.com/2010/03/10/an-invitation-to-exhibit-and-sell/ http://blog.monroecenter.com/2010/03/10/an-invitation-to-exhibit-and-sell/#comments Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:43:01 +0000 Godfrey Art-Events http://blog.monroecenter.com/2010/03/10/an-invitation-to-exhibit-and-sell/ ATTENTION: ARTISTS, ARTISANS, PHOTOGRAPHERS, CRAFTS PEOPLE AND VENDORS. The Monroe Center  will be holding the next  Open Studio Day on Sunday, March 21st.

 Hoboken’s Independent Arts Festival, The Digable Arts Festival, begins at The Monroe Center on March 20. This Event will roll into Sunday, March 21st, Monroe Center Open Studio Day, thus ensuring a steady flow of foot traffic.

Planned Events at The Monroe Street Movement Space and The Monroe Theatre Space on Open Studio Day will draw additional foot traffic.

Date: Sunday, March 21st

Time: 11am to 6pm

Place: Monroe Center
720, Monroe Street
Hoboken N.J. 07030
Exhibiting Fee: $ 20.00
Free Parking
                                  To Participate, Please Contact:

Godfrey Pereira: E-mail: gp@monroedev.com Phone: 201 978 3027

]]> http://blog.monroecenter.com/2010/03/10/an-invitation-to-exhibit-and-sell/feed/ “Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse” http://blog.monroecenter.com/2009/10/27/lillys-purple-plastic-purse/ http://blog.monroecenter.com/2009/10/27/lillys-purple-plastic-purse/#comments Tue, 27 Oct 2009 20:05:34 +0000 Art What’s New http://blog.monroecenter.com/2009/10/27/lillys-purple-plastic-purse/


By Jonathan Mandell/The Jersey Journal

Hoboken Now

Long before director Spike Jonze made a movie out of the beloved children’s book “Where The Wild Things Are,” a playwright and National Public Radio commentator from Minnesota named Kevin Kling turned another beloved children’s book, by an author and illustrator from Wisconsin named Kevin Henkes, into a play.

The play, like the book, is entitled “Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse,” and it opened over the weekend at the second-floor theater of the Monroe Center for the Arts. It is the first play for children produced by the Mile Square Theater since the Hoboken-based theater company started seven years ago.

“I first learned of this play during my nine years at the Seattle Children’s Theater.,” says Chris O’Connor, Mile Square Theater’s artistic director. “Now I have a five-year-old daughter, Willa, who’s very much like Lilly. They are both exuberant.” By coincidence, his wife had bought the book “Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse” for their daughter, which reminded O’Connor of the play, and seemed a good choice for their next production.

“We want to connect to the community, and that means appealing to all parts of the community. It was time to present a play for a young audience from four to nine years old.”

The play “Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse,” with a cast of six, actually combines stories and characters from several of Kevin Henkes’s popular “mouse books.” All the characters are supposed to be mice, but they act very much like people. Chester and Wilson are best friends, play tennis for championship of the universe, and worry if a watermelon will grow in their bellies because they have both eaten a watermelon seed.

The central character is Lilly, who tends to make happy announcements such as “I am the Queen” and “I like everything.” She teaches Chester and Wilson how to talk backwards and saves them from bullies by disguising herself as a cat. She is not crazy about her new baby brother Julius (played hilariously in the Mile Square Theater production by a puppet.) “Julius, germ of the world,” she pouts.

The story that gives the play its name occurs when Lilly’s grandmother takes her shopping and winds up buying her a purple purse of “authentic plastic.” She is so proud of her purse that she wants to show it off to her friends and family, but they are busy, so she interrupts a lesson by her teacher Mr. Slinger at school (he is lecturing on “the mysterious black holes in Swiss cheese…did the holes come first or the cheese?”) Her teacher kindly offers to hold her purse until the end of the day, which enrages Lilly. Gentle lessons ensue. One of them comes from a note that Mr. Slinger leaves for Lilly: “Today was difficult. Tomorrow will be better.”

Some 450 actresses applied for the role of Lilly, O’Connor said, and he auditioned about 50 of them. The person they wound up casting in the role, Blaire Brooks, was already a member of the company.

The artistic director is hoping that the audience will react to the play in the same way that the characters react to nearly everything: “Wow. That’s about all I can say. Wow.”

If you go: “Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse” by Kevin Henkes, adapted for the stage by Kevin Kling, Fridays 7 p.m., Saturdays 3 p.m.and 7 p.m., Sundays 3 p.m. and 5:30 p.m., October 23 to November 8, at the Monroe Center for the Arts, 720 Monroe Street, Hoboken. $12 for students, $20 for adults. Tickets are half price for both performances on Halloween. For more information, call 201-208-7809 or visit www.milesquaretheatre.org.

 

]]> http://blog.monroecenter.com/2009/10/27/lillys-purple-plastic-purse/feed/ Monroe, Hoboken, Children, Theater… http://blog.monroecenter.com/2009/08/05/monroe-hoboken-children-theater%e2%80%a6/ http://blog.monroecenter.com/2009/08/05/monroe-hoboken-children-theater%e2%80%a6/#comments Wed, 05 Aug 2009 16:54:47 +0000 Godfrey What’s New http://blog.monroecenter.com/2009/08/05/monroe-hoboken-children-theater%e2%80%a6/ The Theater at Monroe Center is now a hub of creative theatrical energy.  The Hoboken Children’s Theater is now officially a part of the growing theater scene at The Monroe Center for Performing Arts. They join another illustrious theater company from Hoboken, The Mile Square Theater.
Chase Leyner started the Hoboken Children’s Theater in August 2003. Leyner is a fantastic actress and a great dancer. She received her acting training with Sanford Meisner, William Alderson, Estelle Parsons and Sam Schacht. Leyner also trained with The New Jersey Ballet, L’Academie de Danse de Monte Carlo and Skidmore College.
In 2009, she received The Showtime Award from The Park Theatre for her work with children and for creating the Hoboken Children’s Theater.
Members of the Hoboken Children’s Theater Company have made startling achievements with the solid grounding that they have received. Here are a few of the numerous achievements. Maddy Novak is presently appearing as Billy Elliot on Broadway, Carson Harold had a great role in a short film, screened at The Columbia Film Festival and Samantha Alicandri was accepted into the prestigious Broadway Artists Alliance summer program
The Hoboken Children’s Theater  is comprised of kids 8-18.
The company performs mainly musicals. 

Contact information, Tel:  646 339 8485 

Website: www.hobokenchildrenstheater.com

]]> http://blog.monroecenter.com/2009/08/05/monroe-hoboken-children-theater%e2%80%a6/feed/ Fire Walking At Monroe Center http://blog.monroecenter.com/2009/05/05/fire-walking-at-monroe-center/ http://blog.monroecenter.com/2009/05/05/fire-walking-at-monroe-center/#comments Tue, 05 May 2009 17:09:02 +0000 Angelina Redpath News http://blog.monroecenter.com/2009/05/05/fire-walking-at-monroe-center/ Saturday, May 30, 6pm-10pm

FEAR Into Action– The FireWalk Experience

Spend an evening learning how to let go of your limiting beliefs.  Learn how to turn FEAR into Action.  We all experience fear from time to time.  Wouldn’t it be great to use FEAR to take Action, instead of being stopped by it.  This Seminar will teach you how.  You can watch, or participate.  $ 99.00, please register at www.CORE-Remedy.com/events     Your money back if you are not completely satisfied.  No questions asked. 

Part of this Event will take place in ‘THE MAC’, The theater at Monroe Center. The Fire Walking will take place on the grounds of Monroe Center.

Call Larry at 201-388-6491 with questions

]]> http://blog.monroecenter.com/2009/05/05/fire-walking-at-monroe-center/feed/ The Buzz Is On At Monroe Center http://blog.monroecenter.com/2008/12/18/the-buzz-is-on-at-monroe-center/ http://blog.monroecenter.com/2008/12/18/the-buzz-is-on-at-monroe-center/#comments Thu, 18 Dec 2008 17:32:10 +0000 Godfrey News http://blog.monroecenter.com/2008/12/18/the-buzz-is-on-at-monroe-center/ The next year is going to be a cultural filled one at The Monroe Center For Performing Arts. From Music to Theater and Comedy, Opera Singers, Classical Music Events, Rock and Pop Performances, the list goes on…

The Monroe Center has a fantastic new Theater on the Second Floor, Hoboken’s Mile Square Theater will be performing a number of plays there and so will Chase Leyner.

Down in Shades the beat goes on. DJ George will be spinning at Shades, January 3rd. Purple Haze Prooductions will be strutting their stuff down in Shades January 9th and on January 10th, Tariq Shaw will be producing “Flash Back” a Rock n Pop music concert that will take you down the heady lanes of the 60s through the 90s. And there is much, much more. Comedy Central from New York City who are now calling The Monroe Center Home will be performing regularly at Shades next year. For further details go to www.monroecenter.com and check out the Events page. 2009 is gonna be a great year at The Monroe Center, come see what the buzz is all about. Come get involved.

]]> http://blog.monroecenter.com/2008/12/18/the-buzz-is-on-at-monroe-center/feed/ Halloween Bash at Shades http://blog.monroecenter.com/2008/10/28/halloween-bash-at-shades/ http://blog.monroecenter.com/2008/10/28/halloween-bash-at-shades/#comments Tue, 28 Oct 2008 18:36:59 +0000 Godfrey What’s New http://blog.monroecenter.com/2008/10/28/halloween-bash-at-shades/ Halloween Night, 31st October. Julio Fernandez of Spryo Gyra with his band Cat Lingo will be rocking at Shades restaurant and Bar. The concert begins at 8pm. Ends when all souls go home. There are a number of musical acts that will also be playing in Shades that night. Admission is Free. Parking is Free.

For more information Call: 201 795 3767 Ext: 218

]]> http://blog.monroecenter.com/2008/10/28/halloween-bash-at-shades/feed/ They’re he-e-e-re UFO Festival comes to Jersey City next weekend http://blog.monroecenter.com/2008/10/14/theyre-he-e-e-re-ufo-festival-comes-to-jersey-city-next-weekend/ http://blog.monroecenter.com/2008/10/14/theyre-he-e-e-re-ufo-festival-comes-to-jersey-city-next-weekend/#comments Tue, 14 Oct 2008 15:34:30 +0000 Art Art-News http://blog.monroecenter.com/2008/10/14/theyre-he-e-e-re-ufo-festival-comes-to-jersey-city-next-weekend/

The Jersey City Reporter

Sunday, October 12, 2008
By Ricardo Kaulessar
Reporter staff writer 

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Does the terms UFO and alien abduction get your heart racing with excitement? Do you feel like you’re the only one among your family and friends who thinks there are other beings besides humans in the universe?

Then the second Annual Culture of Contact UFO Festival happening next

weekend (Oct. 16 -18) at the Landmark Loew’s Theatre in Jersey City is the place to be.

It is the first year that the festival

is taking place at the Loew’s. Last year, it was held in Manhattan.

The festival will feature experts discussing UFOs and alien abductions, as

well as movies, music and art with an UFO theme. Among the festival

highlights will be the appearance of William J. Birnes, star of the

History Channel series UFO Hunters, and a screening of the

1953 film version of H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds

(also made into a movie in 2006 by Steven Spielberg) about an

alien invasion of Earth.

In conjunction with the events at the Loew’s, there was an

art exhibition at the Monroe Center for the Arts in Hoboken this weekend (Oct. 10-11).

Culture of Contact formed last year out of a loosely-knit

group of “experiencers” of alien contact who were living

in New Jersey and New York. They came together to create

an annual multimedia festival-like conference in New York City.

Jeremy Vaeni, one of the organizers of the festival, talked last week

about the event.

“I think it is important because as people who believe in these sorts of

things, we are out of place,” Vaeni said. “I think one of the things is to

show that people in positions of power are experiencing alien contact.”

Also participating in the festival will be Jersey City artist Melissa Reed,

who says many of her works were influenced by her experiences with alien life.

“Waking up to the infinite possibility that exists beyond everyday life is

vitally important,” Reed said.

Saw UFO in Vermont

Vaeni, a writer based in Queens, said this festival is an opportunity f

or people like him who have either witnessed aliens or UFOs.

A Massachusetts native, Vaeni recalls at the age of 14 a family trip to

Vermont to visit his grandparents. He said he had a unique encounter.

“I look out among the fields and mountains and I see this object

that’s luminescent green and it’s spinning in one direction at the

top and in another direction on the bottom,” Vaeni said.

“When [my family] gets to our grandparents’ house, we

expect to be laughed at when we tell what happened. But instead

they confirm they had similar sightings, and on their coffee table was the

Time-Life book, “Mysteries of the Unknown.”

Vaeni also said this year’s festival theme is “Mythology Is Reality,”

where there will be discussions on how myths and folklore in ancient

history may be more than just stories, but are actual accounts of

extraterrestrial life forms visiting this planet.

“When archeologists look at the building of the pyramids in ancient

Egypt, they come across accounts where it tells that the gods came down

and gave us the knowledge to build the pyramids,” Vaeni said. “But there

is a belief that it may have been aliens, and we want to explore that further.”

SIDEBAR

Culture of Contact schedule

The Culture of Contact Festival will be held at the Landmark Loew’s Theater,

54 Journal Square, Jersey City. Details, directions and tickets can be found

at www.cultureofcontact.com.
The schedule of events is as follows:

Thursday, Oct. 16:

6:30 p.m. - Jeremy Vaeni, Melissa Reed, and William J. Birnes
7 p.m. - “In Search of The Future” documentary screening.

Intro w/Director Andrew Cameron Bailey & Producer Connie

Baxter Marlow
9 p.m. - Q&A w/ Bailey & Marlow

Friday, Oct. 17:

Noon-5 p.m. - “Experiencer” and Native American chat circles.

Pat Marcatillio’s UFO Museum. Explore your own brain using

Masahiro Kahata’s brain tech inventions and your mind with Raymond

Strano’s perception-altering musical device. (Attractions run all day Saturday)
6 p.m. - Jeremy Vaeni introduces Washington lobbyist

Stephen Bassett, who talks about possible government disclosure of alien presence.
7 p.m. - Native American band Ghosthorse performs.
8 p.m. - Tiokasin Ghosthorse gives keynote address for the festival.
9 p.m. - William J. Birnes introduces “War of The Worlds” screening.
9:15 p.m. - “War of The Worlds” screening.

Saturday, Oct. 18:

10:30 a.m. - Michael Mannion & Trish Corbett
11:30 a.m. - Richard Dolan
12:30 p.m. - Giorgio Tsoukalos
1:30 p.m. - Lunch break and/or screening of documentary on

Combustive Motor Corp. w/director Chris Noble
2:30 p.m. - Peter Robbins
3:30 p.m. - David Biedny
4:30 p.m. - Farah Yurdozu
5:30 p.m. - Dinner break and/or sneak peek screening of

“The Hidden Hand” documentary w/Director James Carman
6:30 p.m. - Keynote addresses by Dr. Gregory L. Matloff and C. Bangs from NASA
7:30 p.m. - Speaker roundtable with surprise guest
8:30 p.m. - William J. Birnes
9:30 p.m. - “The Silent But Deadly Truthvolution of Truth,”

a comedy film premiere w/director Jeremy Vaeni

Sunday, Oct. 19:

Noon-4 p.m. - Culture of Contact Festival after-party

at the Monroe Arts Center in Hoboken.

Comments on this story can be sent to rkaulessar@hudsonreporter.com


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