MPAC Announces Events Coming In Early May

The following event goes on sale Friday, April 5:

Peppa Pig Live! Peppa Pig's Adventure
Saturday, September 21, 2019 at 12 pm and 4 pm

Peppa Pig Live! is here with the ALL NEW action-packed live show featuring your favorite characters! Come join Peppa on an exciting camping trip to the woods with George and her school friends, including Pedro Pony, Suzy Sheep and Gerald Giraffe. With lunchboxes packed and Daddy Pig driving the bus, Peppa and friends are excited about their outdoor adventure, full of singing, dancing, games and surprises!
$60|$60|$50|$50|$40

New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players present
The Mikado

Friday, May 3 at 8 pm

Enjoy an all-new restaging of The Mikado, as performed by the New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players (NYGASP) at Mayo Performing Arts Center on Friday, May 3 at 8 pm. Tickets are $29-$69.

This presentation by NYGASP is a collaboration with the Asian American theatrical community to promote diversity equity and inclusive practice with classic works of art.

The Mikado is undoubtedly the most popular piece of musical theatre of all time, when its 132-year history is taken into account. For decades, a production of G&S's satirical opera could be seen somewhere in the English speaking world every day of the year. Its libretto has found its way into our language, with expressions such as the grand Pooh-Bah and "Let the punishment fit the crime."

Recently, a great deal of controversy has arisen around The Mikado in New York and in other cities across the United States. Last year, when the Asian-American community raised concerns over representation and casting, NYGASP listened for a simple reason- it was the right thing to do. It believed that, with the necessary time and effort, it could develop a new way to present The Mikado, one that performers and audiences from all backgrounds would enjoy while maintaining the artistic integrity of the piece.

Some life-long fans of Gilbert and Sullivan expressed concerns about losing a classic part of the G&S repertoire, or suffering changes to The Mikado that would render the comic opera unrecognizable. NYGASP has been working with Asian-American arts leaders to build an inclusive cast and creative team -- all while striving to uphold The Mikado's characters, storytelling, themes and most of all its universal satire of human nature.

Oscar Wilde, a contemporary of Gilbert's and a fan of G&S, wrote that "Life imitates Art far more than Art imitates Life" (The Decay of Lying). When it comes to The Mikado and the world we are living in today, it seems Wilde's proclamation is proven true. Imbedded in the controversy is a quintessential Gilbertian irony: presenting The Mikado provides a stage for exploring the broader issues of race, equity, diversity and inclusion in our world. We are all too aware that our politics are too often dominated by polarized identities and ideologies that tempt us to hunker down in social media-fueled trenches filled with like-minded acquaintances who only reinforce our thinking.

Instead of succumbing to this temptation, NYGASP has reached out to new colleagues from diverse backgrounds to devise a solution worthy of the challenge. Costumes, choreography and direction are completely original -- unrestricted by the traditions of past performance practice. Most importantly, the representation of life on stage is no longer a depiction of Japanese people, but rather a fantastical portrait of Victorians in a dream world that is inspired by the Japanese culture that had captivated England at the time of The Mikado's creation.

The universal truth of The Mikado has endured and delighted us through the decades. There is nothing more universal than death, and in The Mikado, Gilbert's dark humor makes us laugh at this most common of all aspects of the human condition. Vanity, acting before thinking of the consequences, the artifices of social behavior, the corrupting influence of power, and many other easily identifiable foibles are all the objects of Gilbert's wit. Are these not deliciously topical in today's socio-political environment?

New Jersey Ballet
Ballet with a Latin Beat
Saturday, May 4 at 8 pm
Sleeping Beauty
Sunday, May 5 at 1:30 pm and 4:30 pm

New Jersey Ballet, New Jersey's premier ballet company, returns to Mayo Performing Arts Center for three performances the weekend of May 4-5.

On Saturday, May 4 at 8 pm, it presents Ballet with a Latin Beat. Tickets are $29-$59. On Sunday, May 5, it presents two performances of Sleeping Beauty, crafted for children, at 1:30 pm and 4:30 pm. Tickets are $15-$25.

Ballet with a Latin Beat honors Hispanic culture and choreographers with a selection of dances that are sensual and sophisticated, earthy and elegant and that have critics cheering "Viva Ballet Latino."

The program includes (subject to change):
GUAJIRA
Choreography by Pedro Ruiz
Music by Los Activo, Conjunto Cespedes and Jose Maria Vitier

SUITE HUASTECA
Choreography by David Fernandez
Music by Jesus Echevarria
Performed by Jesus Echevarria and El Cuarteto Carlos Chavez

TAMOIA
Choreography by Humberto Teixeira
Music by Leonardo Venturieri and Clemente Ferreira, Jr.

TANGO
Choreography by Johan Renvall
Music by Piazolla, Plaza, Mores, Villolda

On Sunday, May 5, NJ Ballet presents Sleeping Beauty. Beloved characters including Princess Aurora, the Handsome Prince and other favorites from the fairy tale realm including the Lilac Fairy, Puss in Boots and Red Riding Hood fill the stage in this ballet that features splendid dancing and "Storyteller" narration to make sure even the littlest theater-goers can keep up with ease.

Mayo Performing Arts Center, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, presents a wide range of programs that entertain, enrich, and educate the diverse population of the region and enhance the economic vitality of Northern New Jersey. The 2018-2019 season is made possible, in part, by a grant the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as support received from the F.M. Kirby Foundation and numerous corporations, foundations and individuals. The Mayo Performing Arts Center has been designated a Major Presenting Organization by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. Mayo Performing Arts Center was named 2016 Outstanding Historic Theatre by the League of Historic American Theatres, and is ranked in the top 50 mid-sized performing arts centers by Pollstar Magazine.

Mayo Performing Arts Center
100 South St., Morristown, NJ 07960
box office (973) 539-8008
online: www.mayoarts.org