World-Renowned collections of Haitian and related self-taught and folk arts
2025-09-16 - 2025-12-09 | NJ
September 16 – December 9
Location: Selden Rodman Gallery of Popular Arts, B Wing – B130

The Second City Presents "Laugh Harder Not Smarter"
2025-09-19 20:00 - 21:30 (America/New_York) | Sharp Theater, Berrie Center for the Arts, 505 Ramapo Valley Road, Mahwah, NJ, 07430, United States
For audiences 18 years and older. Contains adult content.
Rooted in the groundbreaking improvisational games of Viola Spolin, The Second City opened its doors on a snowy Chicago night in December of 1959, and a comedy revolution began.
Laugh Harder, Not Smarter is a celebration of legendary American comedy 65 years in the making. Featuring a hilarious array of classic sketch comedy and songs from the company’s rich history, fresh new favorites, as well as the signature brand of irreverent improv that The Second City is famous for. With alumni such as Tina Fey, Stephen Colbert, and Keegan-Michael Key, The Second City has an unmatched track record of launching the careers of comedy superstars.

Get Tickets
This event is GENERAL ADMISSION. Seat selection is first-come-first-serve when doors open 30 minutes prior to the performance.
General Admission: $35, RCNJ Faculty/Staff: $28*, RCNJ Students: $8*, Retired Employees of Ramapo College: $28*
*Ticket limits apply. In order to receive a RCNJ Student, Faculty/Staff discount, you MUST purchase your ticket at the Berrie Center Box Office with ID. Discounted tickets cannot be purchased over the phone.
To purchase wheelchair accessible seating or for questions regarding alternative formats, please contact the Box Office at (201) 684-7844 or tickets@ramapo.edu

Cab Calloway’s Harlem Renaissance - a talk by Christopher Calloway Brooks, Calloway’s grandson
2025-09-23 10:00 - 11:15 | Sharp Theater, Berrie Center for the Arts, 505 Ramapo Valley Road, Mahwah, NJ, 07430, United States
Free and open to the public*
Christopher Calloway Brooks, grandson of the late legendary musician Cab Calloway, currently leads the Cab Calloway Orchestra, continuing the legacy of his work. A trained musician and Harlem Renaissance scholar, Brooks has made a career out of not only performing in the style of his grandfather, but educating audiences on race, the history of the Zoot Suit, Calloway’s position within the African-American music community, how he led his orchestra, and his connections to legendary films and performers.
This is a 60-minute talk, followed by Q&A.
*If you are guest from off campus, please stop at the guard shack and request a visitor parking pass.
The Cab Calloway Orchestra will perform on Saturday, September 27 at 8:00 p.m. in the Sharp Theater. Get your tickets here.
The program is brought to you by the Schomburg Distinguished Visiting Scholars Program.

Visual Arts Faculty Exhibition 2025
2025-09-24 - 2025-11-21 | NJ
September 24 – November 21

Location: Kresge and Pascal Galleries, Berrie Center | BC 218 and BC 220
Opening Reception: Wednesday, September 24, 5 to 7 p.m.
Group exhibition featuring artworks by full-time and adjunct professors who teach Visual Arts.
Additional artist talks and programs such as performance will occur during the run of the exhibition, with dates and times TBA.
Eva Fazzari, Sanctuary Series, archival digital print Lori Merhige, Cairn V, mixed media

The Cab Calloway Orchestra- Directed by Cab's Grandson- Christopher Calloway Brooks
2025-09-27 20:00 - 21:30 | Sharp Theater, Berrie Center for the Arts, 505 Ramapo Valley Road, Mahwah, NJ, 07430, United States
Cab’s Grandson Christopher Brooks “CB” continues his grandfathers’ legacy, as his grandfather had wished, with The Cab Calloway Orchestra. With a sound that is timeless, the orchestra continues to inspire and delight music fans all over the world. The Cab Calloway Orchestra is a living testament to the rich history and lasting legacy of jazz music. Their performances are a celebration of the swinging, soulful sounds that have captivated audiences for generations.

Get Tickets
Adults: $48/45, Children Under 17, $20, RCNJ Faculty/Staff: $38/36*, RCNJ Students: $8*, Retired Employees of Ramapo College: $38/36*
NOTE: Everyone entering the auditorium must have a ticket, including infants and young children. Strollers are not permitted in the theaters. Due to fire code capacity limits, no lap seating of any kind is allowed.
*Ticket limits apply. In order to receive a RCNJ Student, Faculty/Staff discount, you MUST purchase your ticket at the Berrie Center Box Office with ID. Discounted tickets cannot be purchased over the phone.
To purchase wheelchair accessible seating or for questions regarding alternative formats, please contact the Box Office at (201) 684-7844 or tickets@ramapo.edu

Brian McSherry: Art as Law / Law as Art
2025-09-30 13:10 - 14:10 | Adler Theater, 505 Ramapo Valley Road, Mahwah, NJ, United States
Join Assistant Professor of Contemporary Arts & Design Brian McSherry September 30th, from 1:10 – 2:10 for a talk about his career and works on view in the Visual Arts Faculty Exhibition.
The exhibition will be on view in the Berrie Center’s Kresge and Pascal Galleries from September 24th – November 21st. The Galleries are open Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday 1-5 p.m., Wednesday, 1-7 p.m..

Bobby Previte's Pocket Orchestra Plays Bitches Brew
2025-10-08 19:00 - 21:00 | Sharp Theater, Berrie Center for the Arts, 505 Ramapo Valley Road, Mahwah, NJ, 07430, United States
One of the greatest works of the twentieth century, Bitches Brew, released in 1970, changed the entire landscape of not only Jazz, but Rock, Funk, Soul, and Pop as well. Hailed as a masterpiece upon release, it has become even more influential in the fullness of time. Professor Previte and his band begin where Bitches Brew left off, and using it as a springboard, point towards new directions.
Concert is FREE and open to all.

John Peffer: Liner Notes
2025-10-09 13:10 - 14:10 | Rehearsal Hall – BC216, 505 Ramapo Valley Road, Mahwah, NJ, 07430, United States
Join Professor of Art History John Peffer October 9th, from 1:10 – 2:10 for a performance relating to his works on view in the Visual Arts Faculty Exhibition.
“Liner Notes” is a slide show and audio lecture that describes the look, the feel, and the sounds of an archive of music recordings censored during apartheid in South Africa. During apartheid, vinyl records were physically cut with a sharp object to prevent them from being played on the radio, but Peffer holds up those scratches for visual analysis and plays them back anyway.
The exhibition will be on view in the Berrie Center’s Kresge and Pascal Galleries from September 24th – November 21st. The Galleries are open Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday 1-5 p.m., Wednesday, 1-7 p.m..

Cat Kid Comic Club: The Musical
2025-10-11 14:00 - 15:00 | Sharp Theater, Berrie Center for the Arts, 505 Ramapo Valley Road, Mahwah, NJ, 07430, United States
The TheaterWorksUSA Production of
CAT KID COMIC CLUB: THE MUSICAL
Cat Kid and Molly Pollywog have started an epic club to teach 21 rambunctious baby frogs how to make their own comics! Their fishy father Flippy is overjoyed that his kids will learn to unleash their creativity, but when the frogs’ constant bickering and outrageous imaginations send their comics comically off the rails, Flippy flips out! Will the club survive? Will the frogs ever get along? And will creativity finally save the day?
This hilarious musical adaptation of Dav Pilkey’s Dog Man spin-off series, Cat Kid Comic Club, is written by Kevin Del Aguila and Brad Alexander – the team that brought you DOG MAN: THE MUSICAL!
Ideal for grades 1-5 and their families!

Get Tickets
Adults: $25, Children Under 17, $25, RCNJ Faculty/Staff: $20*, RCNJ Students: $8*, Retired Employees of Ramapo College: $20*
NOTE: Everyone entering the auditorium must have a ticket, including infants and young children. Strollers are not permitted in the theaters. Due to fire code capacity limits, no lap seating of any kind is allowed.
*Ticket limits apply. In order to receive a RCNJ Student, Faculty/Staff discount, you MUST purchase your ticket at the Berrie Center Box Office with ID. Discounted tickets cannot be purchased over the phone.
To purchase wheelchair accessible seating or for questions regarding alternative formats, please contact the Box Office at (201) 684-7844 or tickets@ramapo.edu
CKCC Photos by Jeremy Daniel L-R, Dan Rosales, Markia Nicole Smith, Brian Owen, Sonia Roman, L.R. Davidson, Jamie LaVerdiere

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Dylan McLaughlin: Performance and Talk
2025-10-22 16:45 - 17:45 | Adler Theater, 505 Ramapo Valley Road, Mahwah, NJ, United States
Join Sculpture Technology Assistant Dylan McLaughlin October 22nd, from 4:45 – 5:45 for a performance and talk about his work in the Visual Arts Faculty Exhibition.
Songs of Tempestuous Rising and Falling is a performative work by Dylan McLaughlin. It is a critical embodiment of the monsters that we live among that have shaped our landscapes. It is a meditation on relationships to place, to violence, to harmony, and disharmony. Songs of Tempestuous Rising and Falling meditates on the resonating eco-violence of place. Building on responses to legacies of extractive violence on the Navajo Nation, this work gives space to hear and feel what the acoustic world is speaking. The work provides a space of reverence and reflection.
Dylan McLaughlin synthesizes noise, image, performance, and sculpture, citing Diné cosmologies and ecologies of extraction. He looks to familial narratives and the entanglements of colonialism that underwrite technologies of extraction and violence. His work makes felt what might otherwise remain abstract; with sound-and-light installations evoking the exploitation, displacement, and weaponization of Indigenous communities and technologies.
The Visual Arts Faculty Exhibition will be on view in the Berrie Center’s Kresge and Pascal Galleries from September 24th – November 21st. The Galleries are open Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday 1-5 p.m., Wednesday, 1-7 p.m..

RCNJ Theater Dept. Presents: Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors
2025-11-14 20:00 - 21:30, 2025-11-15 20:00 - 21:30, 2025-11-16 14:00 - 15:30, 2025-11-20 20:00 - 21:30, 2025-11-21 20:00 - 21:30, 2025-11-22 20:00 - 21:30 | Sharp Theater, Berrie Center for the Arts, 505 Ramapo Valley Road, Mahwah, NJ, 07430, United States
by Gordon Greenberg and Steve Rosen
Directed by Lester Mayers
This is a comedy you can really sink your teeth into. Filled with clever wordplay and anything-goes pop culture references, it’s a 90-minute, gender-bending, quick-changing, laugh-out-loud reimagining of the gothic classic. In the treacherous mountains of Transylvania, a meek English real estate agent takes a harrowing journey to meet a new and mysterious client, who just happens to be the most terrifying and ferocious monster the world has ever known. As famed female vampire hunter Jean Van Helsing and company chase Drac from Transylvania to the British countryside to London and back, their antics are guaranteed to increase your pulse and cause blood curdling screams of laughter.
Content Warning: This production includes the use of haze, strobe lights, as well as depictions of blood, violence, sexual aggression, and supernatural horror, which may be disturbing for some audiences.
Get Tickets
General Admission: $15, RCNJ Students $5*
*Ticket limits apply. In order to receive a RCNJ Student discount, you MUST purchase your ticket at the Berrie Center Box Office with ID. Discounted tickets cannot be purchased over the phone.

RCNJ Music- CantaNOVA & Friends: Dickens Holiday
2025-11-16 16:00 - 18:00 | Adler Theater, 505 Ramapo Valley Road, Mahwah, NJ, United States
Ramapo’s CantaNOVA & Friends!
THIS EVENT IS SOLD OUT!

RCNJ Music Presents: Shadows on the Stars
2025-12-07 16:00 - 18:00 | Old Paramus Reformed Church, 650 E. Glen Ave, Ridgewood, NJ, United States
WINTER CONCERT
CantaNOVA & Ramapo Chorale
Shadows on the Stars
Old Paramus Church, Ridgewood, NJ
Adults $10 | Students Free

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A Swingin’ Christmas with New York Voices
2025-12-13 20:00 - 21:30 | Sharp Theater, Berrie Center for the Arts, 505 Ramapo Valley Road, Mahwah, NJ, 07430, United States
New York Voices with special guest CantaNOVA
As New York Voices begin to bid farewell after nearly four decades of music-making, this holiday concert is a chance to celebrate the memories, the magic, and the music. With their signature blend of rich harmonies and jazz sophistication, join the quartet for an elegant evening featuring beloved holiday tunes and enduring classics. Share in the spirit of the season—and the legacy of a group that has touched hearts around the world.

Get Tickets
Adults: $48/45, Children Under 17, $20, RCNJ Faculty/Staff: $38/36*, RCNJ Students: $8*, Retired Employees of Ramapo College: $38/36*
NOTE: Everyone entering the auditorium must have a ticket, including infants and young children. Strollers are not permitted in the theaters. Due to fire code capacity limits, no lap seating of any kind is allowed.
*Ticket limits apply. In order to receive a RCNJ Student, Faculty/Staff discount, you MUST purchase your ticket at the Berrie Center Box Office with ID. Discounted tickets cannot be purchased over the phone.
To purchase wheelchair accessible seating or for questions regarding alternative formats, please contact the Box Office at (201) 684-7844 or tickets@ramapo.edu

Lost Synagogues of Europe: Paintings and Histories
2026-01-29 - 2026-03-31 | Learning Commons, 505 Ramapo Valley Road, Mahwah, NJ, 07430, United States
Lost Synagogues of Europe: Paintings and Histories brings to life seventy-seven European synagogues destroyed by antisemitism, war, and political upheaval, rendered in evocative gouache paintings and historical prose.
Prints of these paintings by artist Andrea Strongwater will be on view in the Learning Commons from January 29th – March 31st.
Image: Andrea Strongwater, Great Synagogue Danzig Exterior, 2025, gouache.

World-Renowned collections of Haitian and related self-taught and folk arts
2026-02-03 - 2026-04-29 | Selden Rodman Gallery of Popular Arts, 505 Ramapo Valley Road, Mahwah, NJ, 07430, United States
February 3, 2026 – April 29, 2026

Location: Selden Rodman Gallery of Popular Arts, B Wing – B130

Kun-Yang Lin/Dancers
2026-02-07 20:00 - 21:00 | Sharp Theater, Berrie Center for the Arts, 505 Ramapo Valley Road, Mahwah, NJ, 07430, United States
Bold, soulful, and genre-defying, Kun-Yang Lin/Dancers (KYL/D) is a Philadelphia-based contemporary dance company that brings ancient Eastern wisdom into dialogue with modern movement. Under the direction of Kun-Yang Lin, the company’s work contains stunning visuals and spiritual depth. The New York Times raves that the dances “create and inhabit worlds of their own.” Drawing on Lin’s CHI Awareness Practice, KYL/D’s dance artistry is as physically daring as it is emotionally resonant. With a reputation for poetic, soul-stirring performance, KYL/D has captivated audiences across the globe, from Lincoln Center to Jacob’s Pillow, from Germany to Taiwan and beyond.
Get Tickets
Adults: $35/30, Children Under 17, $20, RCNJ Faculty/Staff: $28/24*, RCNJ Students: $8*, Retired Employees of Ramapo College: $28/24*
NOTE: Everyone entering the auditorium must have a ticket, including infants and young children. Strollers are not permitted in the theaters. Due to fire code capacity limits, no lap seating of any kind is allowed.
*Ticket limits apply. In order to receive a RCNJ Student, Faculty/Staff discount, you MUST purchase your ticket at the Berrie Center Box Office with ID. Discounted tickets cannot be purchased over the phone.
To purchase wheelchair accessible seating or for questions regarding alternative formats, please contact the Box Office at (201) 684-7844 or tickets@ramapo.edu
Photo Credit: Robert Li Photography

Relative to the Collection: Luce Turnier
2026-02-27 13:00 - 2026-04-10 17:00 | Berrie Center
A small showing of paintings and drawings by the Haitian master, who was one of the most important woman Haitian artists of the 20th century.
This exhibition will be on view in through April 10th, with a reception on Wednesday, March 25th at 5 PM.
Image: Luce Turnier, Untitled, 1980, drawing. From the collection of Axelle Liautaud.

GODDESSES 3.0
2026-02-27 13:00 - 2026-04-10 17:00 | Berrie Center
A group exhibition of contemporary artists curated by Director of the Art Galleries Sydney Jenkins and feminist artist and curator Donna Kessinger.
Planned public programs include a lecture relating to goddesses history, a film screening and academic panel, exhibiting artists’ talks, and performance art.
From the classical to fashion history to myth to popular culture and political art, this exhibition will flex numerous ways to think about the meaning of Goddesses.
Artists represented range from Dara Birnbaum, Nancy Spero, Mary Beth Edelson, and Carolee Schneemann to Myrlande Constant, Vanessa Beecroft, and Mariko Mori, among others.
This exhibition will be on view in through April 10th, with a reception on Wednesday, March 25th at 5 PM.
Dates of other GODDESSES 3.0 events to be announced soon!
View the information page for this exhibition here!
Image: Pat Lay, Altar Heads Series #4: Diviner, 2003, fired clay, steel, gold leaf.

An Evening with Lorna Luft Featuring the Songs of Judy Garland
2026-02-28 20:00 - 21:30 | Sharp Theater, Berrie Center for the Arts, 505 Ramapo Valley Road, Mahwah, NJ, 07430, United States
Using her unique perspective born from a lifetime in entertainment, join Lorna Luft as she shares favorites from the Great American Songbook. Expect some songs made famous by her mother and film legend, Judy Garland, as well as stories from Hollywood, Broadway, and beyond as only she can tell them.
Born to the legendary Judy Garland and producer Sid Luft, Lorna began her career on her mother’s TV show at the age of eleven. She went on to perform on Broadway in Promises, Promises; Snoopy, the Musical; and Extremities. She has performed in domestic and international productions of They’re Playing Our Song; Guys and Dolls; Grease; The Wizard of Oz; Holiday Inn; and White Christmas.
Get Tickets
Adults: $50/45, Children Under 17, $20, RCNJ Faculty/Staff: $40/36*, RCNJ Students: $8*, Retired Employees of Ramapo College: $40/36*
NOTE: Everyone entering the auditorium must have a ticket, including infants and young children. Strollers are not permitted in the theaters. Due to fire code capacity limits, no lap seating of any kind is allowed.
*Ticket limits apply. In order to receive a RCNJ Student, Faculty/Staff discount, you MUST purchase your ticket at the Berrie Center Box Office with ID. Discounted tickets cannot be purchased over the phone.
To purchase wheelchair accessible seating or for questions regarding alternative formats, please contact the Box Office at (201) 684-7844 or tickets@ramapo.edu

RCNJ Theater Presents: What the Constitution Means to Me
2026-03-05 20:00 - 22:00, 2026-03-06 20:00 - 22:00, 2026-03-07 20:00 - 22:00, 2026-03-08 14:00 - 16:00 | Adler Theater, 505 Ramapo Valley Road, Mahwah, NJ, United States
Written by Heidi Schreck
Directed by Terra Vandergaw
This boundary-breaking Tony-nominated play breathes new life into our Constitution and imagines how it will shape the next generation of Americans. Fifteen-year-old Heidi earned her college tuition by winning Constitutional debate competitions across the United States. In this hilarious, hopeful and achingly human new play, she resurrects her teenage self in order to trace the profound relationship between four generations of women and the founding document that shaped their lives.
Content Warning: What the Constitution Means to Me contains mature themes and language, mentions of domestic violence, sexual assault, and discussions of abortion and its stigmatization.
Tickets

Art History Talk - The Ballad of Miss Fortune
2026-03-06 11:30 - 13:30 | Berrie Center
Please join us in the Berrie Center Café at 11:30 for a special talk by Art Historian Maria Loh in which she bridges renaissance imagery and notions of misogyny.
This event is held in conjunction with GODDESSES 3.0, on view in the Kresge and Pascal Galleries February 25 – April 10. More information on GODDESSES 3.0 can be found here!
ABSTRACT

Kairos, Occasio, and Fortuna are complex facets of the same goddess of luck, but at a certain moment in time a troubling, schizophrenic iconography came into being, which cast Lady Luck as a distinctively female force, both a capricious agent controlling the Wheel of Fortune and also as a body that could be either violently seized or wildly adored. This lecture will explore the uneasy gendering of Fortuna in some early modern images such as an engraving by Marcantonio Raimondi in the Metropolitan Museum that bears the descriptive title A Naked Man Holding Fortune by the Hair and Whipping Her. Rather than simply cancelling an image as such, I would like to take the opportunity to reflect upon the ideological work that such artworks accomplished in their own time and to push us to think about how we can and must make sense of them as twenty-first-century viewers.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Maria H. Loh is Professor of Art History at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. Previously, she taught at CUNY Hunter College for six years and at University College London for over a decade. She is a contributor to Art in America and the author of three books—Titian Remade. Repetition and the Transformation of Early Modern Italian Art (2007); Still Lives. Death, Desire, and the Portrait of the Old Master (2015); and Titian’s Touch. Art, Magic, & Philosophy (2019). She has also written on: horror and “special affect” in early modern painting and sculpture; rainbow imagery in Stuart England; melancholia and the Renaissance in Ottocento Italy; remakes in Chinese cinema; repetition in Hitchcock’s Vertigo; seriality and Sherrie Levine; and the “open work” of Jeff Wall. Her forthcoming book—Liquid Sky—will be written for a general audience.
Image: Maria Loh, courtesy of the Institute for Advanced Study.
