Mayo Patrons Beat the Drums to Aid Japan at Kodo

Our patrons are pretty amazing. The Mayo Center thanks its patrons for their generous contributions to the American Red Cross at the Saturday, March 19th performance of the Kodo Drummers of Japan. All in all, $4500 was collected!

The Theatre donated all of its concession sales that evening to Red Cross Japanese earthquake and tsunami relief efforts. In addition, patrons were encouraged to donate funds after the performance. Members of Kodo came out to the lobby after the performance to thank patrons for their generous donations. A special thanks to the New Jersey Martial Arts Academy, which raised $1000 on its own and donated that to our efforts.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day to everyone!

Today we celebrated in a big way beginning with our staff lunch catered by the Dublin Pub. Included in the menu were potatoes and the staple corned beef and cabbage.

Following lunch was Green with Envy, our company cook off. The only rule was it had to be green. Staff members came up with delicious dishes that were judged on originality, taste, presentation, and overall awesomeness. Yes, that is a category.

This menu included super sugary, sweet-a-licious choices such as thin mint cheesecake, mini cup cakes, green apples with green caramel, Irish whiskey cake, grasshopper pie, limey triple, green ice cream cake, Bailey’s Irish cream cake, and green jello. Whew! Now as delicious as that sounds you’re probably wondering where the pictures are… well there are none. It was all devoured by a staff of 20 plus before we could get the trusty camera to document it all. So instead you get something better. Pictured below are our lovely staff members who won the cook off. At this point everyone is about to go into a food coma. Slán go fóill.

Pictured below left to right: Jill Hargrave – Originality, Katie Lemery – Taste, Lana Gusoff – Presentation, Cathy Roy – Taste, Jason Fluegge – Overall Awesomeness!

St. Patrick's parade weekend in Morristown

This past Tuesday members of The Trustees of The Saint Patrick’s Day Parade, The Friendly Sons of Saint Patrick of Morris County and The Irish American Association of Northwest Jersey supported the Mayo Performing Arts Center by providing a generous $5,000 donation for the installation of the Flagpole on the Theatre’s front plaza. In celebration of Morristown’s upcoming St Patrick’s Day Parade on Saturday, March 12th at noon, some members of these organizations and the 2011 Grand Marshall, William Quinn, gathered for a picture in front of the Flagpole on the Theatre plaza. In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, the Theatre is flying both the Stars and Stripes and the Irish flags this month.

Left to Right:
Robyn Quinn; Parade Co-chair, Bill Schoeck, President of the Irish American Association of Northwest Jersey; Dave Brennan; former Grand Marshall, Monsignor John F. Corr; Monsignor John Hart; 2011 Grand Marshall, William Quinn; Pete Eckland; Rich Smith; Jeff Rawding; Mike Beck; Parade Co-chair, Ernie Miltner, President of The Friendly Sons; former Grand Marshall, Jim Mongey; Bill Magnier; John Bradley

Left to Right: Former Grand Marshall, Monsignor John F. Corr with 2011 Grand Marshall, William Quinn, and former Grand Marshall, Jim Mongey.

Speaking of the parade… did you know you can literally kick off Morristown’s St. Patrick’s Day parade weekend with Celtic Fire on Friday night, March 11th! Direct from Ireland comes this electric fusion of Irish artistry, featuring thrilling step dancing and traditional folk music and songs under the artistic direction of Riverdance’s Michael Londra. Come on down and let your feet do the walking…or the step dancing.

If you can't make the show and you are out and about for the parade on Saturday, visit our table in front of the theatre from noon to 2pm for a chance to win tickets to an upcoming performance.

Also tonight you can get a taste of Tango Buenos Aires. Experience the passion, the romance and the spectacle of the world’s most sensual dance as performed by Argentina’s most celebrated dancers.

Hope everyone has a fun filled weekend!

Mayo Center Art Cover Contest

Photo (L to R): Haley Renken, Carina Fairfield and Joseph Park

Congratulations Carina Fairfield, Haley Renken of Randolph High School, and Joseph Park of Boonton High School! They were named the winners of The Mayo Center for the Performing Arts’ Visual Arts Art Cover Contest.

Carina’s entry will be featured as the cover of the Theatre’s March program book, which is handed out prior to most Theatre events that month. Haley’s entry will be featured as the cover of the Theatre’s April program book. Joseph Park’s entry will be featured as the cover of the Family program book in throughout the rest of the season.

Over four dozen Morris County students participated in the art contest. Students were asked to draw based on a theme of creativity and the arts. This is the second year that the contest has been held through the Theatre Education Department. Support for the contest was provided by Verizon.

“We are thrilled to once again offer this program, both honoring and inspiring young visual artists from all over Morris County,” said Cathy Roy,” Director of Education, Mayo Center for the Performing Arts. “ Through our Education programs, we are always striving to enhance the classroom curriculum of all of our participating schools, and seeing how the students took our theme of "Inspire, Imagine, Create, Discover, Celebrate The Arts," and expressed it through their artwork was so impressive. “

“Art has always been a huge part of my life,” Hayley Renken says. “It allows me to express my feelings. I really enjoyed challenging myself by participating in the contest to come up with a cover that exemplified the theater theme. I am truly honored to be given this outstanding recognition and hope to someday pursue a career in art!”

“Whether it’s a conduit to express my creativity or a calming break in the day, art has always been a great pleasure of mine,” Carina Fairfield says. “Since elementary school, I always looked forward to that one day each week my class would have an hour long art class in the art room. Now, I love walking into the art room each day, unwinding out of the busy scheduled day and having the opportunity to focus on working on my current piece. The anxieties of my day seem to melt away.”

“I enjoyed participating in the art contest, and I love the challenge of communicating to a broad audience with my artwork,” says Joseph Park. “On stormy, rainy days or during bright, sunny days, no matter what the weather, my friends and family know where to find me during any spare time I have: I will be glued to a chair, gripping a pencil, drawing in silence. Art will always be inside of me, and I wish to pursue an enduring career in the arts and animation, to create works that can inspire and entertain people of every generation.”

All participating students were invited to a reception on March 2 and samples of their works will be displayed in the Theatre throughout March.

For more photos see our Flickr page.