The Eatontown Playhouse, Route 35 north, will present the musical “Company” by Steven Sondheim Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., and Sundays at 3 p.m., through Oct. 30. Tickets are $20 and $15 for seniors and students and can be reserved by calling (732) 888-0339. “Night of the Wicker Man,” a Halloween thriller stage reading, will be presented Oct.30 at 7:15 p.m. Tickets are $10. Auditions are still open for the “Children’s Talent Show,” which is being presented Saturdays at noon and 3 p.m. and Sundays at noon through Oct. 29. Tickets are $8.
Phoenix Productions will hold auditions for its December production of the musical “Nuncrackers,” the fourth in the series of hilarious “Nunsense” comedies. Auditions will take place at the Phoenix Studio Theatre, 111 Monmouth St., Red Bank (next door to the Count Basie Theatre), on Saturday, Oct. 22, at 10 a.m. All parts are open. Auditioners should prepare 16 bars and have sheet music.
The Monmouth Symphony Orchestra presents “A Celebration of Romanticism” Sunday, Oct. 23, at 3 p.m. at the Count Basie Theatre, 99 Monmouth St., Red Bank. A preconcert lecture will be held at 2:15 p.m. The program will be Wagner’s “Rienzi Overture” and Dvorak “Symphony No. 8 in G major, Op. 88.” Amy Hamilton-Soto will solo on the Bruch “Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor.” Tickets are $25, $20 for seniors and $5 for students. For tickets or information, call (732)842-9000 or visit www.monsym.org.
Monmouth University’s Visiting Poets Series will present a reading by Mary Karr on Tuesday, Oct. 25, at 7:30 p.m. in Wilson Hall Auditorium. The event is free and open to the public. Karr has written four volumes of poetry and is the author of two best-selling memoirs. The first, “The Liars’ Club,” was on The New York Times bestseller list for more than a year and a “best book” for more than 30 newspapers and magazines. She is Jesse Truesdell Peck Professor of Literature at Syracuse (N.Y.) University.
The Associated Students of Brookdale Community College and the Black Student Union will present author Phillip Thomas Duck reading from his latest works on Wednesday, Oct. 26, at 7 p.m., followed by a book signing and reception in the Donald D. Warner Student Life Center, Navesink room. The event is free. Duck’s debut novel, “Playing With Destiny,” focuses on the subject of fatherhood in the black community. “Whispers Between the Sheets,” his most recent work, is an anthology currently in publication.
For details, contact Rodney Snell at (732) 224-2393 or e-mail to [email protected].
“Behind the Colored Lights,” an insider’s view of the carnival, will be on exhibit Oct. 28-Nov. 23 at the 800 Gallery at Monmouth University in West Long Branch. The photographic essay and video documentary were created by Melon Heinrich, whose family is in the carnival business. Heinrich operates a commercial photography studio and currently heads the university’s photography area. An opening reception will be held Friday, Oct. 28, from 7 to 9 p.m. Gallery hours are Monday through Thursday, 2:30 to 4 p.m. and Friday by appointment.
For details, call (732) 263-5507 or visit www.mhstudios.com/BTCL/btclenter.htm.
The New Jersey Chapter of the American Artists Professional League will have a juried exhibit at the Guild of Creative Art in Shrewsbury from Oct. 31 through Nov. 30. A public reception will be held on Sunday, Nov. 13, from 2 to 4 p.m. and the awards ceremony will take place at 3 p.m. For details, call (732) 741-1441 or go to www.guildofcreativeart.com. The Guild, at 620 Broad St., is open to the public Monday through Saturday, noon-4:30 p.m.
Fair Haven Book Store, 759 River Road, will host a book signing by Lin Fong-O’Neill, author of “Mommy Why?” on Saturday, Nov. 5, 11 a.m-1 p.m. For more information, call (732) 747.9455.
Monmouth University in West Long Branch will present “Una Storia Segreta, When Italian Americans Were Enemy Aliens” on Nov. 7-18. Paolo Toschi, vice consul of the Italian Consulate, will speak at the opening reception on Nov. 7. The exhibit is free and open to the public. Organized by Monmouth University History and Anthropology Professor Susan Douglass, the exhibit focuses on a little known chapter in American history. During World War II, Executive Order 9066, which led to the mass internment of Japanese Americans, could be applied to Italian and German Americans. At the time of Pearl Harbor, there were 600,000 Italian Americans who were branded as “Enemy Aliens” in January 1942 and ordered to register at local post offices all over the U.S. They were fingerprinted, photographed, and had to carry their enemy registration cards at all times. They were limited to traveling within a five-mile radius of their homes. For more information, call (732) 571-3526.
Join the Art Society of Monmouth County on Nov. 16 at 10:30 a.m. to network with local artists over coffee at the Monmouth Beach Cultural Center at 128 Ocean Ave. At 11 a.m., enjoy a watercolor demonstration by award-winning artist Beverly Golembeski. For details, call (732) 229-4527 or visit www.watercolorsbybeverly.com.