Peak Performances Unveils Fall 2026/Winter 2027 Season

From groundbreaking contemporary dance to iconic American films and one of the holiday season's most beloved musical traditions, PEAK Performances at Montclair State University is inviting audiences to experience an exciting lineup of world-class artists and performances this fall and winter.

The Fall/Winter 2026 season brings a wide range of live performance and film to the Alexander Kasser Theater and Presentation Hall, beginning September 17 with A.I.M by Kyle Abraham's White Space, an evening-length dance work co-commissioned by PEAK Performances and featuring a new collaborative score by acclaimed composers Jason Moran and Nico Muhly. The season continues with appearances and works spanning the Royal Shakespeare Company, Compagnie Hervé KOUBI, Dance Heginbotham, The Hands Free and the New Jersey Symphony, alongside the launch of Classic Films Now. This free three-film series, introduced and hosted by Rafer Guzmán, Film Critic/Entertainment Reporter, explores 1976, a remarkable year in American cinema and a revealing moment in the nation's cultural imagination.

The Fall/Winter 2026 Season Lineup includes:

RSC: Insight into Rehearsal

Thursday, September 17, 2026 at 6:00pm at Leshowitz Hall

What is it like to step into the rehearsal room of a Royal Shakespeare Company production? This lecture and demonstration offers a look into the process behind one of the world's foremost Shakespearian interpreters. All are welcome for this chance to see three amazing artists demonstrate the methodology of how RSC artists approach the exploration, analysis, and staging of a scene. The featured artists are Aaron Parsons, Joseph Arkley, and Eloise Secker.

A.I.M by Kyle Abraham: White Space

Thursday, September 17, 2026 at 7:30pm at Alexander Kasser Theater

White Space brings together acclaimed composers, Jason Moran and Nico Muhly, for a haunting new collaborative score that pierces the heart of choreographer Kyle Abraham's newest evening-length dance. At just over one hour, this dance work grounds its cast of 11 captivating dancers in a restless and thought-provoking world fueled by a vast movement vocabulary consisting of Abraham's signature blend of classical and contemporary dance with a hip-hop underbelly. The score is performed live by two pianists on one piano, with echoes of pre-recorded hip-hop driving the collision of reality and idealism.

The performance will be followed by a free coffee and dessert reception. A free bus from Manhattan to Montclair State University will be provided on a first come, first served basis for attendees who have purchased a ticket to the performance. For more information on the free bus, visit peakperfs.org/events. 

RSC: Script-In-Hand Hamlet

Friday, September 25 at 6:00pm at Alexander Kasser Theater

The Royal Shakespeare Company culminates its residency with a look into the rehearsal room, and a script-in-hand performance of Shakespeare's tragic masterpiece. Across the ten-day residency, students will work closely with RSC Associate Learning Practitioners and industry artists to explore, interpret, and stage their own version of one of Shakespeare's most iconic tragedies, Hamlet. All are welcome for a look inside the rehearsal room with one of the world's foremost Shakespearean theater companies.

Compagnie Hervé KOUBI: Sol Invictus

Thursday, October 15, 2026 at 7:30pm at Alexander Kasser Theater

A jubilant ritual full of love and light from the acclaimed French-Algerian ensemble Compagnie Hervé KOUBI. Named after the “invincible sun” deity, Sol Invictus upholds love as the guarantor of peace, that despite fracture, communion emerges as humanity's saving grace. A vivid celebration of solidarity and the bonds that unite us, in Sol Invictus the sun will emerge victorious. The score includes a composition by Swedish composer Mikael Karlsson, with excerpts by Steve Reich and digital composer Maxime Bodson.

The Hands Free & Dance Heginbotham: The Party Scene

Saturday, November 22, 2026 3PM at Alexander Kasser Theater

Exquisitely eclectic quartet The Hands Free and members of the fabulously whimsical Dance Heginbotham join forces in The Party Scene. Inspired by The Nutcracker and your holiday office party, this music and dance extravaganza is part Drosselmeyer and part Turkey Lurkey Time. Lightly immersive and family friendly, The Party Scene features student party guests from Montclair State University. All guests are encouraged to don impressively festive seasonal sweaters.

New Jersey Symphony: Handel's Messiah

Saturday, December 19, 2026 at 7:30pm at Alexander Kasser Theater

New Jersey Symphony's glorious holiday tradition returns with this iconic masterpiece, a classical rendition of the greatest story ever told, composed by George Frideric Handel and featuring the University Singers. The majestic music—including the triumphant “Hallelujah Chorus”—rekindles the spirit of the holidays for first-time listeners and those who return each season. This event features conductor Kendrick Armstrong, soprano Jessica Rivera, mezzosoprano Kelley O'Connor, tenor Martin Bakari, and bass-baritone Kevin Short. The Montclair State University Singers are directed by Dr. Heather J. Buchanan.

The Classic Films Now Series:

A nation distrusts its institutions. News has become spectacle. Ordinary people fight to matter. Welcome to 1976. Classic Films Now brings major works of cinema back to the big screen, films that not only defined their own time but continue to speak to ours. Each installment of the series gathers a group of landmark films curated around a theme, period, artist, or movement, inviting audiences to discover how the works connect with contemporary life. Screenings will be introduced and hosted by Rafer Guzmán. Rafer writes about movies, music, and popular culture for Newsday. He has been a film critic for WNYC, a co-host of the independent podcast “Movie Therapy,” and a staff writer at The Wall Street Journal.

All the President's Men

Sunday, October 25, 2026, 2PM at Presentation Hall

Academy Award winners Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman star in this true story as Washington Post reporters Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, whose investigation of a seemingly minor hotel room break-in uncovers the greatest political scandal in United States history and leads to the downfall of President Richard Nixon.

Network

Sunday, November 1, 2026, 2PM at Presentation Hall

Best Picture nominee about a mentally unstable news anchor who, after being told he's to be fired, becomes a media superstar when he begins delivering nightly rants and threatens an on-air suicide for his final broadcast. Paddy Chayevsky's script won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay; Peter Firth received a posthumous Best Actor award as the unhinged newsman; and Faye Dunaway won Best Actress as a scheming network exec.

Rocky

Sunday Nov 8, 2026, 2PM at Presentation Hall

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