Past Calendar Events

Saturday, June 28, 2025 at 2:00 pm and 8:00 pm & Sunday, June 29 at 1:oo pm and 6:00 pm / VBI Theatre – 12 Vassar Street / Ticket Information: SRO Theater Company – “Oliver, Jr!” Tickets

Saturday, June 21, 2025 @ 8:00 pm / VBI Theatre – 12 Vassar Street / Ticket Information: Elysium Furnace Works

A supercharged trio of innovators! Bassist Brandon Lopez (William Parker, Tyshawn Sorey) joins longtime collaborators and multi-instrumentalists Ikue Mori (DNA, John Zorn) and Zeena Parkins (Björk, Yoko Ono, Zorn) for unparalleled electro-acoustic sonic adventures.

Saturday, June 14, 2025 and Sunday, June 15, 2025 / VBI Theatre – 12 Vassar Street / Performance Times and Ticket Information: From Stage To Screen Acting Studio

When James is sent by his conniving aunts to chop down their old fruit tree, he discovers a magic potion that results in a tremendous peach… and launches a journey of enormous proportions. Suddenly, James finds himself in the center of the gigantic peach, among human-sized insects with equally oversized personalities, but after it falls from the tree and rolls into the ocean, the group faces hunger, sharks and plenty of disagreements. Thanks to James’ quick wit and creative thinking, the residents learn to live and work together as a family. The dangerous voyage is a success, but the adventure takes a whole new twist once they land on the Empire State Building.

Saturday, June 7, 2025 and Sunday, June 8, 2025 / VBI Theatre – 12 Vassar Street / Performance Times and Ticket Information: From Stage To Screen Acting Studio

Four eccentric Broadway stars are in desperate need of a new stage. So, when they hear that trouble is brewing around a small-town prom, they know that it’s time to put a spotlight on the issue…and themselves. The town’s parents want to keep the high school dance on the straight and narrow—but when one student just wants to bring her girlfriend to prom, the entire town has a date with destiny. On a mission to transform lives, Broadway’s brassiest join forces with a courageous girl and the town’s citizens and the result is love that brings them all together. Winner of the Drama Desk Award for Best Musical, The Prom expertly captures all the humor and heart of a classic musical comedy with a message that resonates with audiences now more than ever.

Saturday, May 17, 2025 / Belly Dance Workshop from 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm in the Dance Studio – 12 Vassar Street, 2nd Floor / Gala Show from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm in the VBI Theatre – 12 Vassar Street / Ticket Information: (845) 519-7058

Saturday, May 3, 2025 @ 8:00 pm / VBI Theatre – 12 Vassar Street / Ticket Information: Elysium Furnace Works

ROVA Saxophone Quartet co-founder Larry Ochs makes his Hudson Valley debut in an incendiary trio with bassist Joe Morris and drummer/percussionist Michael Wimberly.

Thursday, May 1, 2025 @ 8:00 pm and Sunday, May 4, 2025 @ 2:00 pm/ VBI Theatre – 12 Vassar Street / Tickets: $20 Adults / $10 Students / Purchase Online Tickets: All The Young Punks Tickets

The New Deal Creative Arts Center presents a full production of the 2024 Hudson Valley Theatre Festival Selection, All The Young Punks by Jeff Roda. All The Young Punks is about teens who grapple with a spate of recent suicides, UFO sightings, absentee parents and one another while hanging outside a small-town nightclub in 1984.

Saturday, April 26, 2025 and Sunday, April 27, 2025 / VBI Theatre – 12 Vassar Street / Performance Times and Ticket Information: From Stage To Screen Acting Studio

It’s Junie B.’s first day of first grade, and a lot of things have changed for her: Junie’s friend, Lucille, doesn’t want to be her best pal anymore and, on the bus, Junie B. makes friends with Herb, the new kid at school. Also, Junie has trouble reading the blackboard and her teacher, Mr. Scary, thinks she may need glasses. Throw in a friendly cafeteria lady, a kickball tournament and a “Top-Secret Personal Beeswax Journal,” and first grade has never been more exciting.

Saturday, April 12, 2024 / 4:00 pm – 7:00 pm / 9 Vassar Street / $85 per person / Click HERE To Purchase Online Tickets through Eventbrite / Click HERE to Make A Donation / To Pay by Check, call the Cunneen-Hackett Arts Center Administrative Office at 845-486-4571 / NOTE: Limited Capacity and No Door Sales / Ticket Price includes entry in Door Prize Raffle Drawings

Saturday, April 5, 2025 @ 8:00 pm / VBI Theatre – 12 Vassar Street / Ticket Prices: $10-20 sliding scale admission / Ticket Information: Elysium Furnace Works

Two dynamic duos descend upon an unsuspecting Poughkeepsie when the improvised guitar duo of James Keepnews and Billy Stein is joined by drummer/percussionist Dean Sharp and Nico Soffiato performing an opening set.

James Keepnews and Billy Stein

Dean Sharp and Nico Soffiato

James Keepnews is a musician, writer and multimedia artist. He received a degree in English from Hamilton College and an MFA from the iEAR program at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. As a musician and composer, he has performed and/or recorded with such artists as Joe McPhee, George Lewis, William Parker, Karl Berger, Daniel Carter, Charles Gayle, Kidd Jordan, Roy Campbell, Tony Malaby, Hamid Drake, Jason Kao Hwang’s Spontaneous River, Ras Moshe, Matt Lavelle, Holland Hopson, The New York Chapter of Crafty Guitarists, Chapter Two, The New York Guitar Project, Blown Woofer, Brown Cuts Neighbors and Lick the President. He has developed and performed with improvised computer-interactive audio and video systems at The Kitchen, Bard College, The Stone and many other venues. He is a co-founder and curator for the Hudson Valley experimental arts series Elysium Furnace Works and is a past co-director of the Red Hook Jazz Festival in Brooklyn. His writing has appeared in Chronogram, Pacific Life Magazine, New Haven Advocate, Bass Guitar, Fairfield Weekly, Metroland, Story Screen, The Squid’s Ear and Reign of Toads. He lives in Hyde Park, NY.

Billy Stein is a guitarist born in Brooklyn, New York. While attending Hunter College, where he would earn a BA in Music Composition & Theory, he received a National Endowment for the Arts grant to study classical guitar with Leonid Bolotine. Billy then became involved in multiple music scenes in and around NYC including R&B, funk, blues, rock, salsa, as well as both mainsteam and free- jazz. Over the years he has performed and recorded with an eclectic group of musicians including Milt Hinton, Sahib Shihab, Joe Blanco, The Coasters, Rashid Bakr, and many other artists. Recordings as a leader include “HYBRIDS” THE BILLY STEIN TRIO, 2006 (Barking Hoop) and “INTERVALS”, (with Michael Moss), 2013 (4th Stream Records). Current projects include collaborations with Joe Giardullo.

Nico Soffiato, guitar, and Dean Sharp, drums, have been playing together for the last couple of years and are working on a record together. Their music has deep roots in jazz, rock, and improvised music. Their spontaneous compositions are fueled by driving rhythms and particular attention is paid to sound design and strong melodic statements.

Nico Soffiato is an Italian guitarist, composer and educator. After graduating from Berklee College of Music in 2007, he made his home in Brooklyn and moved to the Hudson Valley in 2021. A versatile player, Nico finds himself playing in various jazz and experimental groups such as his duo with Grammy-winning trumpet player Josh Deutsch, Paradigm Refrain with Anti Label recording artist Marco Buccelli, and Dogwood. As a member of the New York music scene for over fifteen years, Nico has been part of the collective Out Of your Head Brooklyn, whose members included Gerald Cleaver, Michael Attias, Tony Malaby, Kirk Knuffke, and many others. He also plays in Innocent When You Dream, Aaron Schragge’s ensemble that reimagines the music of Tom Waits. He had played nationally and internationally, presenting his music at renowned festivals like Dave Douglas’s FONT Festival, Sile Jazz Festival, Padova Jazz Festival and more. Nico is also music for media composer and producer. He’s a staff composer for the international music house Overcoast and has worked on movies and commercials.  

Dean Sharp is a prolific creative percussionist, composer, producer and remixer. He has played and/or recorded with a strikingly diverse array of creative artists including Moby, Brad Mehldau, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Elliott Sharp, Michael Bisio, Joe Lovano, Marc Ribot, John Stubblefield, Jazz Criminals, Hugh Brodie, Tony Levin, Steve Swallow, Carter Burwell, Todd Sickafoose’s Blood Orange , Kris Davis, and Ani Defranco. Sharp has written and recorded with notorious loop-miester David Torn (SPLaTTeRCeLL project), co-lead the ensembles earmight (w/ Dean Jones, David Hofstra, Russ Johnson and Ken Mcgloin) and trio loCo (w/ Marc Dzuiba and StudioStu) and is the creative catalyst behind SONic 150 (with bassist michael bisio and trumpet notebender russ johnson), scribbleScrabbLe (with videographer Thomas Moore), sharpEND (with Ken Mcgloin and John Menegan) and Word Was (w/ russ johnson and mario pavone). He has played a vital role in the recordings and live performances of such innovative singer/ songwriters as Rachael Sage, Greg Brown, Donna Lewis, MIMI, Noe Veneble, Louise Taylor, Jill Sobule and Jane Siberry. 

Saturday, March 22, 2025 and Sunday, March 23, 2025 / VBI Theatre – 12 Vassar Street / Performance Times and Ticket Information: Standing Room Only Theater Company

Sunday, March 16, 2025 / Dance Studio at the VBI Theatre – 12 Vassar Street / See Poster for Class Times, Class Fees and Bios / Check or Cash Payment Only / Pre-Registration Required / Willow Dance Center

Saturday, March 15, 2025 and Sunday, March 16, 2025 / VBI Theatre – 12 Vassar Street / Performance Times and Ticket Information: Standing Room Only Theater Company

Friday, March 7, 2025 from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm / Free Admission / Refreshments will be served

• Victorian Gallery @ 9 Vassar Street – Ulana Salewycz, Marianne Crans, Vitalia Deriabina, and the late Catherine Zadorecka Gorham (Ukrainian American artists from the Ukrainian National Women’s League of America)
• Reception Gallery @ 12 Vassar Street – Kate Hoekstra, Realistic Painter
• Hancock Gallery @ 12 Vassar Street – Ian Hutton, Photography and Selva Ozelli, Painter

CANCELLED – January 20, 2025 “Monday Night Drama” Play Reading

Saturday, January 18, 2025 and Sunday, January 19, 2025 / VBI Theatre – 12 Vassar Street / Performance Times and Ticket Information: From Stage To Screen Acting Studio

Saturday, January 11, 2025 and Sunday, January 12, 2025 / VBI Theatre – 12 Vassar Street / Performance Times and Ticket Information: From Stage To Screen Acting Studio

Jessica Licciardello, Videographer 8 Minutes to Freedom – Friday, January 3, 2025 from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm in the Reception and Hancock Galleries @ 12 Vassar Street / Free Admission / Refreshments will be served

Melanie Gonzalez, Fine Art Photography – Friday, January 10, 2025 from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm in the Reception Gallery / Free Admission / Refreshments will be served

Monday, December 16, 2024 /Doors Open at 6:00 pm and Play Reading begins at 6:15 pm) / VBI Theatre – 12 Vassar Street / Free Admission (Suggested Donation: $5-$10)

Enjoy a play reading on the VBI Theater stage of Closure written and directed by Victor Cuenca. Closure is about Sara and Adam who had a 6 month romantic “rollercoaster” relationship.  Adam broke it off due to his mental illness.  Within the last 7 years Sara neurotically has “sussed” out the situation to be an alleged con-job affair.  Now Sara invites Adam to come over for a face-to-face encounter to ultimately grasp the closure she desperately seeks.  Was she deceived or is she deceiving herself?   Featuring Shainna Belocura as Sara and Michael Zupan and Adam. Written, directed and produced by Victor Cuenca. (NOTE: Closure was originally a one act play that has now extended to a two act and is currently being positioned for a three act.)

Saturday, December 14, 2024 and Sunday, December 15, 2024 / VBI Theatre – 12 Vassar Street / Performance Times and Ticket Information: From Stage To Screen Acting Studio