Lifelong Learning

Examining films like Double Indemnity, The Maltese Falcon, and Scarlet Street, we will discuss the ways in which thrillers, detective pictures, and melodramas of the 40s and 50s reflect the traumas of World War II and shape our notion of postwar men and women.

Doug LeClaire delivers a lively and informative lecture & screening detailing the world of independent short film production and exhibition. The seminar/screening features eight major award-winning shorts selected from the world's top film festivals including Oscar nominees, "Best of Show" award winners from various US film festivals and international honorees.

Learn how the most successful composer of our time became known for stage and film adaptations of his composed musicals including Jesus Christ Superstar.

The conductor of the Orchestra of St. Peter by the Sea will discuss the plot, music and composer of La Boehme ahead of the April 28 concert.

Around the world as America's "Ambassador of Goodwill", Ricky Riccardi, will share footage and bring Armstrong's final decades to life with films of Armstrong in performance on stage and on television, including memorable renditions of songs such as "Hello, Dolly!" "What a Wonderful World" and the song that is known as one of the first protest songs ever recorded, "(What Did I Do to Be So) Black and Blue."

In this lecture, we will examine film noir's lasting influence throughout the remainder of the 20th and 21st centuries. Charting the evolution of familiar figures like the detective and the femme fatale, we'll trace our shifting American values through popular films like Chinatown, Fatal Attraction, and No Country for Old Men.