A mazing List of Performances at Mount St. Mary's Aquinas Hall                                  As Mount Saint Mary College continues to celebrate its 50th anniversary, Nicole Shea, director of the Cultural Center, has compiled highlights of events that Aquinas Theatre has brought to historic Newburgh. The "Bring the Kids" concert by the Greater Newburgh Symphony Orchestra Saturday (Jan. 9) will be the latest in a line of quality events offered, many free, since the 1,100-seat theatre opened in 1963 with the U.S. premiere of “Dialogues of the Carmelites,” directed by Salvatore Baccaloni of the Metropolitan Opera. Bob Hope performed in 1976 and Jerry Lewis appeared the following year. Other visiting performers and speakers have included Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy, Bob Keeshan (Captain Kangaroo), Armand Assante, Jr., Helen Hayes, Frederica Von Stade, The Cleveland Symphony conducted by Pinchas Zuckerman, Jerome Hines, The National Tour of 1776, Alvin Ailey Dance Ensemble, and two generations of Brubeck. “Michael Jackson also performed in Aquinas Theatre,” recalls Irene Nunnari, professor emerita of English and communication arts, and a former director of the Cultural Center. “He and his brothers were here when they were starting out as the Jackson Five. Student Government presented them. And that opens up another list including: Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, O.A.R. and David Cook.” Henry Kissinger gave The Samuel D. Affron Memorial Lecture in 1986. Other political speakers have included then-U.S. Senator Joseph Biden and former New York City Edward Koch. It all began when the Dominican Sisters of Newburgh began planning Mount Saint Mary College and started a building fund drive to pay for Aquinas Hall.  According to the book, “Other Waters: A History of the Dominican Sisters of Newburgh, New York,” by Sr. Mary Cecilia Murray, O.P., Mother Leo Vincent, O.P. (aka Sr. Kathleen Short), first Mount president, summoned Sr. Jeanne D’Arc McCann, O.P. to her office and asked her to  form a singing group of singing sisters. The brother of Sr. Rose Anita, O.P., knew the popular conductor Mitch Miller, who agreed to produce “The Singing Sisters Present Joy!” album. Sixty-five singers worked on 15 numbers, ranging from Mozart’s “Alleluia” to “Seventy-six Trombones” from The Music Man. The sisters gave a series of public concerts and appeared on the “Sing Along with Mitch” television program. “Joy!” raised nearly $200,000 for the college’s mortgage fund.  To learn more about the Greater Newburgh Symphony Orchestra’s concert, call 845-913-7157.