Monkees’ Micky Dolenz coming to Furth in July

Actor/singer Micky Dolenz, best known as one-fourth of the legendary TV band The Monkees, will perform at Trine University’s T. Furth Center for Performing Arts on Friday, July 28.

Tickets go on sale beginning Friday, April 21, at trineutickets.universitytickets.com. Prices range from $40 to $65.

The concert begins at 8 p.m., with doors to the Ryan Concert Hall opening at 7.

Hey, hey, we’re the Monkees

Dolenz first established himself as a performer at age 10 when, under the stage name of “Mickey Braddock,” he starred in “Circus Boy,” which aired on NBC and then ABC from 1956 to 1958. As he graduated high school and began attending college in the mid-’60s, Dolenz also learned to play guitar and began to perform with rock ’n roll bands.

In the fall of 1965, Dolenz auditioned for The Monkees’ TV show by playing and singing Chuck Berry’s legendary “Johnny B. Goode,” and wound up chosen for the show along with three other actors: Davy Jones, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork.

The Monkees' debut single, "Last Train to Clarksville," featuring Dolenz on lead vocals, hit the charts on September 10, 1966, and rocketed swiftly to number one. Two days later, the television show debuted on NBC to great success.

Dolenz and his fellow TV bandmates went on to become a real live rock band that first toured North America from late December 1966 to May 1967, and then began a US/UK summer 1967 tour that featured (at Dolenz’s invite, following the Monterey Pop Festival) guitar legend Jimi Hendrix as the opening act for the first few dates.

The Monkees also went on to star in their own feature film, “Head,” a 1968 psychedelic romp directed by the TV series’ co-creator Bob Rafelson from a script co-written by a young Jack Nicholson. The movie is now considered a cult classic.

Stage, directing and return

In 1977, Dolenz flew to London to star in the West End production of the musical “The Point!” He remained in England for 12 years. During that time, he further honed his behind-the-camera skills begun on “The Monkees” by working as a producer-director for the BBC and London Weekend Television.

He also directed a short feature film, “The Box,” and helmed numerous music videos, stage productions and a children’s television show.

In 1986, MTV re-broadcast episodes of “The Monkees,” exposing a whole new generation to “Monkeemania.” Dolenz joined with former Monkees bandmate Tork to record new tracks for Arista Records. The first single, "That Was Then, This Is Now," became The Monkees’ first Top 20 record since 1968. Dolenz, Tork and Jones then subsequently reunited for a stellar 1986 summer tour, so successful that it sparked the reissue of all Monkees' classic LPs, as well as “Pool It!,” on Rhino Records.

Ultimately, The Monkees achieved their greatest success not as a TV show but as viable recording artists; selling in excess of 65 million units, and achieving worldwide success. Their first four albums—The Monkees (1966); More of The Monkees (1967); Headquarters (1967); and Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn, & Jones, Ltd. (1967) all reached the number-one position on the charts and launched three number-one singles: "Last Train to Clarksville," "I'm a Believer" (both with lead vocals by Dolenz), and "Daydream Believer." The group's first five albums also went platinum.

Autobiography and solo work

Back home in the United States, Dolenz also took part in touring and Broadway musical theatre productions. He released his autobiography in 1993, and continued to act in and direct television shows as well as tour with his own band.

His solo album, King for a Day, a tribute to the songs of Carole King, was released by Gigatone Records in 2010. He has continued to release solo albums, perform in stage musicals, and tour with his own band.

He toured with his former Monkees bandmates until the death of Nesmith, the only other surviving Monkee, in 2021. In April, Dolenz embarked on a month-long series of shows titled Micky Dolenz Celebrates The Monkees, where he performed the entire Headquarters album as well as all the Monkee hits.

For more information about the concert and other upcoming events at the T. Furth Center for Performing Arts, visit trine.edu/furth.