New Jersey Stage logo
New Jersey Stage Menu


?>

 

2017 NJ Stage Award Winners!

originally published: 11/22/2017


The NJ Stage Awards were create to promote places to experience the arts throughout the state. Initial voting takes place October 1-14 when the public gets the chance to vote on the full list of nominees. From there we tally the votes and create 10 finalists per category, based on a mix of the public vote and NJ Stage staff picks.  The public then votes on the finalists for the final 2 weeks of October. 

Here are the 2017 winners:

Best Town For An Arts Night Out 

GOLD Morristown 

SILVER Asbury Park 

BRONZE Princeton



Best Place For Live Comedy 

GOLD Mayo Performing Arts Center 

SILVER Stress Factory Comedy Club 

BRONZE Catch A Rising Star



Best Place To View Art 

GOLD The Art School at Old Church 

SILVER Grounds For Sculpture

BRONZE Montclair Art Museum 






Follow New Jersey Stage on social media
Facebook, Threads, Instagram, Twitter, Bluesky



Best Place To See Live Dance Performances 

GOLD Jersey Tap Fest 

SILVER Mayo Performing Arts Center 

BRONZE The Princeton Festival 



Best Film Festival 

GOLD Monmouth Film Festival 

SILVER Rahway International Film Festival 

BRONZE Teaneck International Film Festival



 

THEATRE

Best Place To See A World / NJ Premiere 


GOLD Crossroads Theatre 

SILVER Paper Mill Playhouse 

BRONZE (tie) George Street Playhouse / McCarter Theatre



Best Place To See A Touring Production 

GOLD State Theatre 

SILVER Mayo Performing Arts Center 

BRONZE Count Basie Theatre 



Best Place To See Non-Equity Theatre 

GOLD The Player’s Guild of Leonia 

SILVER Dragonfly Multicultural Arts Center 

BRONZE Chester Theatre Group



Best Place To See Children’s Theatre 

GOLD The Growing Stage 

SILVER State Theatre 

BRONZE Hoboken Children’s Theatre






Follow New Jersey Stage on social media
Facebook, Threads, Instagram, Twitter, Bluesky



 

MUSIC

Best Place To See A National Act 


GOLD Mayo Performing Arts Center 

SILVER PNC Bank Arts Center 

BRONZE Scottish Rite Auditorium



Best Place To See Emerging Artists 

GOLD The Stone Pony 

SILVER Maxwell’s Tavern 

BRONZE Crossroads



Best Coffeehouse or Non-Traditional Venue: 

GOLD D’s Soul Full Cafe 

SILVER Outpost In The Burbs 

BRONZE Old Franklin Schoolhouse



Best Place For Classical Music 

GOLD  NJPAC 

SILVER Mayo Performing Arts Center 

BRONZE Princeton Festival 



Best Annual Festival 

GOLD Elephant Talk Indie Music Festival 

SILVER Hoboken Arts and Music Festival 

BRONZE Groove In The Grove

"The beauty of these awards is that they are simply based on getting the word out via social media, email lists, or phone calls," explained Gary Wien, publisher of New Jersey Stage.  "Even the smallest organization can win.  So set your calendar for September and make sure your organization is on our radar and be sure to get out the vote in October!"

Thank you to everyone who voted.  Please check out these winners and explore new places to experience art in the Garden State.  The winners for 2016 and 2015 are online at New Jersey Stage's website.





Follow New Jersey Stage on social media
Facebook, Threads, Instagram, Twitter, Bluesky



FEATURED EVENTS

ART | COMEDY | DANCE | FILM | MUSIC | THEATRE | COMMUNITY

To narrow results by date range, categories,
or region of New Jersey
click here for our advanced search.


The

The MAC players at the Middletown Arts Center present "Hairspray"

Friday, July 18, 2025 @ 7:00pm
Middletown Arts Center
36 Church Street, Middletown, NJ 07748




 

The

The Mallard

Friday, July 18, 2025 @ 7:30pm
Premiere Stages - Bauer Boucher Theatre Center
1000 Morris Avenue, Union, NJ 07083



Good

Good Riddance; A Gnarly Murder Mystery Dinner, Dude!

Friday, July 18, 2025 @ 6:00pm
Carteret Performing Arts Center
46 Washington Ave, Carteret, NJ 07008



The

The Wizard of Oz

Friday, July 18, 2025 @ 7:30pm
Algonquin Arts Theatre
60 Abe Voorhees, Manasquan, NJ 08736



Salsa

Salsa Night

Friday, July 18, 2025 @ 7:30pm
State Theatre Studio
15 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ 08901




 

EVENT PREVIEWS

Trenton

Trenton City Museum to Hold Two Ellarslie Open Talks In August

(TRENTON, NJ) -- Ellarslie Open 42, the annual juried exhibition on view in Trenton City Museum at Ellarslie Mansion, invites the public to gallery talks Sunday, August 3 and Saturday, August 16, 2025. Admission for each talk is: $15/general public; $10/Trenton Museum Society members; $5/all EO42 entrants. Admission includes Continental breakfast fare.



Luke

Luke Jerram's Museum of the Moon to orbit Rahway in October

(RAHWAY, NJ) -- Museum of the Moon, a touring artwork by U.K. artist Luke Jerram, will be presented inside the majestic Union County Performing Arts Center (UCPAC) in October 2025. This is the first time Museum of the Moon will be presented in New Jersey and one of a handful of times it has been exhibited on the East Coast in the United States.



Sandy

Sandy Bennett Art Gallery at bergenPAC presents Works by Ellen Reinkraut

(ENGLEWOOD, NJ) -- The Sandy Bennett Art Gallery at bergenPAC presents New Jersey's esteemed contemporary artist, Ellen Reinkraut with "Layered Contemporary Mixed Media." The exhibit showcases extraordinary unique layered art inspired by the mystical element of life. It is on display through August 2025.



Kirby

Kirby & Delia: "All Rise"

The murals in the Brennan Courthouse (583 Newark Avenue) aren't tough to decipher. There are pilgrims, there are patriots, and there is Hudson County history rendered in the boldest strokes. Look to the underside of the building's grand dome and you'll find signs of the Zodiac; look to the walls for "The Coming of the English," a piece by Howard Pyle that depicts exactly what its title suggests that it will. This feels appropriate for the town's most handsome building — one with an interior reminiscent of classic civic architecture in Trenton and D.C. and the decorated Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City, and named after a jurist whose written decisions on the Supreme Court were distinguished by their clarity. William Brennan believed in the salutary effects of direct and comprehensible language. For him, the law was no place for abstraction.



Gallery

Gallery at HACPAC presents Colorblind, a solo exhibition of paintings by Val DeAppolonio

(HACKENSACK, NJ) -- The Ruth Bauer Neustadter Gallery at Hackensack Performing Arts Center (HACPAC) presents Colorblind, a solo exhibition of paintings by Val DeAppolonio from July 7 through August 29, 2025. Val is a self-taught, colorblind artist from Northern NJ whose bold abstracts pulse with energy and motion.