We lost many great artists during the past year.  For those of a certain age, this was the year we lost many of our heroes and artists who grew old with us.  It began with the loss of David Bowie and the obituaries kept coming.

Some of the musicians lost in 2016 include Prince, Glen Frey, Paul Kantor, Maurice White, Phife Dawg, Sir George Martin,  Merle Haggard, Leon Russell, and Leonard Cohen.

The list of actors was just as devastating.  It includes Alan Rickman, Gene Wilder, Gary Shandling, Garry Marshall, Grant Tinker, Florence Henderson, and Alan Thicke.

And we cannot forget the iconic losses of Muhammad Ali, Gordie Howe, Nancy Reagan, Joe Garagiola, Arnold Palmer, Harper Lee, and John Glenn.

Even Abe Vigoda could not escape the wrath of 2016...

Despite the darkness, one bright note was another good year for New Jersey Stage.  In our final issue of the year, we would like to thank all of the readers,  advertisers, and writers who have been with us this year.  New Jersey Stage continues to grow each month -- both in reputation and in popularity.

In addition to this monthly magazine, we have a daily website at newjerseystage.com.  It not only contains web versions of the articles found in this magazine, but offers 7-10 news releases and original articles of its own each day. 

This year, roughly 185,000 unique visitors read our stories online and hundreds signed up to receive our daily email newsletter making us one of the most popular arts & entertainment websites for New Jersey. 

Within our latest issue, we highlight some of the work done by Danny Coleman over the last few months.  Danny has a weekly column at NewJerseyStage.com featuring interviews of local and national musicians.

Coleman is one of several writers who provide content for the website.  In 2016, we worked out content agreements with several arts writers and are looking to more syndication agreements in 2017.  Coverage of the arts in New Jersey took a huge hit this year when the New York Times stopped covering the Garden State. As more and more newspapers reduce staffs and merge, independent media outlets like New Jersey Stage are needed more than ever.

Our goal is to continue to grow and to increasingly become a more important part of the thriving arts scene in New Jersey.

We wish you a very happy new year and thanks for reading us.

--Gary Wien, Publisher