Here's a look at the top 15 most read articles published at New Jersey Stage from January 22-28, 2023. Each week we publish about 70 articles, including several original columns and features, along with news releases for events happening throughout the state and nearby areas like Philadelphia and New York City. This week's top 15 includes articles from 5 counties in New Jersey (Atlantic, Burlington, Essex, Middlesex, and Monmouth).
1) Poetic Film Exposed to Each Other screens at the 2023 New Jersey Film Festival on Saturday, January 28! - Exposed to Each Other is a film by Mersolis Schone and comes to us from Vienna, Austria. This short film is based on a poetic text collage by Marion Steinfellner that brings together a multicultural and multilingual collection of Indian, Japanese, German and Austrian texts by Yuko Kaseki, Savita Rani, Mersolis Schone and Marion Steinfellner. Presented as a kind of film poem, the common thread of these texts is touch and touching which are presented as journeys and how interpersonal, intercultural encounters connect us to each other across the world. This is the fundamental question at the heart of Exposed to Each Other - How are we connected to each other? - and each scene propels us further on a multi-faceted journey exploring this idea.
2) "Maybe I Do" - Film Shot In New Jersey Comes To Theaters - (MONTCLAIR, NJ) -- An all-star cast visited Essex, Union, Hudson, and Passaic Counties for the filming of the upcoming multigenerational romantic comedy Maybe I Do. Produced by Endeavor Content, the movie follows Michelle and Allen, who have reached the point in their relationship where they are considering next steps. They decide to invite their parents to finally meet and offer their insights about why marriage works. Turns out, the parents already know one another quite well, which leads to some differing opinions about the value of matrimony. Maybe I Do is produced by Michael Jacobs, Scott Mednick, and Vincent Newman and will be released in theaters on January 27.
3) An Interview with ‘The Geator with the Heater,’ Jerry Blavat - Jerry Blavat — aka ‘The Geator with the Heater’ and ‘The Boss with the Hot Sauce’ — is a disc jockey, actor, and entertainer who’s had a major influence on the music industry. Born in Philadelphia, Blavat gained fame as a teen when he appeared as a regular on WFIL-TV’s Bandstand. After hosting live dances in the Philly/South Jersey area, he started his own radio show, created the Lost Nite and Crimson record labels, and appeared in films and on television. In 1998, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. His 2011 memoir is entitled You Only Rock Once.
4) M. Night Shyamalan Returned to South Jersey to Film "Knock at the Cabin" - (BURLINGTON COUNTY, NJ) -- M. Night Shyamalan returned to South Jersey to film his upcoming apocalyptic horror film Knock at the Cabin, which just wrapped. The film marks the 15th feature film produced and directed by Shyamalan, with Jarin Blaschke as cinematographer. Produced by Binding Edge Pictures and Universal Pictures, Knock at the Cabin will be released by Universal on February 3, 2023. The principal photography was done in Burlington County.
5) NJ Senators Menendez and Booker Secure Lincoln Park Restoration Project $3.5 Million in Federal Funding - (NEWARK, NJ) -- Lincoln Park Coast Cultural District (LPCCD) has announced $3,550,000 in federal funding towards the “Lincoln Park Restoration Project”, which will provide a much needed face lift to the namesake community’s green space, Lincoln Park, a National Historic Register landmark that has served a wide array of the city’s residents for more than 300 years as one of Newark’s original colonial-era ‘Commons’ public gathering places – the South Commons – renamed as Lincoln Park to commemorate President Lincoln’s visit to the area in 1861.
6) John Decker’s jazzy short film Marjorie Eliot’s Parlor Entertainment Harlem screens at the 2023 New Jersey Film Festival on Saturday, January 28! - Marjorie Eliot's Parlor Entertainment Harlem, directed and produced by John Decker, perfectly contextualizes, and captures the magic of Marjorie Eliot and the free theatre and jazz shows she has been putting on in the small, white living room of her Harlem apartment every Sunday for the last 30 years.
7) Makin Waves Song of the Week: "Boots of Spanish Leather" by Pat Guadagno - Jersey Shore singer-songwriter Pat Guadagno’s latest album, “1964,” is a tribute to the year that spawned such classics as Bob Dylan’s “Boots of Spanish Leather,” Pat’s cover of which is the Makin Waves Song of the Week.
8) McDonald's Gospelfest returns to Prudential Center on May 13th - (NEWARK, NJ) -- The Annual McDonald's Gospelfest returns to Prudential Center on Mother's Day Weekend Saturday, May 13, 2023, for the biggest and best gospel event of the year. This year's event will celebrate the 40th Year Anniversary of McDonald's Gospelfest. Live performances to help celebrate the anniversary are Hezekiah Walker and Love Fellowship Choir, the Legendary Clark Sisters and so many more!
9) "The Best Man: The Final Chapters," Filmed In Jersey, Premiered on Peacock on December 22 - (NEWARK, NJ) -- The latest installment of the popular and successful The Best Man franchise returned to New Jersey for the filming of its conclusion. The Best Man: The Final Chapters will bring viewers up-to-date on the lives of its endearing characters Lance (Morris Chestnut), Shelby (Melissa De Sousa), Harper (Taye Diggs), Candy (Regina Hall), Quentin (Terrence Howard), Robyn (Sanaa Lathan), Jordan (Nia Long), and Julian (Harold Perrineau). Relationships evolve and past grievances resurface in the unpredictable stages of midlife crisis meets midlife renaissance.
10) Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...1/26/23 - "I play guitar as my primary instrument but I grew-up playing the Alto Saxophone and I was really, really good at it; I was like first chair. I loved it but once I picked up guitar, I kind of dropped the saxophone and after I picked up the guitar, I really started focusing on songwriting."
11) An Interview with Mike Greenfield from Lotus - On Saturday January 21, 2023, Lotus began their 2023 winter tour with a hometown show at Union Transfer in Philadelphia, PA. I was able to chat with Mike Greenfield, the drummer for Lotus about the highlights for him from 2022 and what lies ahead for Lotus in 2023.
12) Lotus at Union Transfer in Philadelphia - Lotus kicked of their 2023 winter tour on 1/21/23 and the horizons for this tour and beyond are soaring. The energy entering Union Transfer in Philadelphia was electric heightened by the Philly faithful out to enjoy a hometown show even as the Eagles prepared to continue a playoff run against rival NY Giants. Yes, the Eagles won and as a Giants fan, I was not fazed by this blow-out, thanks to having my mind blown by such an energetic effort by the hometown favorite band. Echoes of fly Eagles fly filled the air as Lotus struck fast with a first set that features some known bangers with a slow hypnotical journey through the precision that is Lotus’s technique and structure.
13) American Theater Group to Present "Parade" in West Orange - (WEST ORANGE, NJ) -- The American Theater Group (ATG), a professional regional theater company celebrating its 11th season, has announced it will present Parade, the Tony Award-winning musical at the Maurice Levin Theater at the JCC MetroWest in West Orange, NJ from March 9-11. As previously announced, the show will begin its run March 2-5 at the Sieminski Theater in Basking Ridge.
14) Bamboozle Festival to Take Place May 5-7 in Atlantic City - (ATLANTIC CITY, NJ) -- Bamboozle Festival has announced the performers to this year’s line up, who will be taking the stage May 5th, 6th, and 7th at Bader Field in Atlantic City, NJ. The weekend-long party marks the first Bamboozle Festival since 2012, and celebrates 20 years since its initial inception.
15) Neo-noir thriller City of Love screens on opening weekend of the Spring 2023 New Jersey Film Festival! - The terrific feature film City of Love, directed by Eric Boadella, features 148 Rides, 1 City, 1 Date, 2 Deaths and 1 Miracle. In this neo-noir feature, Spencer, a troubled rideshare driver in Los Angeles, will go to dangerous lengths to reconnect with the world he lost after spending 20 years in jail.
Event previews are always one of the most popular areas of the website. Event previews get noticed when we first publish them and then get noticed again when they are brought back to the main area of the site the week the event takes place - sometimes even several months later. Make sure your events get previewed by sending press releases to us at info@newjerseystage.com - for even more promotion, check out our ad rates which run $50-$100 for an entire month of targeted advertising which includes events listed in our online calendar. Or you have your events listed in the calendar for $10 per event.
