Here's a look at the top 15 most read articles published at New Jersey Stage from January 29 to February 4, 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 8 counties in New Jersey (Bergen, Burlington, Essex, Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, and Union).
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) "As Good as it Gets!" The Immediate Family LIVE! at the Count Basie Center for the Arts - It’s a drizzly Thursday, January 12, 2023 evening in Red Bank, NJ as music lovers line up outside the Count Basie Center for the Arts’ Hackensack Meridian Health Theatre for a concert by The Immediate Family band.
3) 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.
4) 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!
5) Council President LaMonica McIver Sponsors Resolution Declaring February 1st World Hijab Day In The City Of Newark - (NEWARK, NJ) -- Newark Council President LaMonica McIver will introduce a resolution declaring February 1st World Hijab Day in the City of Newark. World Hijab Day, started by Nazma Khan, is a day for women of different cultures, who do not normally wear the hijab, to experience wearing one for the day. Its purpose is to encourage religious tolerance, cultural understanding, and international solidarity.
6) "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.
7) Makin Waves Song of the Week: "In the Night" by Project 18 featuring Dave Vargo - Project 18, featuring Monmouth County-based singer-songwriter Dave Vargo, has released a four-song EP, the opener of which, “In the Night,” is the Makin Waves Song of the Week.
8) Bean and the Babysitter screens at the Spring 2023 New Jersey Film Festival on Friday, February 3 - Bean and the Babysitter is a twenty-minute short film directed by Jason Michael Roberts and written by Jimmy Barker. A young college student Pam (Katelin Dirr) is hired to babysit a young boy Bean (Liam Eddy) while his parents go out for the evening. Initially Pam is resistant to bond with Bean to focus on her biology homework, but their relationship takes a turn when Bean’s parents don’t return from their night out. The two of them are stuck at the family farmhouse, far from civilization and have no way to communicate with the outside world. Isolated and scared, Pam and Bean are forced to confront their internal struggles, and each other.
9) "Our His-story Month" at Dupree Gallery, Lambertville - (LAMBERTVILLE, NJ) -- For Black History Month the Dupree Gallery, Lambertville presents a show entitled “Our His-story Month” from February 3-26, 2023. This exhibition showcases the importance of black voices in the art world, institutions, and our society as a whole. The artwork on display will be from a range of artists from local and national communities, and the exhibition will be at the Lambertville location of the Dupree Gallery. Dupree Gallery is a black-owned business founded by artist James E. Dupree a native of Philadelphia and has locations in both Philadelphia and Lambertville.
10) Passage Theatre Company presents "Clean Slate" - A World Premiere Musical and Co-Production with Rider University - (TRENTON, NJ) -- From the minds of Kate Brennan and David Lee White comes Clean Slate, a new musical that tells the story of a group of disaffected high school students who are sent to a rehabilitation camp. The show is the second installment in Brennan and White’s Infinity Trilogy and makes its world premiere this winter in a co-production with Rider University and Passage Theatre Company. The production will be presented in Rider University’s Yvonne Theatre (2083 Lawrenceville Rd, Lawrence Township) February 24th-26th, 2023 and Passage Theatre’s Mill Hill Playhouse (205 E. Front Street, Trenton) March 10th-12th, 2023.
11) A Philly Special Christmas releases "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" - (PHILADELPHIA, PA) -- A Philly Special Christmas has released “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” featuring performances from NFL Eagles’ Jason Kelce, Jordan Mailata and Lane Johnson produced by Charlie Hall (The War on Drugs) and executive producer Connor Barwin is out now. This is the first in a series of holiday classic singles to be released every Friday between now and the album’s official release on December 23rd via Vera Y Records. Recorded at Rittenhouse Soundworks, Silent Partners, and Elm St studio, proceeds from the LP will be donated to the Children’s Treatment Crisis Center in Philadelphia.
12) iPlay America Announces New Executive Chef at The Loaded Spoon - (FREEHOLD, NJ) -- iPlay America has announced the hiring of Executive Chef John Dougherty as part of its new dining experience, The Loaded Spoon, set to open in early 2023. Chef John studied Culinary Arts at the prestigious Johnson & Whales University. Launching his career at Brickwall Tavern, he then spent 9 years at Brando’s Citi Cucina in Asbury Park and aided in the openings of several New Jersey restaurants. Having competed on Food Networks Chopped, Chef John is no stranger to challenges as he excitingly takes on cultivating the culinary vision at The Loaded Spoon.
13) First Girl delivers a shock at the Spring 2023 New Jersey Film Festival - First Girl, written and directed by Ellie Konn, yields an unexpected shocking twist on a first time romance flick. The film follows the character of Nadia, a shy teenager exploring her sexuality, as she develops a crush on a girl in her class, Abby. Viewers originally witness her glancing at Abby, frozen with admiration, a state that many can resonate with. Though at first Nadia seems afraid to express her feelings, fate works in her favor as the two are paired together for a school project on female authors. As the girls exchange phone numbers in an awkwardly adorable short conversation, viewers can relate to Nadia’s nervous attitude which mirrors the nerve-wracking emotions associated with having a crush.
14) New indy film argues Alabama woman was wrongly convicted of murder - (ELIZABETH, NJ) -- An independent African-American filmmaker with a relentless pursuit of the truth and justice has produced a stunning documentary that makes a powerful case: arguing that an Alabama white woman has been unjustly imprisoned for 30 years.
15) Beyoncé World Tour Includes Show at MetLife Stadium - (EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ) -- Following the wildly successful release of Beyoncé's seventh studio album, Renaissance, the global superstar has announced the Renaissance World Tour, her first solo tour in over six years. The 2023 tour, produced by Parkwood Entertainment, and promoted by Live Nation, kicks off on May 10, 2023, at Friends Arena in Stockholm, SE, making stops throughout Europe and then continues across North America. Locally, the tour comes to Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on July 12th and MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford on Saturday, July 29, 2023.
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.
