(SUMMIT, NJ) -- Vivid Stage will celebrate its 30th Anniversary with a special gala fundraiser on Friday, February 14, 2025. This special Valentine's Day celebration will be held at the Oakes Center in Summit from 6:00pm-10:00pm. As part of this special event, the theatre will honor Steven McIntyre, a former board member and staff member and longtime patron and friend of the company.

Steven McIntyre is a member of the North Plainfield Borough Council and a former longtime board member of Garden State Equality, where he was instrumental in the passage of marriage equality in the state of New Jersey. Steve was in the audience of the first Vivid Stage performance in 1995, and has attended nearly every production since with his husband Keith Miller. He segued from board member to staff member, updating and modernizing ticketing systems and leading marketing efforts for the company for several years.

Vivid Stage, Summit’s professional theatre company, has been in residence at the Oakes Center in Summit for thirteen years, and in existence for thirty years. As part of the celebration, the ensemble will entertain the guests with Love Songs and Laments, which will include music, poetry and excerpts from plays that look at love from every angle. The evening will include unlimited drinks and appetizers, a catered buffet dinner, coffee and dessert. Dress is red, pink, sparkly and romantic.

Funds raised at this event will help Vivid Stage maintain its tradition of excellence in arts programming. In addition to their regular season of mainstage productions, cabaret, improv and new play readings, the theatre provides outreach and education programs for students and seniors, as well as internship opportunities for college students and young professionals. Providing a creative home for New Jersey artists is primary among the company’s goals, as is cultivating the relationship between artists and audiences throughout the season.

Tickets for the entire evening are $125 until February 1 and $150 afterwards. Tickets are available for purchase online. The Oakes Center is located at 120 Morris Avenue in Summit, New Jersey.

Vivid Stage was founded in 1994 as Dreamcatcher Rep, and is a non-profit professional ensemble of actors who build community with the audience by sharing contemporary, life-affirming stories that challenge, energize and entertain. Their work has at its heart a belief in the essential goodness of people and the power of live performance to connect people through our shared humanity. They expose theatregoers to ideas and lives like and unlike their own with the intention of awakening their imaginations and creating empathy for others. They deepen the experience of all their patrons with personal contact through receptions, talkbacks, and interactive programs.

The company’s activities include mainstage productions, improvisational comedy and cabarets, new play readings and a variety of educational and senior outreach programs.

Vivid Stage, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) corporation, incorporated under the laws of the State of New Jersey.

Vivid Stage’s programs are funded by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, and many other corporations, foundations and individuals.  Vivid Stage is an Equity Producing member of the New Jersey Theatre Alliance.

Graphic by Yolanda Fundora