Premiere Stages at Kean University will present the premiere production of Still by Benjamin V. Marshall, the recipient of the 2023/24 Liberty Live Commission, July 11-28 in Kean University's Bauer Boucher Theatre Center. Directed by Marshall Jones III, Still will feature actors Ashley Nicole Baptiste, D. Malik Beckford, Brian D. Coats, Perri Gaffney, Carl Hendrick Louis, and Nafeesa Monroe.
In this new play based on true events in 1850s New Jersey, Peter has arrived at an abolitionist office seeking help from its director, William, an African American leader in the Underground Railroad. As the two men learn more about each other’s lives, they realize their vastly different pasts will lead them to a deeply connected future.
“When I first read about the life of William Still, I was not only struck by the power of his story but also the deeply dramatic encounter with a man coming to him for help ” stated John J. Wooten, Premiere Stages Producing Artistic Director. “Ben’s moving and thought-provoking play provides an important study about one of New Jersey’s most consequential figures.”
Benjamin V. Marshall’s plays include Absolutions and Paradise, Boom Box, Buenas Smooches Piscataway NJ, Carlos and LaVonne, Corn Bread with Raisins and Almonds, Five Husbands, Henry’s Bridge, Dad’s Vision, Galilee House, A Goat on the Balcony, Purchasing Power, The Red Train Café, and Homestar. His work has been performed and developed at the HBO New Writers Workshop, WBEZ Chicago Public Radio, Theatre for the New City in NYC, Luna Stage, Playwrights Theatre of New Jersey, Interact Theatre in Philadelphia, The Warner’s International Playwrights, The Berrie Center, The National Playwrights Symposium at Cape May and the Kennedy Center.
Director Marshall Jones III directed the developmental workshop of Still in November 2023. Prior to the workshop, he directed the New Jersey premiere of Dominique Morriseau’s Mud Row in Premiere Stages’ 2022 season. Marshall Jones serves as the Associate Dean for Equity at the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University. For 13 years (2007-2019), he was the Producing Artistic Director for the Tony® Award-winning Crossroads Theatre Company where he directed several shows including the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center’s inaugural production – Paul Robeson. He was also the replacement director for the 2018 play with music Little Rock, which was a NY Times Critic Pick. Marshall proudly serves as the president of the NJ Theatre Alliance and is a 2020 Inductee in the Rutgers African-American Hall of Fame.
The accomplished cast includes Ashley Nicole Baptiste, whose theatre credits include Chicken & Biscuits (Crossroads Theatre Company) and Mud Row (Premiere Stages); D. Malik Beckford, an educator and director whose acting credits include Blue Bloods (CBS); Brian D. Coats, whose theatre credits include Gem of the Ocean (currently running at Two River Theater in Red Bank, NJ) and Jitney (Manhattan Theatre Club / US Tour); Perri Gaffney, whose theatre credits include STAFF MEAL (Playwrights Horizons) and Shadow/Land (The Public Theater); Carl Hendrick Louis, whose theatre credits include Broadway’s 1984 and The Cherry Orchard; and Nafeesa Monroe whose acting credits include Manifest (Netflix) and Madam Secretary (CBS).
Understudies for the production are Kean Theatre Conservatory alum Lucien Edme and current Kean Theatre Conservatory student Nijah Muhammad.
The professional design team includes Set Designer David Barber, Costume Designer Ali Turns, Lighting Designer Zack Gage, Projection Designer Taj Rauch, Sound Designer David Wright, Hair and Make-up Designer Rachelle Dorce, Mask Designer Marlon Campbell and Props Master Jennifer Bonilla. Casting is by Stephanie Klapper, CSA. Dale Smallwood is the Production Stage Manager.
Still runs July 11-July 28 in the Bauer Boucher Theatre Center on the Kean University main campus in Union, N.J. The performance schedule is Thursday, July 11 at 7:30pm, Thursdays, July 18 and 25 at 1:30pm, Fridays at 8pm, Saturdays at 3:00pm & 8:00pm and Sundays at 3:00pm. Bauer Boucher Theatre Center. is located at Vaughn Eames Hall, 1000 Morris Avenue in Union, New Jersey.
New Jersey's jazz legacy takes center stage in A Tribute to Count Basie: The Kid from Red Bank. Performed by James Langton's New York All-Star Big Band, this high-energy concert celebrates the unmistakable sound and driving swing of Count Basie - music that still thrills and moves audiences today.
Rick Steves host
New Jersey Symphony
Blue-eyed soul pioneers The Righteous Brothers are back! With a string of #1 clas-sics, including the most played song in radio history, You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Fee/in’, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame duo of Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield topped the charts in four decades. After Bobby’s death in 2003, Bill Medley con-tinued to perform to sold-out crowds around the world, but fans and friends pleaded with him to keep The Righteous Brothers alive.
Between 1925 and 1928, Louis Armstrong made a series of influential recordings with a studio group, the Hot Five, that changed the shape of jazz to come. To pay tribute to these legendary sessions, Jazz on a Sunday Afternoon will welcome the dynamic trumpeter and recent Juilliard graduate Andrew Stephens, along with a small group made up of some of New York’s finest traditional jazz musicians.
Rick Steves host
Nicholas Hersh conductor
New Jersey Symphony
"Ale Pak" is a popular, clean, and family-friendly Marathi stand-up comedy special by well-known comedian Mandar Bhide. The show features relatable everyday observations, nostalgia, and lighthearted humor rooted in Maharashtrian culture.
Dunbar Repertory Company presents Ntozake Shange’s FOR COLORED GIRLS Who have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf, the groundbreaking “choreopoem” – a spellbinding collection of vivid prose and free verse narratives about and performed by Black women. Directed by Darrell Lawrence Willis, SR.
Amidst the chaos of the Iraq War, the Khachaturian family is trapped in a firefight between U.S. Marines and insurgents, and one Marine’s split-second decision devastates the family. Years later, haunted by his time in Iraq and aided by a New Yorker journalist, the Marine seeks to reconcile with the Khachaturian matriarch. Anchored by unforgettable performances from Boyd Holbrook (A Complete Unknown, Narcos, The Morning Show), Hiam Abbass (Succession), and Kenneth Branagh, Atonement is a powerfully human true story about the immeasurable costs of war, exploring universal questions about guilt, redemption, and the nature of forgiveness.
A group of dads building a movement to support their trans and gender expansive kids are forced to make an impossible choice amid a shifting political landscape: stay and fight or flee the country.
A haunting yet life-affirming film about reframing pain and the radical power of choice. It follows grieving mother Iris Haim as she mourns the loss of her son in the aftermath of October 7th and forms an unexpected bond with Dr. Edith Eger—a renowned psychologist, author, and Auschwitz survivor—whose hard-won wisdom guides her toward transformation.
(NEWTON, NJ) -- The Newton Theatre presents Puss N Boots featuring Norah Jones, Sasha Dobson, and Catherine Popper on Sunday, November 8, 2026 at 7:00pm.
(TEANECK, NJ) -- The Teaneck International Film Festival (TIFF) has named filmmaker Luchina Fisher the first recipient of the Sandi Klein Creative Woman in Film Award, a new annual honor celebrating an exceptional woman whose work reflects the creativity, curiosity, integrity and commitment to social impact that defined Klein's life and her nearly two decades with the festival. The award includes a $1,000 grant. Fisher will receive the inaugural award at the TIFF screening of her film, The Dads, on Sunday, November 8, 2026 at 2:30 pm at Teaneck Cinemas (503 Cedar Lane).
(EDISON, NJ) -- With a new dance studio year now underway for many dancers and families, registration is officially open for the LIT Tap Dance Experience, coming to Edison VFW Post 3117 on Sunday, November 8, 2026. Presented by Taplife Hero Foundation, LIT is a focused one-day tap dance experience built around technique, musicality, artistry, mentorship and community.
(FREEHOLD, NJ) -- Center Players presents It's A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play with four performances across two Sundays (November 8 and November 15, 2026). Performances are split between the American Hotel and Mattison Crossing.
(ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS, NJ) -- After its world premiere at Dances With Films LA (DWFLA), one of the nation's leading indie film festivals, Directors' Commentary will have its New Jersey Premiere at SModcastle Film Festival, hosted by filmmaker Kevin Smith. The film will screen on Sunday, November 8, 2026 at 12:00pm.
