(NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ) -- State Theatre New Jersey presents Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock LIVE on Saturday, April 26, 2025 at 1:00pm & 5:00pm. Jim Henson's musical, fun-loving Fraggles are dancing their cares away across North America and coming to STNJ for the first-ever live touring show based on The Jim Henson Company's beloved franchise.
Based on the award-winning Apple TV+ original series Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock (recipient of this year’s Emmy® for Outstanding Children’s or Family Viewing Series), this all-new, family friendly live stage adventure will feature vibrant new walkaround versions of the Fraggles, new puppet versions of their gearhead friends the Doozers, and visits from a giant Gorg as well as exciting new puppet creature friends—all built by the renowned Jim Henson’s Creature Shop.
Written and directed by John Tartaglia (Avenue Q, Shrek the Musical, Stephen Schwartz’s The Secret Silk), the interactive live musical will feature both new and classic Fraggle songs, eye-popping immersive stage effects and all the hilarious, heartwarming magic that has kept Fraggle Rock captivating generations of audiences for over 40 years.
Tickets range from $25-$59 and are available for purchase online or by calling State Theatre Guest Services at 732-246-SHOW (7469). State Theatre Guest Services, located at 15 Livingston Ave, New Brunswick NJ, is open by phone and email only, Tuesday through Friday from 11:00am to 5:00pm. For in-person purchases, Guest Services is open Tuesday through Friday from 12:00pm to 4:30pm. Additional ticket and transaction fees may apply.
The Jim Henson Company has remained an established leader in family entertainment for 70 years and is recognized as an innovator in puppetry, animatronics, and digital animation. The Company’s most recent credits include Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Road Trip, starring Eva Longoria and Cheech Marin for Disney+, the Oscar®-winning Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio for Netflix, and the Emmy®-winning Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock for Apple TV+. Other television credits include Slumberkins and Harriet the Spy for Apple TV+; Dinosaur Train, Splash and Bubbles, and Sid the Science Kid all for PBS; Earth to Ned for Disney+; and Word Party and the Emmy®-winning series The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, both for Netflix. Iconic catalogue titles include Fraggle Rock, The Storyteller, the sci-fi series Farscape, and the ground-breaking fantasy classics The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth.
Headquartered in Los Angeles with additional locations in New York and London, the Company is also home to Jim Henson’s Creature Shop™, a pre-eminent puppet and creature-building group and industry leader in puppeteered digital animation, with international film, television, theme park, and advertising clients.
John Tartaglia is an acclaimed actor, director, writer, and puppeteer, Tony®-nominated for originating both Rod and Princeton in Broadway’s debut company of Avenue Q. His theatrical directing credits include Stephen Schwartz’s The Secret Silk and Jim Henson’s Inspired Silliness, both for Princess Cruises, Kinky Boots (3d Theatricals), Disney’s Beauty and the Beast (Maltz Jupiter Theater), Claudio Quest (Six-time winner at NY Musical Theatre Festival, including Best in Fest and Best Director), Shrek The Halls (DreamWorks Theatricals), Because of Winn Dixie (Arkansas Rep and Goodspeed Opera House development), and Jim Henson’s Musical World (Carnegie Hall).
Most recently, he finished production on the second season of the Emmy®-winning Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock, serving as an executive producer, writer, and puppet captain, and performing Gobo Fraggle, Architect Doozer, Gunge, Barry Blueberry, and Sprocket the Dog.
He has worked many summer seasons at the country’s award-winning, oldest outdoor theater, the St. Louis MUNY, directing such shows as Shrek the Musical, The Wizard of Oz, Tarzan, Annie, Matilda, Mary Poppins, and most recently Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. Other credits include the national tours of Jim Henson’s Dinosaur Train Live and Jim Henson’s Sid the Science Kid Live! as well as several shows for Sesame Place, PA.
Tartaglia can be heard every Sunday on Sirius XM On Broadway on his show “Sunday Funday with John Tartaglia.”
After major renovations, State Theatre New Jersey celebrated its 100th Anniversary in December 2021 in a fully renovated theater. Originally built as a silent film and vaudeville palace, State Theatre’s historic significance was honored by PBS by featuring it in its documentary series, Treasures of New Jersey, in the fall of 2018. “Treasures of New Jersey: State Theatre New Jersey” can be streamed online.
Today, State Theatre is the largest performing arts center in Central New Jersey and has welcomed more than six million people through its doors since reopening as a nonprofit performing arts center in 1988. State Theatre New Jersey is a cornerstone of the cultural vitality of Middlesex County and averages a total economic impact on New Brunswick and the surrounding area of more than $18 million a year. The mainstage programs have featured high-caliber artists such as Diana Ross, Tom Jones, Kevin Hart, Ringo Starr, Melissa Etheridge, John Leguizamo, Harry Connick, Jr., Diana Krall, and Crosby, Stills & Nash. Program offerings include Broadway, orchestra, family, dance, comedy, rock/pop, jazz, Performances for Schools, and Sensory-Friendly Performances.
State Theatre New Jersey’s programs are made possible by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts. Grant funding has been provided by the Middlesex County Board of County Commissioners through a grant award from the Middlesex County Cultural and Arts Trust Fund. For information on events, go to MiddlesexCountyCulture.com.
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