Photo by Elena Nassati

(NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ) -- State Theatre New Jersey presents The Moth Mainstage in New Brunswick: Daring – True Stories Told Live on Friday, October 17, 2025 at 8:00pm. Five storytellers will explore the theme of "DARING," with true and personal stories told live and without notes. Stories of bold choices, audacious proclamations, and moments that required everything they had.

The Moth is a nonprofit that believes in connecting humanity through the power of personal storytelling. Since its launch in 1997, The Moth has presented over 65,000 stories, told live and without notes, to standing-room-only crowds worldwide. The Moth produces 600+ live shows annually, as well as the Peabody Award-winning The Moth Radio Hour, and popular The Moth Podcast. You can listen to The Moth weekly on over 560 public radio stations and anywhere you find podcasts.

Tickets start at $34 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.

About the Storytellers

Anne Abel is a late-in-life influencer and author. Her first memoir Mattie, Milo, and Me about unwittingly rescuing an aggressive dog, was inspired by her NYC Moth StorySLAM win. Her second memoir High Hopes about following Springsteen's High Hopes Australia Tour when she was 60 to fight depression was inspired by her Chicago Moth StorySLAM win.

Sidhu Gangadharan was raised in Parsippany, NJ. He remembers both of his parents proudly becoming naturalized U.S. citizens. He was invited to President Jimmy Carter's inauguration as a third grader, after writing then-candidate Carter a letter detailing his own (never actualized) dream of becoming president. Gangadharan is a past awardee of an Academy of American Poets prize.

Arshiya Kapadia is a global communications strategist and storyteller based in the New York tri-state area. She has shaped narratives for Fortune 500 companies, advised C-suite leaders, and helped launch a COVID-19 vaccine social media campaign with the world's largest insurance firm. Before that, she was a journalist and non-fiction TV producer in India, creating some of the country's most iconic shows, including MTV Style Check, Total Recall, and Life's Like That. She holds a master's degree in film and television and has lived across three continents.

Claudio Mir is a Dominican actor, writer, and musician. He holds a degree in professional acting from the Dominican Republic and has studied theater direction in Italy and Havana, Cuba. He also holds a B.F.A. degree in video and experimental filmmaking from the Mason Gross School of the Arts, as well as an M.F.A. in creative writing from the Newark Graduate School.

Michaela Murphy (writer, playwright, storyteller, Webby Award-winning director, and teacher). Her work has been featured on NPR (The Moth Radio Hour, All Things Considered, and Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen), Off-Broadway, Moth National Tours and anthology A Point of Beauty, The New Yorker, Nantucket Film Festival, and the Clinton White House. Murphy is Director of Education at Bucks County Playhouse and always tells stories.

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.