Here's a look at the top 15 most read articles published on New Jersey Stage from Febuary 16-21, 2026. Each week we publish at least 70 articles, including original columns and features, promoting events and covering arts news taking place throughout the state and nearby areas like Philadelphia and New York City. This week's top 15 includes articles from 7 counties (Bergen, Essex, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, and Somerset).
1) Events This Week in New Jersey from February 17-23, 2026 - Here is a look at upcoming events taking place from February 17-23, 2026 along with our featured listings. New Jersey Stage offers previews of events throughout the Garden State as well as select shows in New York City and Philadelphia areas.
2) By popular demand Freeing Juanita returns to the 2026 New Jersey Film Festival on Friday, February 20! - Freeing Juanita, directed by Sebastián Lasaosa Rogers, is not the kind of documentary you watch and walk away from unchanged. It stays with you long after the credits roll. At its heart, this is a film about one woman, wrongfully imprisoned. But as you watch it unfold, you realize it’s also about so much more: a broken immigration system, the erasure of Indigenous voices, and the extraordinary strength of family and community.
3) An Interview with Rob Derhak of moe. - Beginning on February 5, 2026, moe. will start their upcoming Born to Fly tour in South Burlington, VT with a 3-night run. This tour will feature a 4-night run at the Ardmore Music Hall in Ardmore, PA from March 4-7th, the longest of many multiple night residencies. Moe. will also perform at the Bergen Performing Arts Center in Englewood, NJ on April 11th. This tour marks over 3 decades of music and life for these jam band veterans. Prior to the start of the new tour, I was honored to speak with Rob Derhak (bassist).
4) Algonquin Arts Theatre Announces 2026-27 Broadway Season - (MANASQUAN, NJ) -- Algonquin Arts Theatre has announced it 2026-27 Broadway Season, which begins in July with Shrek: The Musical. The season follows with Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical in August; Oliver! in October; Disney's Frozen in December; Arsenic and Old Lace in January; To Kill a Mockingbird in February; Tootsie: The Musical in April; and 42nd Street in May.
5) Historic Sherman Theater and The Bowery Presents Enter Strategic Booking Partnership - (STROUDSBURG, PA) -- On February 17, 2026, the historic Sherman Theater in downtown Stroudsburg announced that it is entering into an agreement with The Bowery Presents, the leading East Coast concert promoter and venue operator, and subsidiary of AEG Presents, to program events at the landmark venue.
6) Lisa Parrott Quartet to Celebrate Gerry Mulligan and Women's History Month at Madison Concert - Growing up in Australia, one of baritone saxophonist Lisa Parrott's top 10 favorite records was "a used vinyl of the Gerry Mulligan big band live at the Village Vanguard (Gerry Mulligan and the Concert Jazz Band at the Village Vanguard, Verve, 1961)."
7) Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites... 02/19/2026 - "I appreciate that, that means a lot," smiled the very excited, extremely talented and current contestant of this season's "American Idol," Jake Thistle.
8) Monmouth County Park System to Release Summer Camps Edition of its "Parks & Programs Guide" - (LINCROFT, NJ) -- Summer camp season is closer than you think! Want to make it one that your children will always remember? Send them to camp with the Monmouth County Park System for an unforgettable experience! Accredited by the American Camp Association, the Park System offers numerous summer camps tailored to different ages and interests including nature, sports, art, theater and more.
9) Comedian Nate Bargatze to Perform at the Prudential Center on August 8th - (NEWARK, NJ) -- Coming off record setting tours in 2024 and 2025, comedian Nate Bargatze is bringing his 2026 Big Dumb Eyes World Tour across North America. The tour comes to the Prudential Center in Newark on Saturday, August 8, 2026.
10) Somerset County 9th Grader Wins First Prize in International Music Competition - (PHILADELPHIA, PA) -- The prestigious Philadelphia International Music Festival (PIMF) awarded over $50,000 in scholarships and performance opportunities this past year to young musicians who took top spots in PIMF's Concerto Competitions, online and at its summer festivals.
11) Learn about the Women of the E Street Band at the Plumsted Library on March 9th - (NEW EGYPT, NJ) -- Calling all Bruce fans! Melissa Ziobro, Curator of the Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music, will present "Women of the E Street Band" on Monday, March 9, 2026 at the Plumsted Branch of the Ocean County Library. The event begins at 6:30pm.
12) Ocean County College Repertory Theater Company presents "Dancing at Lughnasa" - (TOMS RIVER, NJ) -- The Ocean County College Repertory Theater Company presents Dancing at Lughnasa across two weekends from March 13-22, 2026 in the Black Box Theater. This extraordinary play by Brian Friel is the story of five unmarried sisters eking out their lives in a small village in Ireland in 1936.
13) Asbury Park Music Awards Returns February 20th - (ASBURY PARK, NJ) -- The Asbury Park Music Awards return to The Stone Pony on Friday, February 20, 2026. For over two decades, the awards night brought the local music community together and shined a spotlight on the artists. This will be the first time the awards are presented since 2018.
14) Umphrey's Mcgee at the Fillmore in Philadelphia 2/13/26 - On August 15, 2025, Umphrey's Mcgee announced that Scotty Zwang was officially joining the band. His addition was to replace long-time drummer Kris Myers. Ironically the last time I saw UM was in August 2023 at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, NJ. A large portion of this tour would be without Kris because of shoulder surgery. During his hiatus, UM would feature a rotation of drummers including Scotty Zwang. Umphreys was founded in 1997 and during their 30+ years change is inevitable. The arrival of Scotty to the band brought new life and on February 13, 2026, I witnessed this metamorphosis at the Fillmore in Philadelphia, PA.
15) bergenPAC hosts Ukraine Odesa National Ballet US Tour 2025: Don Quixote - (ENGLEWOOD, NJ) -- Step into over 200 years of history with the legendary Ukraine Odesa National Ballet as they bring the timeless classic Don Quixote to life at Bergen Performing Arts Center (bergenPAC) on Wednesday, March 5, 2025. Founded in the early 19th century, the Odesa National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre stands as one of Ukraine's oldest and most prestigious cultural institutions, preserving a legacy of excellence and inspiration. Showtime is 7:00pm.
Following decades of experience in public relations and writing for the arts, New Jersey Stage was created to serve as the state’s arts newswire and provide affordable advertising for the arts (from $50-$100 per month). The site has been redesigned around its Event Calendar and event preview articles. The vast majority of these articles come from a monthly schedule that lets us cover every arts genre and region of the state on a regular basis with original coverage. These event preview articles get noticed when we first publish them and then get noticed again the week the event takes place. Our articles and event calendar pages are picked up by search engines and resources like Google News. We also accept press releases sent to [email protected]
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