Published by New Jersey Stage
Here is the morning update from New Jersey's arts newswire. We regularly publish between 8-15 new articles and news reports each day. Nobody covers the Arts throughout the Garden State like New Jersey Stage!
If your arts organization sends out press releases, make sure you have [email protected] on your media list for coverage.
theatre
Centenary Stage Company presents free Staged Reading of "Breeders" 
(HACKETTSTOWN, NJ) -- Centenary Stage Company presents Breeders as part of its Women Playwrights Series (WPS), with a free staged reading on Wednesday, April 8, 2026 in the Sitnik Theatre of the Centenary University campus, located at 715 Grand Avenue in Hackettstown. Showtime is 7:00pm.
Emerging Artists Theatre's Spark Theatre Festival NYC Celebrates 20th Anniversary 
(NEW YORK, NY) -- Award-winning Emerging Artists Theatre (EAT) returns with their bi-annual Spark Theatre Festival NYC, on Monday, April 6 and runs until April 26, 2026 at The 28th Street Theatre (TADA). The three-week festival will showcase over 60 new works in progress, including musicals, plays, solo performances, storytelling, and dance. Theatre luminaries such as TV comedy icon Joyce Bulifant, Tony Award nominee Christopher Sieber, and Emmy Award winner Dorothy Lyman will take part in the Spring Spark Theatre Festival NYC.
Lantern Theater Company Announces 2026-27 Season 
(PHILADELPHIA, PA) -- Lantern Theater Company has announced its upcoming 2026-27 season, which will mark the company's 33rd year of bringing great stories from great writers to Philadelphia and beyond. The season showcases four extraordinary plays from renowned playwrights, past and present.
Titus Andronicus – Revenge is Served 
It is said that Titus Andronicus is Shakespeare's bloodiest and goriest play. There are schools of thought that this was his first tragedy and one that is not based on historic precedents or sources. Instead, it is an original play with a double revenge narrative. One can picture an audience in the late 1500's coming to the theater to see this play and how they might be entertained by all of this. Remarkably, elements of what make up the story are still very much in our world today. It is just that we might represent it differently than Shakespeare did in his writing.
music
The The Band Band presents The Last Walz Celebration 50th Anniversary 2026 Tour at The Newton Theatre 
(NEWTON, NJ) -- The The Band Band presents The Last Walz Celebration 50th Anniversary 2026 Tour at The Newton Theatre on Saturday, June 27, 2026. Doors are at 7:00pm; showtime is 8:00pm.
Keith Carne releases "Magenta Light" 
A departure. An arrival. Keith Carne's debut album as a leader, Magenta Light, is both a disappearing act and an apparition. The latest entry in his long log of termite art practices, Magenta Light (to be released April 20, 2026) gnaws away at genre conventions, blending expansive droney space with propulsive dance rhythms, all strung along an indie-pop spine. Atmospheric, instrumental themes serve as the sinew between five melancholic-pop songs whose lyrics tackle the yawning space between connection and dislocation.
Today's Brightest Young Jazz Musicians will Unite to Celebrate International Jazz Day at NJPAC on April 26 
(NEWARK, NJ) -- New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC), the state's anchor cultural institution, will celebrate International Jazz Day on Sunday, April 26, 2026, with a free musical celebration featuring 50+ young local musicians performing on the iconic NJPAC stage. Showtime is 4:00pm.
Rick Wakeman LIVE! at bergenPAC 
Spotlight Central and Love Imagery have photos and a recap of Wakeman and Son at bergenPAC on March 25, 2026.
comedy
Terry Fator brings "Pure Imagination" to bergenPAC 
(ENGLEWOOD, NJ) -- Beloved Las Vegas headliner, comedian, ventriloquist, singer, and Season 2 winner of America's Got Talent, Terry Fator is bringing his all-new show, Pure Imagination to the Bergen Performing Arts Center (bergenPAC) on Sunday, April 19, 2026. Showtime is 7:00pm.
film
New Release Review - "The Mortuary Assistant" 
After decades of failures, video game adaptations are suddenly a hit at the box office, with screen translations of such heavy hitters as Super Mario Bros, Sonic the Hedgehog and Minecraft among the biggest earners of recent years. Just as there are cult movies, there are cult video games. Take The Mortuary Assistant, in which the player takes on the icky job of the title and attempts to finish their night shift at a morgue while evading demons. With another cult horror game, Five Nights at Freddy's, spawning two hit movies, it's no surprise that The Mortuary Assistant has now received a cinematic adaptation.
art
NJCU Visual Arts Gallery presents: Intertwined: 2026 NJCU BFA Thesis Exhibition 
(JERSEY CITY, NJ) -- Get ready to be inspired! The New Jersey City University Visual Arts Gallery is unveiling its annual Bachelor of Fine Arts exhibition, showcasing two incredible groups of emerging artists. Each opening reception will celebrate the creativity, innovation, and passion of NJCU's graduating BFA students.
