In October 2003, Gary Wien launched Upstage Magazine, a monthly print publication that covered the arts throughout Central New Jersey. The publication ultimately grew to 25,000 copies per month with distribution throughout much of the state. Upstage was well received critically and ultimately earned an Asbury Music Award for Top Music Publication in 2007, becoming the first publication other than The Aquarian to ever win the award. In addition, both the website and Wien picked up multiple Asbury Music Awards (for Top Website and Top Music Journalist) as well. Wien left the publication shortly afterwards, and Upstage ceased publishing a few months later.
In the months that followed, arts groups continued to submit press releases and materials. In 2008, Wien launched NewJerseyStage.com as a hobby to be an online news resource to continue coverage of the arts. Six years later, he decided to return to covering the arts full-time and redesigned the website to become a digital version of the old Upstage Magazine. On May 1, 2014, New Jersey Stage became a full-time resource covering the arts. On July 15, the first issue of New Jersey Stage digital magazine was released.
One year after New Jersey Stage Magazine was launched, Gary Wien was diagnosed with secondary progressive Multiple Sclerosis. He uses the website and magazine as a way of fighting the disease each day. Over 35,000 articles have been posted since New Jersey Stage became official and 75 issues of the magazine were published until the pandemic of 2020 forced it to go on hiatus. Over 550,000 unique visitors come to the website each year.
The website is primary run by Wien, but it benefits from the work of writers like Danny Coleman, Bob Makin, Eric Hillis, Karen Nowosad, Al Nigrin, and Spotlight Central. All of the writers on the site are volunteers - a group who love the arts. New Jersey Stage aims to bring artists, organizations, and art councils together. In addition to regularly publishing original feature articles, interviews, and columns, we encourage organizations to send us press releases. New Jersey Stage considers itself the Garden State's Arts Newswire and home of original arts journalism.
You can follow New Jersey Stage on social media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Threads, BlueSky and via our RSS feed
Mailing Address:
NewJerseyStage.com
P.O. Box 811
Belmar, NJ 07719
Email: [email protected]
Nurse Blake is back with his hilarious new comedy tour with all new content, diving into the wildest things patients and their families say and do. From self-diagnosing Stage 8 Cancer with WebMD to hitting the call light like they are on a game show, nothing is off-limits! Expect a night of nonstop laughter packed with healthcare workers who desperately need a break. Bring your friends, coworkers, and even that one patient who swore they were allergic to water—this is going to be a night to remember!
UCPAC invites Seniors (ages 55 and up) to join local students for a digital matinee film screening of 1959’s “The Diary of Anne Frank,” starring Millie Perkins and Shelly Winters, who won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her performance.
Wheel of Fortune LIVE! – America’s Game® comes to your hometown! Contestants are randomly selected from the audience to join our host onstage for a chance to spin a replica of the iconic Wheel, solve puzzles, and WIN incredible prizes like trips to Paris and Hawaii or BIG MONEY up to $10,000 in cash. Everyone can join in on the fun! You won’t want to miss this thrilling live experience! Hosted by Mark L. Walberg (Netflix’s Temptation Island and PBS’s Antiques Roadshow).
Written by and Starring Kathryn Grody
Directed by Timothy Near
A Radical, Rollicking Rumination on the Optimism of Staying Alive
From the Tony Award-winning producers of Hadestown comes A Beat of Our Own — a brand-new musical comedy that pulls you straight into the pulsating rhythms, kaleidoscopic colors and raw energy of competitive bhangra dance.
Written by and Starring Kathryn Grody
Directed by Timothy Near
A Radical, Rollicking Rumination on the Optimism of Staying Alive
References to Salvador Dalí Make Me Hot is an Obie Award-winning surrealist play by José Rivera that follows Gabriela, a lonely housewife in Barstow, California, awaiting her soldier-husband Benito’s return from the Gulf War in 1991. In the poetic fantasy world she creates as she drifts through her days in the Mojave desert, her housecat and a local coyote strike up a romance, while the celestial man-in-the-moon and her very real teenage neighbor Martín vie for her affection.
From the Tony Award-winning producers of Hadestown comes A Beat of Our Own — a brand-new musical comedy that pulls you straight into the pulsating rhythms, kaleidoscopic colors and raw energy of competitive bhangra dance.
Classical Arts Entertainment presents Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, a stunning Broadway-style ballet production performed by the United European Ballet Company.
This enchanting show brings one of the world’s most beloved fairy tales to life with beautiful choreography, expressive storytelling, hand-painted scenic designs, and bright, detailed costumes created by European designers.
The world-renowned ensemble Vitamin String Quartet joins forces with the captivating harmonies of acclaimed vocal trio Girl Named Tom to bring their genre-defying arrangements to stages across the U.S. Known for transforming pop and rock anthems into virtuosic instrumentals, and fresh off Season 4 in Netflix’s hit series Bridgerton, VSQ will team up with Girl Named Tom, whose breathtaking harmonies and heartfelt songwriting won The Voice in 2021 and have solidified their status as one of the leading lights in new American Folk Music. Enjoy music-making at its highest level, with reimagined classics and modern hits, stunning performances, and unforgettable collaborative moments.
