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.
Nationally touring act, Street Survivors, a Lynyrd Skynyrd Experience pays homage to the legendary southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd. Recreating the look and sound of the band and playing classic hits such as "What's Your Name", "Gimme Three Steps", "Sweet Home Alabama" and the rock classic anthem "Freebird", Street Survivors is an audience favorite. Come join us as we go back in time to the early seventies and listen to the foot stompin music that brought Lynyrd Skynyrd to fame.
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.
See comedian Akaash Singh live at State Theatre New Jersey! Akaash Singh is a nationally touring stand-up comedian, podcaster, and actor. His career took off with many television shows, including MTV’s Wild’n Out, Netflix’s Brown Nation, and HBO’s The Leftovers. After finding success in TV, he shifted his focus to the now hugely successful podcast Flagrant, co-created with fellow comedian and good friend Andrew Schulz. Then he moved his attention to his stand-up comedy career. His comedy specials and clips have amassed almost 2 BILLION total views on YouTube alone. His newest Special, Gaslit, released in 2024 has over six million views. Aside from stand-up, look for Akaash in #1 Happy Family USA, a Hulu series created by Ramy Youssef.
Experience the music of Bob Dylan like never before as The Bob Band brings his legendary songs to The Strand, in a moving and deeply authentic concert. This Washington D.C. Quintet offers a richly musical journey through Dylan’s extraordinary catalog, performing with authenticity, reverence and a clear love for the music. Rather than imitating Dylan, the band brings decades of experience to arrangements that highlight the character and depth of his recordings across folk, rock, country, blues, and gospel. With thoughtful storytelling and a rotating setlist that includes “like a Rolling Stone, Tangled Up in Blue, Mr. Tambourine Man, and Make You Feel My Love”. The Bob Band captures the sound and soul of one of the most influential artists of all time. It’s not imitation-it’s a celebration of the music that became it’s own genre.
Experience an unforgettable evening of live theatre with “Jaane Pehchaane Anjaane,” a captivating Hindi musical play starring the legendary Anupam Kher alongside acclaimed actress Swaroop Sampat.
Inspired by the twisted genius of Roald Dahl, the Tony Award-winning Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical is the captivating masterpiece from the Royal Shakespeare anarchy of childhood, the power of imagination and the inspiring story of a girl who dreams of a better life.
Barb desperately needs friends. That’s why she moved to this 55+ community in the first place. So what better way to meet new people than to join a good old fashioned Bingo Night? When Bingo Night turns into a full-blown orgy, Barb must decide: does she stay in her safe, predictable world? Or does she play a new game of chance and truly live before it’s too late?
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.
ReelAbilities authentically showcases disability experiences and talent both on screen and behind the camera through award-winning short and feature-length films. Each screening at Kean University includes disability-led discussions that foster community dialogue, challenge stereotypes and promote access — fulfilling ReelAbilities’s mission of reframing disability through powerful storytelling.
