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]
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.
Veronica Swift has established herself as one of her generation’s iconic voices in Jazz. Throughout her childhood, she toured nationally with her parents (Jazz musicians Hod O’Brien and Stephanie Nakasian), singing at renowned clubs and festivals such as Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, Jazz Standard (NYC), Jazz Showcase (Chicago), and Telluride Jazz Festival. She recorded her first album at age nine, and since then has had a career spanning two decades, which saw a 2nd place win at The 2015 Thelonious Monk Jazz Competition, a twice-a-year residency at Birdland Jazz Club, joining Chris Botti’s touring band, as well as touring with Wynton Marsalis and Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and recording with Jeff Goldblum. Her 2021 album This Bitter Earth received a 5-star review and the cover of DownBeat magazine, and in 2024, she was honored with a French knighthood as Chevalier in the Order of Arts and Letters.
Effa Manley manages the Newark Eagles, a team she wants to take all the way to the Negro League World Series. Effa battles the press, coaching staff, segregation, and sometimes herself to win at the business of the game she loves most of all. She doesn’t worry about what it will cost her, even if it’s everything. Effa Loves Baseball is about the first woman inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Written by and Starring Kathryn Grody
Directed by Timothy Near
A Radical, Rollicking Rumination on the Optimism of Staying Alive
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?
Join us Thursday, October 15 at 6:00pm for an unforgettable evening of music and philanthropy celebrating the power of classical music.
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.
Step into an outrageous adventure of arts: Artrageous – Sensory Friendly Theater. This is the only show where you can witness the fusion of live art, rock concert, imaginative movement, vocal performance, comedy, blacklight Bunraku, Artpunk wear, and inclusion in one magical experience!
(SOMERS POINT, NJ) -- The South Jersey Jazz Society will present its annual Jazz@ThePoint festival from October 15–17, 2026, bringing three days of world-class jazz, history and celebration to Somers Point. This year's festival, themed "Red, White & Louis," honors the 250th anniversary of the U.S.A. while celebrating the music and legacy of one of America's most influential and beloved musical artists Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong, the internationally famous jazz trumpeter, bandleader and singer known for songs like "What a Wonderful World," "Hello, Dolly!," "Star Dust," and "La Vie En Rose."
(VINELAND, NJ) -- Cumberland Players presents A Year with Frog and Toad Kids Version from October 15-18, 2026. The treasured characters from the children’s books and the beautiful Broadway musical hop from page to stage in this story of friendship and adventure.
(WEST MILFORD, NJ) -- The West Milford Players presents The Women - their first show of the 2026-2027 season - from October 15-18, 2026 at the West Milford Presbyterian Church. The production is directed by Debbie Quinlan.
(CAPE MAY, NJ) -- Classic American Tales (CAT) is having its final Tales at the Dormer House in Cape May for 2026, on Thursday, October 15 at 4:00pm. It features seasoned storytellers Frank Smith, Stephanie Garrett, Gayle Stahlhuth, and newcomer Liberty Ero presenting some of their favorite short stories and monologues by well-known American writers.
(MONTCLAIR, NJ) -- PEAK Performances at Montclair State University welcomes acclaimed French-Algerian ensemble Compagnie Hervé KOUBI to the Alexander Kasser Theater for Sol Invictus, a breathtaking celebration of solidarity, connection and the enduring bonds that unite us, on Thursday, October 15, 2026 at 7:30pm.
