Top 15 Most Read Stories At New Jersey Stage From April 30 to May 6, 2023



Here’s a look at the top 15 most read articles published at New Jersey Stage from April 30 to May 6, 2023. Each week we publish about 70 articles, including several original columns and features, along with news releases for events happening throughout the state and nearby areas like Philadelphia and New York City. This week’s top 15 includes articles from 9 counties in New Jersey (Atlantic, Burlington, Bergen, Essex, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Union, and Warren).

1) REVIEW: “Tales From the Guttenberg Bible” – Ever wonder what it takes to make it in Hollywood? Steve Guttenberg took a very unique approach and his story is told in Tales from the Guttenberg Bible, currently having its World Premiere at George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick, NJ. The production runs through May 21st.

2) Poetic Film Exposed to Each Other screens at the 2023 New Jersey Film Festival on Saturday, January 28! – Exposed to Each Other is a film by Mersolis Schone and comes to us from Vienna, Austria. This short film is based on a poetic text collage by Marion Steinfellner that brings together a multicultural and multilingual collection of Indian, Japanese, German and Austrian texts by Yuko Kaseki, Savita Rani, Mersolis Schone and Marion Steinfellner. Presented as a kind of film poem, the common thread of these texts is touch and touching which are presented as journeys and how interpersonal, intercultural encounters connect us to each other across the world. This is the fundamental question at the heart of Exposed to Each Other – How are we connected to each other? – and each scene propels us further on a multi-faceted journey exploring this idea.

3) NJ Stage Event Calendar – we don’t normally note our event calendar in the Top 15 of the week, but like to point it out from time to time (and will add an extra story to the top 15 when we do). We are always pleased by the response to our event calendar and event preview pages.

4) McDonald’s Gospelfest returns to Prudential Center on May 13th – (NEWARK, NJ) — The Annual McDonald’s Gospelfest returns to Prudential Center on Mother’s Day Weekend Saturday, May 13, 2023, for the biggest and best gospel event of the year. This year’s event will celebrate the 40th Year Anniversary of McDonald’s Gospelfest. Live performances to help celebrate the anniversary are Hezekiah Walker and Love Fellowship Choir, the Legendary Clark Sisters and so many more!

5) BlowUpRadio.com’s New & Notable NJ Music 5/1/23 – Lazlo, founder of BlowUpRadio.com (an online radio station based around New Jersey artists), shines a light on some of the many new releases from NJ based musicians each week with this column. This week Lazlo takes a look at releases by Pillowinde, decks, Bobby Syvarth, Southpaw, and Jonathan Tea.

6) Bergen County Players presents “It Shoulda Been You” – (ORADELL, NJ) — Bergen County Players (BCP), one of America’s longest-running little theater companies, presents the funny, uplifting, musical It Shoulda Been You, weekends from May 6 to June 4, 2023. Under the direction of Dottie Fischer, It Shoulda Been You puts a modern spin on the traditional wedding comedy, proving that when it comes to wedding day insanity, it’s all relative.  

7) Django A Gogo 20th Anniversary; Trumpeter Joe Boga: “Be Ready to Expect Anything“ – Cheryl Boga has been Conductor and Director of Performance Music at the University of Scranton for more than 40 years. Predictably, her son, Joe Boga, was exposed to music at an early age. “My mom started me on violin,” he recalled, “and I didn’t want to do it. I kept begging to quit, and eventually she let me do it but insisted I couldn’t quit music altogether.”

8) PHOTOS from “In The Heights” at CDC Theatre – (CRANFORD, NJ) — The final production of CDC Theatre’s 104th season, In the Heights, is currently running weekends from to May 20. The musical tells the story of three days in the vibrant community in Manhattan’s Washington Heights – a place where the coffee from the corner bodega is light and sweet, the windows are always open, and the breeze carries the rhythm of three generations of music. Photographer John Posada was on hand to take photos.

9) Aspire Performing Arts Company presents the Smash Hit Musical “The Prom” in Butler – (BUTLER, NJ) — Aspire Performing Arts Company is one of the first youth community theatre companies to present the smash Broadway hit musical, The Prom, running May 11- 13 at Butler High School. Based around true events, The Prom follows the story of Emma Nolan, an Indiana high school student who wants to bring her girlfriend to the prom. Rather than allow for inclusivity, the PTA cancels the prom entirely, and that’s when four eccentric Broadway stars (in need of some good PR) step in.

10) Paper Mill Playhouse Announces 2023 Rising Star Nominations – (MILLBURN, NJ) — As one of the nation’s leading theaters and recipient of the Regional Theatre Tony Award, Paper Mill Playhouse has a well-earned reputation for launching both performers and shows to Broadway. Since their inception in 1996, the Paper Mill Playhouse Rising Star Awards for Excellence in High School Musical Theater have ignited the careers of many notable performers, all of whom attended high school in New Jersey.  Among the early nominees and winners are Academy Award   winner Anne Hathaway (Les Misérables), Tony Award winners Laura Benanti (Gypsy) and Nikki M. James (The Book of Mormon), Tony nominee Rob McClure (Chaplin), Jelani Remy (Lion King, Ain’t Too Proud), Shanice Williams, star of NBC’s The Wiz Live! and Olivier Award nominee Jared Gertner (The Book of Mormon).

11) Paper Mill Playhouse Announces Cast and Creative for “Rent” – (MILLBURN, NJ) — Paper Mill Playhouse (Mark S. Hoebee, Producing Artistic Director; Michael Stotts, Executive Director), recipient of the 2016 Regional Theatre Tony Award, has announced the cast and creative team for Rent by Jonathan Larson, directed by Zi Alikhan (Resident Director of Hamilton) and choreographed by Steph Paul (New York Theatre Workshop: How to Defend Yourself). The show runs June 7 through July 2, 2023.

12) Ocean Casino Resort Celebrates 5th Birthday with Local Partnerships and Community Initiatives All Summer Long – (ATLANTIC CITY, NJ) /PRNewswire/ — Ocean Casino Resort is supporting local business through one-of-a-kind collaborations and exclusive partnerships as it commemorates its 5th Birthday. Beginning Memorial Day Weekend through Labor Day, guests visiting the property and exploring South Jersey will be treated to special events, entertainment, and pop-up experiences, along with limited edition food, beverage, retail, and art installments celebrating the milestone.

13) Bordentown Students Nominated for Nine Greater Philadelphia Cappie Awards – (BORDENTOWN, NJ) — Bordentown Regional High School is proud to announce that their production of the musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and the BRHS Cappies Critic Team have been nominated for nine 2023 Greater Philadelphia Cappie Awards.

14) New Jersey Symphony to present free outdoor summer concerts in Newark, Jersey City, Toms River, South Amboy and Red Bank – (NEWARK, NJ) — The New Jersey Symphony presents free outdoor concerts in Newark, Jersey City, Toms River, South Amboy and Red Bank and will also perform at the Giralda Music and Arts Festival in Madison.

15) Muddy Waters Gastropub presents Regina Bonelli – (ASBURY, NJ) — NY Blues Hall of Fame member Regina Bonelli is coming to Muddy Waters Gastropub on Saturday, May 6, 2023 and it is going to be a night to remember. Showtime is 8:30pm.

16) Nominees Announced for 2023 Basie Awards, Celebrating Monmouth County High School Theatre – (RED BANK, NJ) — Nominees have been announced for the 2023 Basie Awards, the annual celebration of Monmouth County high school theatre presented by Bank of America, taking place on Wednesday, May 24, 2023 at the Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank.

Event previews are always one of the most popular areas of the website. Event previews get noticed when we first publish them and then get noticed again when they are brought back to the main area of the site the week the event takes place – sometimes even several months later.  Make sure your events get previewed by sending press releases to us at info@newjerseystage.com – for even more promotion, check out our ad rates which run $50-$100 for an entire month of targeted advertising which includes events listed in our online calendar. Or you have your events listed in the calendar for $10 per event.