New Jersey Top Performing Arts Theaters

Community Theatre Shakespeare Theatre Playwrights Theatre New Jersey Arts Center Paper Mill Playhouse

Bickford Theatre. The Bickford Theatre is an intimate 312-seat proscenium theatre within the Morris Museum in Morristown, New Jersey. In its 13th year as professional theatre, Bickford produces four plays each season augmented by an a la carte concert series, jazz showcase, and year-round children's theatre presentations. The Bickford Theatre is a professional theatre company associated with the Actors Equity Association and is a senior member of the New Jersey Theatre Alliance. For upcoming shows and tickets, visit www.morrismuseum.org.

Community Theatre Morristown. The Morristown Community Theater is a cultural and artistic landmark on South Street and Morristown’s “place for the arts.” With a rich history, the renovated theatre has been transformed into a stunning showplace with comfortable seating in beautiful plum and gold leaf tones and outstanding acoustics. Opened in 1937, "America's most beautiful theatre," a Greco-Roman mansion, with four white Corinthian pillars, flourished as a movie house and big band concert hall until 1974 and then sat empty and in disrepair. Thanks to massive cleanup efforts by the community, on September 29, 1994, Community Theatre reopened to a sell-out crowd, featuring the Kirov Orchestra of St. Petersburg, Russia. Today, the Community Theater - a cultural fixture in New Jersey - presents a variety of theater, plays, and concerts. Visit www.communitytheaternj.com.  [Top]

Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey. The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey (formerly the New Jersey Shakespeare Festival) is one of 22 professional theatres in the state. One of the leading Shakespeare theatres in the nation, it is New Jersey's only professional theatre company dedicated to Shakespeare's canon and classic masterworks. Through its productions and programs, the company illuminates the universal relevance of the classics for contemporary audiences and has garnered critical acclaim. In its 45th season, it is the longest-running Shakespeare theatre on the east coast and was named "Regional Theatre of the Year," in 2002 by The Star-Ledger. The annual Main Stage season, presented in the intimate, state-of-the-art F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre in Madison, runs May through December. An Outdoor Stage production is presented each summer at The Greek Theatre, an open-air amphitheatre located on the College of Saint Elizabeth campus in Morris Township. Visit www.shakespearenj.org.  [Top]

Playwrights Theatre of NJ. One of New Jersey’s most dazzling producing organizations, Playwrights Theatre, founded in 1986, is a community of professional playwrights, theatre artists and art educators that provides programs for writers to develop their works in a nurturing environment and connect with audiences. Cited four times by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts for excellence and twice recipient of a Governor's Award for outstanding service to the arts and arts education, Playwrights Theatre offers two unique programs. The New Play Development Program is a multi-step process through which playwrights, theatre artists, and audiences collaborate to nurture texts from draft to finished productions. The New Jersey Writers Project provides hands-on workshops led by professional writers to students in schools throughout the state. Playwrights Theatre maintains its commitment to supporting writers for the stage and playwriting process. The Theater presents a variety of original plays and readings throughout the season, as well as the Madison Young Playwrights Festival and Dessert Theatre Showcase. Visit www.ptnj.org.  [Top]

New Jersey Performing Arts Center. In its eight seasons, New Jersey Performing Arts Center has garnered national attention for its diverse programming, education initiatives, and the catalytic role it has played in returning nightlife and entertainment to Newark, New Jersey. On Opening Night, NJPAC became the 6th largest performing arts center in the US. NJPAC’s two halls - the breathtaking 2,750-seat Prudential Hall and the intimate 514-seat Victoria Theater - have presented world-renowned artists, cultural icons, and the world’s most cherished orchestral, dance, theater, and instrumental works, from Yo-Yo Ma and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, to Sting, Melissa Etheridge, and Bette Midler. NJPAC has hosted acclaimed tours of Broadway musicals such as Evita, Grease, Annie, Peter Pan, Les Miserables, The Full Monty, and Fiddler on the Roof. NJPAC’s Prudential Hall was called one of the "world’s greatest concert halls" by the New York Times and "the nation’s most glamorous theater" by Clive Barnes. For events and tickets, visit www.njpac.  [Top]

Paper Mill Playhouse. One of the first regional theatres, Paper Mill Playhouse has become one of the most acclaimed professional theatres in the country. Founded in 1934, on the site of a former paper mill, the Playhouse raised the curtain on its first performance in 1938, opening with Martinez Sierra's The Kingdom of God. With state-of-the-art physical resources and an award-winning artistic staff, the theatre breathes new life into America's beloved musicals and is as a leader in producing world and American premieres. Proclaimed the "Official State Theatre of New Jersey” in 1972, the theatre has been cited as a State Center of Artistic Excellence by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. Through the years, Paper Mill Playhouse has staged such talents as Betty Buckley, Anne Hathaway, Ann Miller, Liza Minnelli, Bernadette Peters, Chita Rivera, and Patrick Swayze. In 2002, Paper Mill’s production of I'm Not Rappaport starring Judd Hirsch and Ben Vereen succeeded to Broadway's Booth Theatre and Miss Saigon was named one of the "Top Ten Theatrical Experiences in New Jersey in 2002" by The Star-Ledger. Visit www.papremilll.org.  [Top]