Join the State Theatres Second Annual New Years Eve Party at the fabulous Heldrich Hotel—from 8:30pm to 1:00am. Learn more: http://www.statetheatrenj.org/new_year_eve_party

For tickets visit http://www.statetheatrenj.org/storytime Come play along with your favorite preschool pals live on stage as Nickelodeon presents our newest, biggest, most exciting live show ever STORYTIME LIVE! Leap into Fairytale Land with Dora the Explorer, journey through Purewood Forest with The Backyardigans, hop into Wonderland with Wonder Pets!, and monkey around on The Monkey King Adventure with Ni-Hao, Kai-lan.

For tickets visit http://www.statetheatrenj.org/the_nutcracker Set to Tchaikovskys glittering score— performed by a live orchestra—The Nutcracker boasts spectacular costumes and scenic effects, inventive choreography, and a cast of more than one hundred performers.

For tickets visit http://www.statetheatrenj.org/the_chieftains Six-time Grammy® Award-winners, The Chieftains were one of the first bands to bring worldwide popularity to traditional Irish music. Beyond the borders of the Emerald Isle, they have gained equal fame for their collaborations with artists as diverse as Tom Jones, James Galway, and Lyle Lovett.

For tickets visit: http://www.statetheatrenj.org/scrooge Charles Dickens' colorful Christmas classic springs to life in a semi-staged, fully-costumed musical production, featuring a cast of 30 singers, dancers, and musicians. Travel along with mean old Ebenezer Scrooge as he visits his own past, present, and future and discovers it's never too late to open your heart. Not to be confused with the 1970 film musical, Scrooge in Concert has music by Philip David Stern and enough charm to win a smile even from Scrooge himself.

Buy tickets online: http://www.statetheatrenj.org/urban_bush_women With style and sass, Urban Bush Women weaves together contemporary dance, music, humor, and profound insights into the human condition. The high-energy choreography combines text, musical accompaniment, and motifs inspired by African, modern, and social dance techniques. It’s bold, life-affirming dance theater told from the perspective of women in the African Diaspora community.

The epitome of romantic Russian ballet, Swan Lake has enchanted audiences for well over a century with its magical tale of love and sacrifice, sorcery and transformation. Tchaikovsky’s sumptuous score perfectly captures the heightened passions of the doomed lovers. This full-length ballet is performed by the 50-member Moscow Festival Ballet under the direction of Sergei Radchenko, former principal dancer with the Bolshoi Ballet.

Featuring Guinness World Record Holder Ana Yang “The World’s Greatest Female Bubble Artist” President's Day is Family Day

Having seen the Star Wars trilogy over 400 times, actor Charles Ross decided to turn his obsession into an homage to his favorite sci-fi adventure. In a little over an hour, he singlehandedly covers the entire story—all of the characters, the action, special effects, and even parts of John Williams’ majestic score. This Off-Broadway hit has played to rave reviews, with well over a thousand performances worldwide. “Funnier than you could possibly imagine.” —Spin Magazine

The Band of the Irish Guards and Royal Regiment of Scotland bring all the pomp and grandeur of the British Empire to the State Theatre stage. It’s “Hands Across the Sea” as they pay tribute to both sides of the Atlantic. With the stirring pageantry of the pipes, drums, and dancers—nearly 80 performers in all—the company presents music from England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales, as well as the U.S.

"Fierce, athletic and compulsively sensual." —The Village Voice An annual “don’t-miss” State Theatre event, Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet has vaulted into the spotlight as the contemporary dance company to watch. Their daring, athletic choreography and cutting-edge multimedia production designs take audiences on a choreographic journey exploring the infinite possibilities of movement. The company performs new works by the most sought-after emerging choreographers from the U.S. and beyond. Program TBA.

A self-proclaimed “Certified Lunatic and Master of the Impossible,” Tomáš Kubínek is charming, disarming, surprising—a genuine comic genius. His inspired fusion of clowning, acrobatics, music, magic, and absurdity will astonish and delight people of all ages. The actor-comedian employs every theatrical trick in the book (plus some tricks that he himself invented) to amaze, transport, move, and elicit laughter. “The audience sits transfixed, gleefully awating each new moment of mad brilliance." — Badische Zeitung, Germany

A leading connoisseur of the Great American Songbook, singer Michael Feinstein has made a brilliant career of performing forgotten treasures by the likes of the Gershwins, Cole Porter, and Irving Berlin. His latest album, The Sinatra Project, is a tribute not only to Ol’ Blue Eyes, but to arrangers Nelson Riddle and Billy May. Recorded live in the same studio as Sinatra’s classic Capitol Records-era hits like Come Fly With Me and Only the Lonely, the album features new arrangements of classic songs—plus two undiscovered tunes Sinatra never got around to recording. Celebrating his 25th anniversary as a performer, Feinstein brings this vibrant project to life with a blazing big band and his own inimitable panache.

This 70+ year-old, world renowned company displays skillful dancing that takes years to perfect. Their artistic, authentic, and action-packed performances include live Russian music, sword play, and a sea of bright, beautiful costumes.

“(It’s) an evening of rhythm, beats, sweaty bodies, melody, dynamic shape, and extraordinary precision. Tao is inspiring, uplifting and theatrical.” —The New Zealand Performing Arts Review Great Family Event—Move over KODO, here comes TAO! Wadaiko drumming becomes a whirlwind of energetic sound and movement as TAO takes the stage redefining the art of this Japanese tradition. Using influences from around the world, namely, djembe drumming from Africa, Taiko, gymnastics, and even instrumental music, the team of TAO puts on an explosive performance that has earned them numerous reviews echoing nothing but fervor and enthusiasm. Experience this dynamic performance celebrating the centuries-old art form of Wadaiko drumming as well as cymbals, flutes, bells, gongs, and vocals.

“I haven’t seen an audience have this much fun since Mamma Mia. As they said in the ‘80s, this show is AWESOME!” —Jess Cagle WCBS-TV/People Magazine With a score that pays loving homage to the pop songs of the 1980s, this romantic comedy based on the 1998 film, takes us back to a time when hair was big, greed was good, collars were up, and a wedding singer might just be the coolest guy in the room.

"Visually riveting!"—The Philadelphia Inquirer Scrap Arts Music features five extraordinarily talented and innovative drummers that excite the senses with intricate rhythms, raw energy, athletic choreography and the hottest–most inventive–reuse of materials on stage today. This Canadian quintet tours the world, transforming their stage into an eco-friendly musical realm vibrant with ingenious creativity and positive energy. Led by Gregory Kozak, a 21st century Renaissance man and inspired instrument inventor, this youthful quintet of virtuosic musicians performs original, beats-driven music with over 145+ mobile sculptural instruments. Each is hand-built from recycled materials ranging from accordion parts, to aluminum scraps, and even artillery shells. These beautiful sculptures produce unique sounds for which special performance techniques are developed, giving life to fresh, original compositions with wide-ranging appeal. Audiences from four continents have welcomed Scrap Arts Music with unbridled enthusiasm, embracing their intoxicating mix of music, movement and spectacle. Transcending language, culture and age, Scrap Arts Music offers a highly physical, wildly theatrical and thoroughly entertaining taste of the musical vanguard.