1776 premiered on Broadway in 1969, won three Tony Awards, and was made into a 1972 movie. It’s currently enjoying a renaissance in Millburn.

“The Golden Door,” by Jim Metzner, came out last week. It’s a heartbreakingly profound tale of immigration and the promise America holds for the “your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore.”

Monmouth University’s Pollak Theatre in West Long Branch will be the site when the Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music presents “America 250: A Jersey Shore Celebration of the Nation’s Music Heritage” with Williams Honor, original E Streeter Vini Lopez, Pat Roddy, Jackson Pines, Pat Guadagno, Richie Blackwell and others on May 29. It is the first of a series of events leading up to the June 7 Grand Opening of the Center’s new building.

Jim Fusilli’s A Song For Katy Shayne novel came out last year. The author, born in Hoboken 72 years ago, wrote about a music critic who gets involved in the possible murder of a singer. Now Kirk Pasich’s Blue Elan Records has released The Lost Songs Of Katy Shayne by Suzanna Spring & The Black Canyon City Band, as produced by Pasich and Colin Devlin.

Singer-Songwriter Helen O’Shea’s tribute to Sinead O’Connor [1966-2023] and Dolores O’Riodan [1971-2018] of The Cranberries, Songs In The Key Of O, comes out May 1.

The Morris Museum in Morristown will, for the seventh year in a row, present its popular outdoor “Back Deck” concert series. Bring lawn chairs, have a picnic, enjoy the sunset! If it rains, the concert will be moved indoors. Tickets go on sale April 21. Shows begin at 7:30 p.m.

International Jazz Day isn’t until April 30 but within the New Jersey Performing Arts Center downtown Newark—at the intimate Victoria Theater—a free April 26 Sunday afternoon jazz concert at 4:00 p.m. will feature over 100 young musicians from the NJPAC TD Jazz for Teens Moody Jazz Orchestra, George Wein’s Scholars Ensemble, Montclair’s Jazz House Kids, Riverdale Country School (Bronx, NY) and Pennsylvania’s Valley Jazz Orchestra.

When Montclair singer-songwriter Jason Didner saw Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, he was fascinated enough by Bruce’s composite love interest in the film Faye Romano to write “Dear Faye,” a song about “love and regret,” according to Didner, who goes on to say, “Bruce is known for songs written to imaginary women who represent periods in his life.”

Montclair’s Lily Vakili, on the heels of her Oceans Of Kansas album, will release the six-track Live Wire EP on May 8. The first single, “Anybody Knows,” is out now.

America’s largest goth-industrial convention—Dark Force—will return to the Parsippany Sheraton May 1, 2 and 3.  Night #1 stars Combichrist, the Atlanta band led by Norwegian vocalist Andy LaPlegua for the last 23 years.

Singer-Songwriter-Bassist Gregory McLouhlin used to perform on the streets of his Hoboken hometown. Then he recorded an album. His “Thank God It’s Monday” livestream recently reached 300 episodes. Now he’s the subject of a documentary, directed by Josh Presuto, that tells the tales behind such songs as “Businessman and “Photograph.”

Look at all those bands! The 17^th annual Elephant Talk Music Fest will take place with 70+ bands  for all ages at the Tennessee Avenue Beer Hall in Atlantic City on April 17, 18 & 19.

“We are bringing hope over fear, democracy over authoritarianism, the rule of law over lawlessness, ethics over unbridled corruption, unity over division, and peace over war.” – Bruce Springsteen

A year ago March, Middlesex County band Good Damage was “Better Off Alone.” Nine months later, they were “Just Alive.” Now they’re hitting the road with shows in Clifton at Dingbatz on April 25, The Water Tower in Oaks Pennsylvania on May 16 and at Crossroads in Garwood on May 20.

North Bergen singer-songwriter-guitarist Alejandro Meola’s self-described mission-in-music is to “support cultural diversity through the arts.” Thus, the Argentine-American will be debuting his new single “Sed De Nacer” April 11 in Boston at The Jungle, April 15 in New York City at Berlin in the East Village, April 27 in Charlotte, North Carolina, at The Evening Muse, April 30 in Miami at Luna Star Cafe and May 2 in Atlanta at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack. 

Born in Newark, raised in Irvington, with a home in Bradley Beach, Sam Edelston is blazing new trails when it comes to the fretted dulcimer, a string instrument related to the zither that’s played like a lap steel guitar. If you ask him, he’ll tell you his mission is to make the dulcimer as popular as the guitar in rock’n’roll. Joni Mitchell used to play it but Edelston, on his Making Waves debut, is the first artist to use it as a lead ax in a rock setting.

No one does Tom Waits like Eddie Skuller. Skuller, the Jersey City chameleon, has already transcended the Waits essence with his spot-on rendition of “Chocolate Jesus” and turned the Willie Dixon blues classic “Spoonful” into a reggae. Now he plans to sing the ballads of Tom Waits at the 503 Social Club on Third Street in Hoboken on May 16.

The free 2026 Spring Arts and Music Festival will take place on Washington Street between Observer Highway and Seventh Street May 17 (rain date: May 31) in Hoboken from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. with over 300 vendors and two stages of live music. Over 30,000 visitors are expected.

The free 2026 Spring Arts and Music Festival will take place on Washington Street between Observer Highway and Seventh Street May 17 (rain date: May 31) in Hoboken from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. with over 300 vendors and two stages of live music. Over 30,000 visitors are expected.

The annual family-friendly community event known as Ailey Day returns to the New Jersey Performing Arts Center downtown Newark for the 18^th time on April 11. The all-day event features free dance classes and performances. The Newark Public Library will host story-time with readings of children’s books including a biography of Alvin Ailey [1931-1989}, the legendary dancer, director, choreographer and activist.