Face Off: How New Brunswick’s arts leaders are reviving the performing arts
Writer: Mariana Hernández
August 2025 — From live performances to historical relics, the arts and culture scene in the United States, and New Jersey specifically, is a celebration of heritage and cultural diversity. With the FIFA World Cup finals and other relevant events coming together to wrap up 2025 and into 2026, including Broadway shows, concerts, and festivals, the Garden State is set to welcome 130.2 million visitors in 2026.
According to Art Pride, New Jersey is recognized as a national leader in supporting the arts, not only for its rich historic and cultural background, but also for the substantial economic growth it brings to the state. The Garden State has a diverse population and an outstanding proximity to major metropolitan centers, offering an expansive array of theaters, galleries, music festivals, and public art initiatives.
A great example of the art resurgence is New Brunswick, a dynamic hub for arts and entertainment in Central Jersey, which offers a broad list of cultural activities. Home to a mix of historic institutions and cutting-edge venues, the city is home to two major cultural drivers: the State Theatre New Jersey, led by President and CEO Sarah Chaplin, and the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center (NBPAC), under the leadership of Executive Director Merissa Buczny. Invest: recently spoke with them on how the arts can shape New Jersey’s future, not just as a form of entertainment, but as a tool for education, inclusion, and economic development.
What efforts are you undertaking to promote community programs to make performing arts accessible and engaging?
Merissa Buczny:
NBPAC provides access to the arts with the help of the New Brunswick Cultural Center, through a program called stART. This initiative is in partnership with coLAB Arts, American Repertory Ballet, Crossroads Theatre Company, George Street Playhouse, Rutgers University Mason Gross School of the Arts, State Theatre New Jersey, Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers Gardens, and Luna Stage. We welcome high school and now middle school students to a catered lunch or at a restaurant and an invitation to different performances at NBPAC, complemented by a pre- and post-discussion with an actor, director, or arts administrator connected with the performance or artistic experience. This experience has the strategic intention to expose arts-interested students to different artistic and cultural offerings, as well as introduce the students to different opportunities within the arts industry, on and off the stage, and behind the scenes. While this initiative historically was a $5.00 cost for the student, and now, since Covid, the fee has been waived and will continue to be waived, further eliminating any potential barriers and augmenting NBPAC and NBCC’s important mission to bring awareness, and most importantly, access to the arts.
Sarah Chaplin:
We believe that as an arts center at the heart of a downtown area, we have a responsibility to be an active part of that community. That requires understanding the community and making sure that we’re addressing as big of a segment as possible.
We recognized that there were some challenges within our immediate community as it related to finances in particular. We’ve developed programs that help alleviate some of those challenges for our patrons because attending the performing arts is beneficial to our mental health, and our well-being.
We wanted to make sure that we were sharing the power of the arts as far and as wide as we could. We developed some programs that helped us do that. One of those is called DiscoveryTix, which I’m particularly proud of. It is a program that provides low-cost tickets to individuals who receive assistance in some way, either SNAP, WIC, or Medicaid. Participants can see any show at the State Theatre for $10.
How does New Jersey’s theater and entertainment landscape stand out compared to the rest of the country?
Buczny: NBPAC’s backbone is its diverse array of programming. Hosting over 250 performances a year, we have become a key member of the regional arts ecosystem. As the home to four renowned Member Companies (American Repertory Ballet, Crossroads Theatre Company, George Street Playhouse, and Rutgers University Mason Gross School of the Arts), we have a strong patron base that activates the city on a nightly basis. In addition to providing two state-of-the-art theater facilities for these four resident companies, the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center (NBPAC) has also become a vital hub for other local theater organizations, hosting their annual festivals and offering a professional platform to previously underrepresented communities in the city’s cultural landscape. NBPAC is proud to work with Middlesex County’s Art Institute to sponsor or co-sponsor a wide range of community events, including the New Brunswick Heart Festival, the annual Kwanzaa Celebration, the Memorial Day Recognition Service, the annual Juneteenth Celebration, and Middlesex County’s FolkLIVE series—further demonstrating our commitment to diverse and inclusive programming.
Chaplin: New Jersey has an incredibly robust, diverse, and high-quality arts scene throughout the entire state. That, in part, has to do with our proximity to New York City and the fact that it is more economical to live here for those artists than in New York City.
There is a rich scene of artists in the area, and also a sophisticated and appreciative audience for the arts because it is a highly educated population. It’s education that helps give appreciation for the value and power of the arts.
There are so many amazing arts institutions that serve the communities they are in, enhance the communities they are in, and make it a valuable place for people to live because they value the arts.
New Brunswick itself happens to have many of those. I count State Theatre as one of those high-quality, amazing venues that bring a great deal of value, both economic and cultural, to our community. There are other states, certainly, that have that commitment to the arts, but I’ve worked in quite a few of them, and I can tell you that New Jersey is by far the most supportive of the arts in general than any state I’ve ever worked in.
What recent trends in the performing arts industry have influenced programming decisions to attract new audiences?
Buczny: NBPAC is always seeking new ways to attract new audiences through our vibrant and diverse programming. NBPAC co-hosts several programs with local businesses, including our latest initiative, “Culinary Conversations,” featuring interviews with nationally and internationally acclaimed chefs. Our goal is to continually flip the playbook and provide offerings that will appeal to current patrons as well as those who have never experienced our theaters before. NBPAC is also known as one of the most dynamic venues with the flexibility to host events from plays, dance performances, film screenings, corporate meetings, baby showers, weddings, and other social events.
Notably, the ongoing development of the HELIX NJ has already resulted in two Innovation Summits being held at NBPAC, introducing a fresh audience segment to our venue.
Additionally, we’ve hosted other events and receptions for groups that previously were not within our typical outreach scope. These events not only contribute financially but also broaden our community reach, laying the groundwork for sustained audience growth and new partnerships.
What are your key goals for the State Theatre in the next two to three years?
I think it’s important that all the arts organizations in New Jersey continue to look to serve their communities. Sometimes we can get a little into our echo chambers. Maybe you need to listen to the community a little bit more because maybe that’s not the show they’re looking for. With the changing audiences and their changing habits, we have to listen to what they’re telling us about what they want from us. We have an opportunity to continue to attract more people. We’re pleased with the level of attendance we have, but I would love to have more people attend the shows. The whole reason we do what we do is so people can sit in those seats and experience that unique, one moment in time, shared experience of whatever artist it is on that stage and whatever story they have to tell.
The priorities for State Theatre are to continue to do what we do to the best of our ability and to continue to fulfill the mission we have set for ourselves. Bringing the arts to the widest community that we can is the way we help make that community better. It is the way that we contribute to our community, and we look forward to making these artistic experiences better. We are looking for ways to grow. What does the next generation of performing arts centers or the performing arts look like? How do we morph from what we are now or what we have been to what’s next?
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