State Theatre Presents Hub City Carnivale

New Brunswick's State Theatre is proud to present Hub City Carnivale, a three-week winter festival of the imagination at play, February 3-25, sponsored by PSE&G, with performances, movies, workshops, parties, games, and more, for families and kids ages 1 to 100.

State Theatre neighbors American Repertory Ballet, the Civic League of Greater New Brunswick George Street Playhouse, Crossroads Theatre Company, Plays in the Park, Rutgers - The State University, The Star-Ledger, and the Stress Factory are among the organizations involved.

Kicking off the festivities February 3rd is a 7pm Opening Block Party (free for all), preceding the 8pm performance of RAIN-The Beatles Experience.

Hub City Carnivale highlights include performances by Gladys Knight (2/14) and Bobby Vinton (2/15); a talk by Garrison Keillor (2/8); the family show, Break! The Urban Funk Spectacular (2/16); a one-week residency and performance by the innovative dance/movement group, STREB (2/17); the THEATER IN A DAY competition (2/10-11), which challenges theatrical writers, directors, and actors to create six original 10-minute plays and present them to an audience within the space of 24 hours; "Crazy College Knights," a series of events for college students such as Karaoke (2/23) and an Air Guitar competition (2/21); Cirque Éloize' off-Broadway show, Rain (2/23-25); Showtime at the Apollo on Tour (2/10); and a comedy open-mic/guest spot competition at the Stress Factory (2/7).

As part of Hub City Carnivale, President's Day will be Family Day at the State Theatre from 11am to 6pm. The featured event is Clifford the Big Red Dog LIVE! with performances at 1pm and 4pm. There will be a variety of workshops taking place throughout the day including two led by New Jersey's American Repertory Ballet-"Hand-in-Hand" (11am at Crossroads) and "Mini-Dance Power" (1pm at Crossroads)-and two led by George Street Playhouse-"Create-A-Story"(11am at George Street Playhouse) and a Theater Improvisation workshop (1pm at George Street Playhouse). At 11am and 4pm at Crossroads Theatre, American Repertory Ballet will perform Jump, Frog, Jump!, a dance show for kids from pre-school-2nd grade. In addition, throughout the day, there will be a mural project in the works-ANYONE can contribute to the mural by drawing, coloring, or painting.

Hub City Carnivale will include four 11pm Evening Movies at Crossroads Theatre including: A Hard Day's Night (2/3) following RAIN-The Beatles Experience earlier that evening; The Original Kings of Comedy (2/10); Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2/17); and Pee Wee's Big Adventure (2/24). Movie admission is just $5. Each movie will be preceded by a Happy Hour at Crossroads Theatre, free for all theater or movie ticket holders.

The State Theatre, in conjunction with Middlesex County's Plays-in-the-Park, will present THEATER IN A DAY. Beginning Saturday, February 10 at 7pm, THEATER IN A DAY culminates with an 8pm performance Sunday, February 11, at the State Theatre. The competition challenges theatrical writers, directors, and actors to create six original 10-minute plays and present them to an audience within the space of 24 hours. Those interested in participating should submit resumes via e-mail (gary@playsinthepark.com) or mail (11 Livingston Ave, New Brunswick, NJ 08901) before February 5.

Public Service Electric and Gas Company (PSE&G) is one of the largest combined electric and gas companies in the United States and is also New Jersey's oldest and largest publicly owned utility. PSE&G currently serves nearly three quarters of New Jersey's population in a 2,600 square-mile service areas. PSE&G serves 1.7 million gas customers and 2.1 million electric customers in more than 300 urban, suburban and rural communities, including New Jersey's six largest cities.

PSE&G is joined by additional sponsors, Magic 98.3, PNC Bank, Rutgers - The State University of New Jersey, and The Star-Ledger. -- www.statetheatrenj.org