NJTV Forum To Discuss Prevention and Education Efforts To Combat NJ’s Drug Crisis Live from Rutgers-Busch Campus this Wednesday at 6:30pm (NJTV - Public Media NJ Inc)

Bramnick on bipartisan proposal to cut Estate Tax, raise Gas Tax for Transportation Trust Fund (New Jersey Assembly Republicans)

Bramnick on possible solution to transportation funding riddle (New Jersey Assembly Republicans)

Clinton Wins N.J., Chips Away At Sanders' Credibility

O’Scanlon Outlines Three-Point Pension Payment Plan (New Jersey Assembly Republicans)

This week on NJTV: NJTV News business reports from NJCU, NJ Capitol Report gets a new look & more (NJTV - Public Media NJ Inc)

NJTV to broadcast business news segment from Jersey City university

11 awesome events in N.J. this weekend

Friday, June 3 at 8:00 PM"Terra Incognita"George Street PlayhouseSEE FULL EVENT DETAILSnj.com

SELENA GOMEZ: Pop mega-star Selena Gomez will bring her Revival Tour to the Prudential Center in Newark Thursday. Gomez is currently promoting her 2015 record, also titled "Revival," which features the singles "Good For You," "Same Old Love," "Hands to Myself," and "Kill 'Em with Kindness." The former Disney star seems to be moving toward a more mature sound. Opening up for Gomez will be the Joe Jonas-fronted DNCE, and Bea Miller. $45-$99. Thursday, 7:30 p.m. 25 Lafayette Street, Newark. 973-757-6600.

Thursday, June 2 at 7:30 PMSelena GomezPrudential CenterSEE FULL EVENT DETAILSnj.com

A WEEKEND WITH CHRIS HARDWICK: The king of the nerds, Chris Hardwick, brings his pop culture-centric sense of humor to Starland Ballroom and The Music Box at The Borgata this weekend. Hardwick is currently on his "ID10T" tour which is supporting his new comedy record "Funcomfortable." $39.50. Thursday June 2, 9:30 p.m. 570 Jernee Mill Road, Sayreville. 732-238-5500 | $35-$45. Friday June 3, 8 p.m. 1 Borgata Way, Atlantic City. 609-317-1000.

Thursday, June 2 at 9:30 PMChris HardwickStarland BallroomSEE FULL EVENT DETAILSnj.com

Friday, June 3 at 8:00 PMChris HardwickBorgata Hotel Casino and SpaSEE FULL EVENT DETAILSnj.com

"RENT" ALUM PERFORM AT OCEAN COUNTY COLLEGE: Fans of the Broadway musical "Rent" can see two of the show's original leading actors in concert this Friday at Ocean County College in Toms River. Adam Pascal, who portrayed Roger, and Daphne Rubin-Vega, who portrayed Mimi, will come together for a one-night only show at the school's Grunin Center for the Arts. The show will feature solo sets from each singer -- singing Broadway and classic rock tunes (Pascal also has a number of original songs as well). The show will conclude with "Roger and Mimi" reuniting on stage to sing the iconic "Rent" songs that made the show such a phenomenon. $30-$35. Friday, 8 p.m. 1 College Drive , Toms River. 732-255-0500

Friday, June 3 at 8:00 PMAdam Pascal and Daphne Rubin-VegaOcean County CollegeSEE FULL EVENT DETAILSnj.com

GREEK FESTIVAL BY THE BAY: Opa! The annual Greek Festival by the Bay in Perth Amboy, sponsored and hosted by Saint Demetrious Greek Orthodox Church, will bring the food, music, and spirit of the Greece to the waterfront. Lovers of Grecian cuisine can indulge themselves on souvlaki, gyros, spanakopita, and moussaka (baked eggplant). There will also be Greek wine and beer for those looking to imbibe. There will be traditional Greek music performed, and all comers can enter to win a trip to Greece. If you can't stay for the festival, you can actually pre-order food and pick it up Friday-Sunday. Free. Friday-Saturday 11 a.m. - 11 p.m., Sunday 12 - 7 p.m. 41-47 Wisteria Street and Sadowski Parkway, Perth Amboy. 732-826-4466.

Friday, June 3 at 11:00 AMGreek Festival by the BaySt. Demetrios Greek Orthodox ChurchSEE FULL EVENT DETAILSnj.com

MICHAEL ARNONE'S CRAWFISH FESTIVAL: The Big Easy comes to North Jersey for Michael Arnone's 27th Annual Crawfish Festival. What started out as a small crawfish boil in 1989 has exploded to a three-day music, food, and camping festival. There will be plenty to pig out on besides crawfish like shrimp and grits, crab remoulade, beignets, po boys, crawfish etoufee, and jambalaya. The legendary New Orleans outfit The Funk Meters (featuring  Art Neville and George Porter Jr.) will headline while Cowboy Mouth, From Good Homes, Bonerama, Marcia Ball, Big Sam's Funky Nation and others perform throughout the weekend. $40-$375. Friday-Sunday. Sussex County Fairgrounds, 37 Plains Road, Augusta.

Friday, June 3 at 5:00 PM27th Annual Crawfish FestSussex County FairgroundsSEE FULL EVENT DETAILSnj.com

SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE'S JAY PHAROAH IN NEW BRUNSWICK: With "Saturday Night Live" on summer break, Jay Pharaoh will hold a four-night, five-show stand at New Brunswick's Stress Factory from June 2-4. Pharaoh is best known for his amazing impressions of Jay-Z, Kanye, President Obama, and Stephen A. Smith. $31-$40. Thursday June 2, 7:30 p.m.; Friday June 3, 7:30 p.m. and 9:45 p.m.; Saturday June 4, 7:30 p.m. and 9:45 p.m. 90 Church Street, New Brunswick. 732-545-4242.

UFC 199 SCREENING AT WELLMONT THEATER: The Wellmont Theater concert venue will screen the UFC 199 pay-per-view headlined by Michael Bisping vs. Luke Rockhold for the UFC Middleweight Championship. The fight is a rematch from their encounter at a UFC Fight Night event in 2014. The show will also feature UFC Bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz taking on Urijah Faber. The event will be hosted by former MTV VJ Jesse Camp. There will be music from three tributes bands -- Rocket Queens (a Guns N' Roses tribute), the Metallica tribute act Damage Inc., and the Motorhead tribute Bomber. $20. Saturday, 6 pm. 5 Seymour Street, Montclair. 973-783-9500.

Thursday, June 2 at 7:30 PMJay PharaohStress Factory Comedy ClubSEE FULL EVENT DETAILSnj.com

ASBURY PARK PUNK ROCK FLEA MARKET AND NIGHT BAZAAR: Asbury Park will embrace savings and great finds this weekend. On Friday night, the Asbury Park Night Bazaar returns with an "Aloha Friday" theme. There will be crafters abounding throughout the Grand Arcade of Convention Hall as well as the usual food and drink specials at Oyster Bar, Beach Bar, and Anchor's Bend. The wrinkle to this week's event is the surf music theme which is curated by the Asbury Park Surf Music Festival. Surf rockers Bongo Surf and Black Flamingos will perform at Anchor's Bend while DJ's Vincent and Magdalena spin at The Beach Bar. DJ's Joe and Jenny will spin in the Grand Arcade. The event is free. 1300 Ocean Avenue, Asbury Park.

The Asbury Park Punk Rock Flea Market will commence at 10 a.m. Saturday for early birds, and 11 a.m. for the general public. A sea of vendors will sell records, clothing, books, memorabilia, food, and rarities inside Convention Hall. This summer there will not only be DJs spinning in the market, but there will be live bands performing upstairs in Convention Hall. There will also be a full bar open to the public. 1300 Ocean Avenue, Asbury Park.

Friday, June 3 at 5:00 PMAsbury Park Night BazaarAsbury Park Convention HallSEE FULL EVENT DETAILSnj.com

Bill Bodkin can be reached at bodkinwrites@gmail.com. Find NJ.com/Entertainment on Facebook.

NJTV and NJCU Announce Partnership on Weeknight Business News Segment to Broadcast from New Studio Space at NJCU School of Business (NJTV - Public Media NJ Inc)

Hillary Clinton speaks in Newark

A new play explores a real-life environmental battle in Teaneck

Friday, June 3 at 8:00 PM"Terra Incognita"George Street PlayhouseSEE FULL EVENT DETAILSnj.com

Jack and Welch tapped playwright and Princeton lecturer R.N. Sandberg, with whom they had both worked previously, to write a draft of the play. But the veteran scribe only had a month to put his first draft together.

Sanford not only wrote the play, but did investigative reporting of his own, interviewing the real-life people involved in the situation.

"Doing a project like this you're dealing with an issue within a community so it has more urgency," said Sandberg. "It's great when you're able see that there are existing issues and you can grapple with those, and then you can elicit a reaction from the audience."

"Bob took a look at this situation from a Kafka-esque point of view," said Jack. "He used "The Trial" as a template in some ways. It's about a person who gets get caught in an escalation of bureaucracy which keeps magnifying the problem."

The problems involved in "Terra Icognita" are not purely financial or bureaucratic -- they're emotional as well. The play examines how the mediation of the site impacts the main characters' relationship with their neighbors and each other.

Jack's creative fingerprints on the production can be seen in the color-blind casting of the lead performers. In the show, two African-American actors, Di Shawn Gandy and Kym Gomes, portray the Zigmunds, who are white.

"This is an everyman story," said Jack. "This happens to homeowners throughout the state irrespective of race or finances." 

Jack also wanted to represent a segment of New Jersey who, in his opinion, are being hit the hardest by all of this.

"It's clear in the full body of the journalism that many unmediated sites are in areas that predominantly Latino and African-American and often where the financial resources of that community are not that high."

The "everyman" theory is one that Jennifer Welch hopes will keep the audience in their seats for what she calls the "second act of the play."

"There's no intermission," said Welch. "We're going straight through, and when the lights come up we will go into the 'second act' -- which is a dialogue between the audience, and journalist, experts, and artists."

This audience talkback will feature Jack, Sandberg, Flanagan and Cole Goins, of the Center for Investigative Reporting. On Friday night, they will also be joined by Eliot & Anna Zigmund, the homeowners who were the main sources in NJTV's story.

Welch's theory behind no intermission ties into her thoughts on theater, particularly the productions done by StoryWorks for the Center for Investigative Reporting.

"In theater we're all together, it's a collective witnessing," said Welch. "We have no intermission because we do not want people to disengage emotionally from what they've seen. We want them to discuss about what can be done next."

Bill Bodkin can be reached at bodkinwrites@gmail.com. Find NJ.com/Entertainment on Facebook.

George Street Playhouse & The Center for Investigative Reporting present StoryWorks: Terra Incognita Inspired by the NJTV News with Mary Alice Williams, Investigative reporting series “Toxic NJ” (NJTV - Public Media NJ Inc)

NASA data shows last month was hottest April on record