This year’s State Theatre New Jersey Annual Benefit Gala honored NAI DiLeo-Bram & Co. and the DiLeo Family foundation, in addition to Middlesex County Administrator John Pulomena, while featuring headliner Jay Leno. Pictured with Leno (center) are (from left) NAIDB Principal and Business Manager Eric Bram Johnston, Lou Haszu, NAIDB Principal and Business Manager Rob DiLeo and NAIDB Managing Director and Principal Chris Galiano. — Photo by Jeffrey Auger Photography/Courtesy: State Theatre
By Joshua Burd
The DiLeo family took center stage last month as State Theatre New Jersey honored some of its longtime supporters while raising money for the arts, education and community engagement.
Those recognized at the venue’s Annual Benefit Gala in New Brunswick included NAI DiLeo-Bram & Co., the DiLeo Family Foundation and Middlesex County Administrator John Pulomena. Robert DiLeo, NAIDB co-founder and principal, accepted the Corporate Honoree Award on behalf of the Woodbridge-based real estate services firm and the foundation, following years of support that includes meaningful annual contributions to fund STNJ’s sensory-friendly programming and participating in the nonprofit’s recent transformative capital campaign.
The 1950s-inspired fundraising event, which featured headliner Jay Leno, was held at the historic theater in New Brunswick to benefit STNJ’s mission to provide educational and community engagement programs for children, families and underserved residents, according to a news release. Funds also support the continued excellence of STNJ’s world-class mainstage performances.
Built in 1921 and designed by renowned architect Thomas Lamb, the historic State Theatre has been a center of culture and arts since its earliest beginnings as a renovated silent-film palace through the 1960s, NAIDB noted in a news release. The facility became a nonprofit performing arts center and reopened in 1988, serving today as central New Jersey’s largest nonprofit arts destination.
