“A cultural mainstay in Jersey City”
“One of the city’s best-loved annual events”
“One of Jersey City’s most anticipated events”
“A destination affair during Halloween weekend”
“An Amazing Spectacle”
October 24, 2026
you’re invited to the
7th Annual Zombie Opera
from
pandemic
to Endemic
The Zombie Opera is never going to die!
A 2020 pop-up performance is now a yearly staple, and Jersey City’s favorite extra day of Halloween. Entering its seventh year, our labor-of-love show has grown to a spectacular scale.
A look back at the 2025 Zombie Opera in Jersey City, NJ.
The First Zombie Opera
October 31, 2020
A humble Halloween celebration during the Covid-19 pandemic meant to provide free and socially-distanced entertainment to residents. Performances were split across two stoops on opposite sides of Jersey Avenue between 6th and 7th St.
Attendees : 1000 people
Singers : 5 opera singers
Crew : 3 (1 director, 1 makeup artist, 1 production designer)
Essential Volunteers : 7
Technical Details
Music : 2 speakers playing backing tracks
Set & Lights : 4 strings of lights, 2 clips lights, foam gravestones
Costumes : singers provided their own
October 25, 2025
The sixth Zombie Opera
Now a full-scale spectacle built around the gazebo in Hamilton Park, the sixth year of the show is 900% larger than the first. (We did the math but we will not show our work.)
Attendees : 4000+ people
Performers : 6 opera singers supported by a 16-member chorus, MCed by Jersey City’s Poet Laureate
Dancers : 24 dancers, 2 choreographers
Crew : 23+ (including 1 director, 1 art director, 3 hair and makeup artists, 1 set painter, 1 sewing assistant, 1 videographer, 2 photographers, 3 production coordinators, 1 graphic designer, 7 technicians, 1 lighting designer, 1 sound designer)
Essential Volunteers : 12+
Technical Details
Music : a 24 speaker sound system for an orchestra of 17 players and 1 conductor, with 1 DJ for before and after the show
Video (added in 2024) : Two 16ft LED video walls
Lights & Projections: a 24ft truss system rigged with 20 LED lights and HD projectors
A fully immersive Set, including a clamshell fit for a goddess
Costumes : 27 sewn costumes plus 1 lightning bolt
Photo Booth : large enough to fit a family of 4
Merchandise : 200 t-shirts sold (and counting!)
year one : 2020
year six : 2025
some things may have changed…
…but one thing remains the same:
We are committed to
keeping the Zombie Opera
a free & Accessible event
For the lifetime of the show
and it’s all because of
our community
You start putting out your picnic blankets and chairs at 7am and come back later in a costume. You know when the show will be before we even announce it. (The Saturday before Halloween, of course!) We see your love! And the feeling is mutual.
We love you, Jersey City.
It’s why we’re committed to returning year-after-year with a bigger and better show for the community we love and the community who loves the Zombie Opera.
And we’re especially committed to keeping the show free forever and accessible to all, ‘til death do us part, so much so..
..THat we’ve become
something more..
A “Beloved local arts institution” & Jersey City’s Newest Arts Nonprofit
Undead Arts was founded in January 2025 by the co-creators of Jersey City’s “indispensable” Zombie Opera, Catriona Rubenis-Stevens and Molly Dunn, and their Art Director, Katy Gardiner. Undead Arts aims to expand upon the success of their annual show by platforming underrepresented arts through magnetic community events and hands-on educational programming in and around Jersey City, NJ.
In the first year of operations, Undead Arts rapidly scaled from one signature event to three, in addition to quarterly popup concerts, the formation of our Jersey City Public Schools youth chorus Rising Voices, and an educational series performed across New Jersey, in collaboration with New Jersey Symphony.
Undead Arts founders Katy Gardiner, Catriona Rubenis-Stevens, and Molly Dunn at the Inaugural Halfway-to-Halloween Gala // April 11, 2025
The 2025 Zombie Opera
was made possible by:
the Jersey City Arts & Culture Trust Fund
//
Jim McGreevey for Mayor
//
deBanked
//
Corcoran Sawyer Smith
//
Team Francesco, a Christies Real Estate Group
//
SILVERMAN Buildings
//
#HealthierJC
//
James Solomon
//
White Star
//
Matthews Food & Drink
//
the Jersey City Arts & Culture Trust Fund // Jim McGreevey for Mayor // deBanked // Corcoran Sawyer Smith // Team Francesco, a Christies Real Estate Group // SILVERMAN Buildings // #HealthierJC // James Solomon // White Star // Matthews Food & Drink //
It truly takes a village to bring the Zombie Opera back bigger and better every year.
And every contribution, big or small, makes a difference.
The Merch Store
You love the show. Now show it off.
Highlights from 2025
///
Highlights from 2025 ///
