The History of NEED

New England Entertainment Digest (NEED), initially an arts & entertainment monthly publication covering all of New England and New York and now a regional website, was established in 1979 by a gentleman named Paul Reale, passed along to another gentleman named Bob Taylor in the ‘80s, and in 1995 was purchased by JAC Publishing & Promotions. Since then, NEED has been enjoyed and utilized as a valuable resource throughout New England (& beyond) to a wide variety of readers including individuals, arts organizations, theatre companies, dance studios, and music halls, etc.  NEED caters to the arts community covering Professional, Regional, College, Community and Children's Theatre, all types of Dance and Music, as well as posting auditions and production listings, etc. We are here to provide as much information to as many people as we can with the resources we have. That's our job, and we're sticking to it!

The Staff

A family owned magazine, NEED utilizes a freelance staff to help cover events throughout our region.  The family and staff includes:

NEEDs Owner and Editor, JulieAnn Charest Govang, has been involved in theatre and the arts for about 35 years, which is only a drop in the bucket for some, but for a woman in her 40s, its a considerable amount of time. She has been seen onstage throughout Massachusetts, and has also enjoyed a very positive directing career.  She is using whatever resources she has to spread the wealth she's found in the arts to as many people as she can.  For JulieAnn, JAC Publishing and NEED have become a full-time hobby (along with full-time motherhood), which has hindered most of her onstage ventures.  However, if someone famous with lots of funding to do great things is reading this, please contact her about being your stage director, actress and/or vocalist.  She more than willing to make the time to be featured in future projects with you. Please don't hesitate to call or email her.  See JulieAnn's Resume! or download a copy of her Directing or Acting resume specifically.

Joe Charest retired after 32 years at MIT Lincoln Laboratory fully intending to travel, golf, play cards with his buddies, and relax at home during his senior years. Then, even before his social security kicked in, his daughter JulieAnn approached him with a possible business venture - publishing a monthly entertainment magazine. The rest, NEED we say, is history.   Primarily responsible for maintaining the subscription base and the accounting for JAC Publishing and NEED, Joe still has plenty of time to go to the casinos, golf and play cards with his friends (too much time if you ask JulieAnn). Care to know more about Joe?  email him!