SOPAC Annouces New Executive Director Pick

He takes the helm March 1

The Board of Governors of the South Orange Performing Arts Center (SOPAC) today announced the appointment of Mark Packer as its new Executive Director. Packer will assume his official duties at SOPAC on March 1, 2013. From a release issued by SOPAC: “I’m thrilled to be joining the team at SOPAC,” says Packer. “It’s an honor to soon be at the helm of what has become the cultural center of the South Orange–Maplewood communities as well as a cultural beacon for the state of New Jersey. This marks a new chapter for SOPAC and I’m excited to be playing a role in it.” As the long-time Executive Director of Appel Farms Arts & Music Center, Packer expanded the center to a year-round performing arts organization offering a diverse array of …

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SOPAC Hosts Winter Rep, Music, Christopher O' Riley, John Waters

The January - February schedule is packed

SUN 1/13 @ 7:00PM – MIDTOWN DIRECT REP IN THE LOFT: IN THE BOOK OF Theatre Tickets: $15 Cover, Cash Bar, No Minimum   Join Midtown Direct Rep (MDR) in developing new and innovative American theatre.  Following on the heels of MDR's successful development of Rated P (for parenthood), a new program, “Midtown Direct Rep in the Loft,” aims to do the same for other previously unseen material. MDR will be presenting monthly readings or workshops of new plays and musicals one Sunday night a month at 7PM in the SOPAC loft. With a cash bar and post show discussions with the cast and creative team, MDR will foster a fun and collaborative environment to nurture the development of top notch theatre right here at home. Tonight’s program unveils IN THE …

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Last Day to Win Pairs of Free Tickets for Two Holiday Shows

Sign up for the Patch newsletter and email your name to win two pairs of free tickets to see a live staging of a 1940s-style radio performance of "It's a Wonderful Life" and two pairs of free tickets to "The Juilliard Jazz Ensemble Featuring Carla Cook."

Win SOPAC Tickets For Two Holiday Shows

Sign up for the Patch newsletter and email your name to win two pairs of free tickets to see a live staging of a 1940s-style radio performance of "It's a Wonderful Life" and two pairs of free tickets to "The Juilliard Jazz Ensemble Featuring Carla Cook."

Thanksgiving 2012 is history, as are Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday. Now, the holiday season is here. Everybody has his or her favorite holiday song, favorite holiday movie or favorite holiday show. To help you get in the holiday spirit, Patch and the South Orange Performing Arts Center (SOPAC) are offering Patch readers a chance to enjoy two holiday classics for free. We’re teaming up with SOPAC, located at 1 Trenchard Place in South Orange, and giving away two pairs of tickets to the winner’s choice of the 2 p.m. matinee or the 8 p.m. evening performance of “It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play” at SOPAC on Saturday, Dec. 8. Winners must specify which show is their preference in their entry. Presented by …

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Win SOPAC Tickets for Saturday's Night of Comedy

Sign up for the Patch newsletter and enter your name to win two free tickets to see local comedian Jessica Kirson and Friends at South Orange Performing Arts Center at 8 p.m.

The last several weeks here in North Jersey have been tough – a devastating storm followed by power outages, long gas lines, closed schools and damaged buildings. But local residents have persevered. Most towns have power restored, gas lines are winnowing and life is returning to normal. After what we’ve been through, we could all use a good laugh and the South Orange Performing Arts Center (SOPAC) and Patch have just elixir for what ails you. We’re teaming up with SOPAC, located at 1 Trenchard Place in South Orange, and giving away four pairs of tickets to a night of comedy at SOPAC featuring New York City’s top comedians on Saturday, Nov. 17, including South Orange comedian Jessica Kirson. Kirson will take the SOPAC stage with fellow …

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SOPAC Director Leaves, Millburn High School Falls From Top Perch in Essex News

The top headlines from around Essex County as brought to you from the Patch editors who know these towns best.

  Michael Bollinger is leaving his position as executive director of South Orange Performing Arts Center (SOPAC), effective immediately. His sudden departure, a decision he said was mutual, comes two years after Bollinger was appointed to the position. Bollinger’s interim replacement is SOPAC director of development Linda Onorevole. "The board has decided it was time for a change," SOPAC Director of Marketing and Communications Scott Sullivan told Patch. In this year's New Jersey Monthly Magazine's list of top public high schools, Millburn fell from its place at number one, for the first time since 2008, to number eight.  However, Superintendent Dr. James Crisfield, said, "it's an honor just to be in the top 10." According to school …

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Southside Johnny, Broadway Star Top Date Night Options

Southside and the Jukes, Audra McDonald and John Prine among the top performers for this weekend's live shows.

Wellmont Theatre, Montclair THIS WEEKEND  Friday — Folk-rock icon John Prine, with Kevin Gordon, 8 p.m.; Saturday — Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes, 8 p.m.; Sunday — Alison Krauss & Union Station, featuring Jerry Douglas NEXT WEEK: No shows BOOK IT NOW: Marilyn Manson and The Pretty Reckless, 8 p.m., Wednesday, May 2; Chicago, 8 p.m., Friday, May 4; Willie Nelson & Family, 8 p.m., Wednesday and Thursday, May 16, 17; Buddy Guy and Jonny Lang, 8 p.m., Saturday, June 9; Bonnie Raitt and Mavis Staples, 8 p.m., Tuesday, June 19. Check out wellmonttheatre.com for more shows.   New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Newark THIS WEEKEND: Friday night — Audra McDonald, one of Broadway's most talented leading ladies, performs a concert of the …

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SOPAC Showcases Grammy Winner Shelby Lynne

Shelby Lynne brings her eclectic songbook to the South Orange Performing Arts Center Wednesday.

"I like running my own label. Even if I'm the only artist on it. It's so much easier for me to be the one who makes decisions, than have a bunch of people who don't know anything about music, tell me what I should be doing. When you're on a major label, you're lucky if you can put out one disc a year. I know the kind of music I want to make. So it makes sense that I'm calling the shots." If you know anything about feisty and eclectic singer/songwriter, Shelby Lynne, these words, uttered with the faintest traces of an Alabama accent, don't come as a shock. Since her debut in 1989, Ms. Lynne has exhibited both the good manners and the "Don't Tread On Me!" spirit of her native South. Every time the record business has tried to bag her as, say…

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Malachy McCourt Comes to SOPAC Tonight

Irish-American Malachy McCourt will share his experiences through poetry, song and his outrageously hilarious stories.

Throughout his rollicking life, Malachy McCourt has held a multitude of careers, from dish washer, longshoreman, and pub keeper to actor, writer, radio and TV host, and candidate for governor!  He’s done everything he’s ever wanted to do in his life and encourages others to do the same. McCourt will share his experiences through poetry, song, and outrageously hilarious stories in his one-man show Loving Life and Laughing at Death at the South Orange Performing Arts Center (SOPAC) on Friday, March 9. Malachy McCourt was born in Brooklyn, NY, and from the age of three was raised in Limerick, Ireland.  A very undistinguished academic career plus the need to eat led him to leave school at the age of thirteen to begin work in Ireland and …

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Grammy Award Winner Pam Tillis Comes To SOPAC on March 10

Two-time Grammy Award winner Pam Tillis is coming to South Orange for a special acoustic performance at the South Orange Performing Arts Center (SOPAC) on Saturday, March 10 at 8 p.m.

Two-time Grammy Award winner Pam Tillis is coming to South Orange for a special acoustic performance at the South Orange Performing Arts Center (SOPAC) on Saturday, March 10 at 8 p.m. Tillis has had a very successful career thus far, winning two Grammys, three Country Music Association (CMA) awards and recently adding an International Bluegrass Music Association (IMBA) award to her impressive resume.  Tillis’ musical talents run in the family.  Her father, country star Mel Tillis, was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1997.  So growing up with him, Tillis always knew what she was going to be. “What I really saw myself as, from the earliest age, was a singer,” Tillis said on SOPAC’s Front Row Podcast show. At the age of 8, the…

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