Dance at nJPac Dazzles with Beauty and Boldness - ArtsFreePress
Dance at nJPac Dazzles with Beauty and Boldness - ArtsFreePress
Dance at nJPac Dazzles with Beauty and Boldness - ArtsFreePress
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The Enchanted Oz<br />
Women’s Associ<strong>at</strong>ion of NJPAC conjures<br />
Emerald City in Brick City<br />
Like another magical realm, Brigadoon,<br />
The Enchanted Oz appeared for a brief<br />
time—on the evening of October 5 <strong>at</strong><br />
NJPAC—but vanished <strong>at</strong> midnight,<br />
leaving a lingering promise of even better<br />
things to come.<br />
The wizards of the Women’s Associ<strong>at</strong>ion<br />
of NJPAC (WA) unveiled this themed<br />
setting for their 18 th annual Spotlight<br />
Gala 2013, <strong>at</strong>tended by more than a<br />
thous<strong>and</strong> celebrants who raised $1.8<br />
million for the Arts Center <strong>and</strong> its arts<br />
educ<strong>at</strong>ion programs. Heightening the<br />
excitement was the announcement th<strong>at</strong><br />
NJPAC would be the home of a new<br />
Brick City Jazz Orchestra, an 18-piece<br />
big b<strong>and</strong> composed of the most gifted<br />
high school jazz musicians in the Gre<strong>at</strong>er<br />
Newark area.<br />
Arriving guests were welcomed to a<br />
cocktail tent lavished <strong>with</strong> autumnal<br />
decor<strong>at</strong>ions <strong>and</strong> almost-too-prettyto-e<strong>at</strong><br />
hors d’oeuvres. Various spaces<br />
were transformed into swank dining<br />
rooms, from second-tier shadowboxes<br />
overlooking the twinkling lights of<br />
outdoor The<strong>at</strong>er Square below, to the<br />
stage of the Victoria The<strong>at</strong>er <strong>and</strong> inside<br />
NICO Kitchen + Bar.<br />
Gala Chairwoman Mikki Taylor,<br />
Editor <strong>at</strong> Large for Essence magazine,<br />
welcomed revelers to the Magical Voices<br />
performance in Prudential Hall, where<br />
she was joined <strong>at</strong> the podium by John<br />
Schreiber, President <strong>and</strong> CEO of NJPAC.<br />
Additional remarks were delivered<br />
by Robert H. Doherty <strong>and</strong> Philip R.<br />
Sellinger, Dinner Co-Chairs of the Gala.<br />
P<strong>at</strong>rick C. Dunican, Jr., Chairman <strong>and</strong> Managing<br />
Director (pictured <strong>with</strong> his wife Christina) <strong>and</strong><br />
Gibbons P.C. were honored for their corpor<strong>at</strong>e<br />
commitment to the arts.<br />
Musical moments reminiscent of Oz were<br />
sprinkled throughout the show, beginning<br />
<strong>with</strong> an energetic opening by NJPAC’s<br />
arts educ<strong>at</strong>ion students, who performed a<br />
mashup about magic <strong>and</strong> “Ease on Down<br />
the Road” from the musical The Wiz.<br />
“Home,” another selection from The<br />
Wiz, was sung by Ledisi as the closing<br />
number. In between were turns by The<br />
Four Freshmen, the a cappella marvels<br />
18 New Jersey Performing Arts Center December 2013
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