2021 Spotlight Gala @ Home Journal

spotlightgala@home
The Arts Center
welcomed in-person
audiences back in
Summer 2021. Rap
legend Rakim (left)
was among the artists
who drew joyful
crowds to the Horizon
Foundation Sounds of
the City outdoor concert
series. And comedian Vic
DiBitetto (far right) was
the first artist to appear,
post-pandemic, in front
of an in-person audience
in an NJPAC theater.
FROM NEW VIRTUAL VISTAS
TO FULL THEATERS
After a year and a half of exploring
digital programming, the Arts Center
reopens with a season of stars
For NJPAC and its audiences, the
future has never looked brighter.
In Fall 2021, the Arts Center will
welcome audiences back for a full,
in-person season of performances
of everything from jazz to doowop,
fado to R&B, with world-class artists
including Chaka Khan, Chris Botti,
Frankie Valli, Mariza and more
appearing on its stages.
This exciting season follows the
successful relaunch of the Horizon
Foundation Sounds of the City
outdoor concert series this summer.
These free concerts, a tradition
in Newark, were a chance for
the community to reunite and
remember how exciting watching
an artist perform in person can be.
Thousands greeted performers like
legendary rapper Rakim, reggae
fusion band Third World and Arts
Center favorite Felix Hernandez at
the weekly series.
The Arts Center’s reopening officially
kicked off on June 26, when
comedian Vic DiBitetto stepped
onto the Lizzie and Jonathan Tisch
Stage in the Victoria Theater in front
a packed, if socially-distanced,
house — the first performer to
appear before a live audience at
the Arts Center in 15 months.
This thrilling return to live
performance follows a year in which
NJPAC grew into a powerhouse
of digital content. The Arts Center
programmers began by producing
virtual events for NJPAC members
and ticket buyers almost as soon
as its theaters closed — and then
expanded its work into sharing that
programming with audiences and
organizations across the country.
Last Fall, when the Arts Center was
able to produce a full slate of jazz
content through the TD Bank Jazz
Series, it offered that content for
free to other organizations that
shared its mission of growing new
audiences for “America’s classical
music.” The Jazz Standard, one of
New York City’s largest jazz clubs,
as well as the State Theater in New
Brunswick, Montclair’s Jazz House
Kids, and the Cape May-based
Exit Zero Jazz Festival, all offered
NJPAC’s virtual programs.
During the 2020 holiday season,
NJPAC took its virtual programming
even further, launching its Hip
Hop Nutcracker on an extended
nationwide virtual tour. This
production, which marries
Tchaikovsky’s beloved holiday
music to athletic hip hop dance, has
been a staple of NJPAC’s December
programming. During the virtual
tour, a filmed version was presented
virtually by arts centers coast-tocoast,
including Lincoln Center,
The Kennedy Center, Miami’s Arsht
Center, Cleveland’s Playhouse
Square and the Los Angeles Music
Center. More than 200 scheduled
“streams” of the production were
shown in 74 markets over the course
of the tour, reaching more than
100,000 viewers.
The Arts Center’s social justice
programming, launched in response
to the murder of George Floyd,
included many online events that
resonated with audiences far and
wide. One example: A screening
of Good Trouble, a documentary
about Representative John Lewis
of Georgia, the Congressman
and activist, paired with a panel
discussion about his legacy was
shared virtually with more than
60 cultural organizations. More
than 12,000 viewers participated.
“This is now part of our
organizational mission, and one
that will only grow,” says David
Rodriguez, NJPAC’s Executive
Producer, who spearheaded the
Arts Center’s digital expansion.
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