Report To The Community 2021

ack where
we belong
In 2021, after a year of virtual
expansion, NJPAC welcomed back
live artists, live audiences
and the joy of the performing arts
Two-time GRAMMY®-winning
jazz vocalist Gregory Porter
made a 2021 appearance as part
of the TD Jazz Series at NJPAC.
How does a performing
arts center thrive during
a global pandemic?
When the health crisis began
in 2020, NJPAC’s answer
was to pivot full-force
to virtual offerings that
encapsulated all aspects of
the Arts Center’s multipronged
mission: Entertainment,
education, civic discussions
and community-building.
With a packed schedule of
virtual programs — more than
500 presented over the course
of the pandemic — NJPAC
served as a lifeline and a source
of comfort and inspiration to
its community, its students and
to arts lovers near and far.
But the core of NJPAC’s
work has always been
live performances for live
audiences. In spring 2021, as
the pandemic started to retreat,
the Arts Center’s campus was
reactivated with more and
more events, and the return
of in-person performances
became not just a distant
hope, but an imminent reality.
“Once the vaccine was
available to anyone and case
numbers began to drop, we
felt we’d turned a corner,”
recalls John Schreiber, NJPAC’s
President and CEO. “I started
saying, to our staff, patrons and
supporters: We’re not out yet,
but we’re moving toward the
exit doors on this pandemic.”
As the weather warmed, a
spirit of excitement suffused
the campus. Virtual events
gave way to live broadcasts
from NJPAC’s stages, small
gatherings and, at last, live
in-person performances.
Restarting a robust schedule
of near-daily concerts was a
complicated job. Procedures
for ensuring the safety of
artists, patrons and staff had
to be established — and then
the real difficulties began.
“There were two competing
factors in our reopening,”
explains Warren Tranquada,
NJPAC’s Chief Operating
Officer. “One factor was:
Were we allowed to have
public events in our building?
For a long time, we were legally
limited to a small number
of people — but having 250
people in a hall built for 2,800
doesn’t make a lot of sense.”
“The other factor was: Is our
audience willing to come
back into the theater? It really
took until June for people
to start saying they were
willing to come indoors.”
Of course, NJPAC’s theaters
were not dark before June.
Television shows filmed in
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