Report To The Community 2021

the theaters and parking
lots, most notably the Hulu
drama Wu-Tang: An American
Saga, which lensed its
season two finale at the
Arts Center. The New Jersey
Symphony expanded its
series of performance films
recorded in Prudential Hall
with the production of projects
that featured two classical
superstars, violinist Joshua Bell
and soprano Renée Fleming.
Local artists took the stage
as well: In April, Newark’s
Mayor Ras Baraka made the
first of two 2021 appearances
when he was joined on the
Betty Wold Johnson stage by
Greater Newark performers
including violinist Bri Black,
vocalist Janetza Miranda,
and rapper Moruf Adewunmi
to film Welcome to Newark,
a “destination video” directed by
Amandla Baraka and produced
by the Greater Newark
Convention and Visitors Bureau.
“It was part of their vision that
those performances happen on
the Prudential Hall stage, and
that day had incredible energy,”
recalls Kitab Rollins, Director
of Performance and Broadcast
Rentals. “Everyone was excited —
it was such a happy, fun day.”
In May, NJPAC hosted its
first in-person events with
a public audience, a day of
graduations for Seton Hall
Law School. During a typical
spring, graduations fill the Arts
Center with beaming students,
proud parents and robed
professors. All graduations
are important events, but
this particular ceremony was
not just a celebration for the
graduates, but a milestone
for everyone involved.
For the first time in more than
a year, a ticketed audience
was ushered into Prudential
Hall, and NJPAC’s COVID-19
safety measures were put
into effect, with vaccinations
or a recent coronavirus test
required for admittance.
“That first graduation was so
emotional — for the graduates,
who in many cases had
graduated earlier and were
coming back to formally
receive their diplomas, or who
were graduating after an
entire year of being remote,”
Tranquada explains.
“It was also emotional for our
staff, our security team, the
cleaning crew, for ushers who
With a packed
schedule of
virtual programs,
NJPAC served as
a lifeline and
a source of
comfort and
inspiration to
its community,
its students and
to arts lovers
near and far.
were back to work for the
first time in 15 months. There
was such a sense of hope.”
A few weeks later, even more
staffers returned for the taping
of a series of high-profile events,
including virtual performances
that were part of NJPAC’s
City Verses jazz poetry initiative,
run in partnership with
Rutgers University-Newark,
and the finale of the 2020
Sarah Vaughan International
Jazz Vocal Competition,
filmed with only the judges
and finalists’ families present.
This annual celebration had
been postponed from its original
fall 2020 date, but the event
lost none of its power to move.
“Concerts are my happy place,”
says Katie Stein, Senior Manager
of Digital Marketing and
Content Strategy, “and when
one contestant started singing
a Sinatra number, I teared up —
just to be back in the theater
again, with music filling the hall.”
By this time, with state
requirements for audience
limits dropped, NJPAC was
already booking shows
for the fall season.
“It was a consistent slow burn,”
says Evan White, Assistant
Vice President of Programming,
who had been booking and
rescheduling shows throughout
the crisis. “We were in constant
communication with agents,
promoters and other halls.
We were booking into the
fall, then we decided to try
shows over the summer, too.”
By June 26, 2021, the show
went on again at NJPAC.
The first in-person performance
with an audience was
experimental, a comedy event
in the Victoria Theater, with
a masked, socially distanced
audience seated in family
“pods” to limit exposure to each
other. That performance, by
comedian Vic DiBitetto, was
a sell-out — which, given the
distancing, meant there were
about 100 people present.
By NJPAC’s usual standards,
it was a small event. But
for the audience and staff
present, it was a landmark.
“That was the loudest 100
people I’ve ever heard in
the Victoria Theater,” White
remembers. “The audience
was so generous — laughing,
clapping, cheering. For them
and for us, it was a first taste of
returning to live performances.”
Clockwise from top left: Hulu’s Wu-Tang: An American Saga,
filming at NJPAC; Mayor Ras Baraka taping Welcome to Newark
in Prudential Hall; last spring’s Seton Hall Law School graduation
ceremony; Finalist Hailey Brinnel performs at the 2020 Sarah
Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition; A masked audience
returning at last for live performances.
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njpac.org