Report To The Community 2021

a night
to
remember
Kelli O’Hara, Bobby McFerrin,
The Manhattan Transfer and
more celebrate NJPAC in the
second spotlight
gala broadcast
– Jay Lustig
NJPAC’s 2021 Spotlight Gala
@ Home began with the
Tony-winning Broadway star
Kelli O’Hara singing the soaring
ballad “Pure Imagination,”
from the 1971 film Willy Wonka
and the Chocolate Factory.
She chose that song for two
reasons, she explains.
“First of all, we turn to NJPAC
to experience the imagination
of performing artists and to
teach our kids how to use
their imaginations through the
power of the arts,” she says.
“But in the past year and a half,
NJPAC has had to use its own
imagination to come up with
new ways of keeping the arts
and arts education coming.”
One example of that kind
of innovation has been
the presentation of the
Spotlight Gala itself,
which is organized by
Women@NJPAC. A glittering
and much-anticipated
fundraising event held
annually for more than
25 years, the Gala was
obliged to go virtual in 2020
because of the pandemic.
And it remained virtual in
2021, with an hour-long show
titled Perfect Harmony that
was broadcast October 2 on
NJ PBS and streamed online.
O’Hara hosted in addition to
performing. She introduced
clips featuring jazz-pop
innovator Bobby McFerrin
and the masterful vocal
groups The Manhattan
Transfer, Take 6, Under the
Streetlamp (performing
a medley of hits by Frankie
Valli & The Four Seasons) and
Naturally 7. O’Hara’s second
vocal performance of the evening
was also the show-closer:
the inspirational “You’ll Never
Walk Alone,” from Rodgers &
Hammerstein’s Carousel.
Charles Lowery, Chairman and
CEO of Prudential Financial and
a member of NJPAC’s Board of
Directors, introduced a segment
featuring the recipients of NJPAC’s
2021 Founders Award, Toby and
Leon G. Cooperman and their
family. Philanthropists in areas
such as health and education
in addition to the arts, the
Coopermans have supported
many NJPAC programs and
initiatives, and their generous
founding gift will help launch
the Cooperman Family Arts
Broadway leading lady
and Spotlight Gala host
Kelli O’Hara onstage in
Prudential Hall
Despite the effects of the
pandemic, the 2021 Spotlight
Gala @ Home raised
more than $2.1 million,
making it one of NJPAC’s
most successful
Spotlight Galas ever
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njpac.org