SOPAC Adds Six Shows to 2014 Schedule

The South Orange Performing Arts Center recently announced the addition of six new shows to its Spring performance schedule.

SOPAC, located at 1 SOPAC Way in South Orange, has been serving as a premier performing arts center in the region since 2006. 

"The Mavericks are back and ready for action, making their way across the nation to bring audiences a performance they won’t soon forget," SOPAC announced. "Eclectic singer-songwriter Suzanne Vega returns for a night of folk during a worldwide tour promotion of her new album." 

"Richard Thompson will be appearing for a second live performance due to massive popular demand. New Jersey natives The Smithereens are coming in June to rock the stage. Aladdin & Other Enchanting Tales will enchant audiences with tales of genies, princesses and wizards. Listen to Your Mother; North Jersey brings original tales of the beauty, the beast, and the celebration of mothers across the nation."

SOPAC also presents La Cinémathèque Film Club, a five-movie series exploring classic foreign films by renowned filmmakers. Educator, artist, and filmmaker Gerard Amsellem will provide an introduction and lead post-screening discussions. Films will be shown February 2, March 2, April 6, May 1, and June 8. Film Club Membership can be purchased for $55.

SUNDAY MARCH 16 AT 7:30 PM – RICHARD THOMPSON

Singer-songwriter

Tickets: $33 to $60

Richard Thompson is a critically acclaimed, prolific songwriter (Ivor Novello Award), recipient of BBC’s Lifetime Achievement Award and was named one of Rolling Stone’s Top 20 Guitarists of all time for his acoustic and electric virtuosity. Robert Plant, REM, Elvis Costello, Los Lobos, David Byrne, Del McCoury, Bonnie Raitt, and many others have recorded his work. Consistently extolled as a dazzling live performer, Thompson’s live-tour CD Dream Attic received a 2011 Grammy nod. Richard’s son Teddy Thompson opens the evening. Teddy recently released his fourth album Bella. Recorded in New York City and produced by David Kahne (Regina Spektor, Paul McCartney, The Strokes).

SATURDAY APRIL 12 AT 2 PM – ALADDIN & OTHER ENCHANTING TALES

Family Theatre

Tickets: $13 to $25

A giant genie, princesses, and wizards abound in the marvelous tales of Scheherazade, the storyteller heroine of Aladdin & Other Enchanting Tales. Join us on a fantastic journey brought to life with stunning costumes, puppets, illusion, and pantomime by the Enchantment Theatre Company. Scheherazade tells her tales to heal her Sultan and save his kingdom: Aladdin discovers a genie's lamp in a hidden cave; Sinbad sails to distant lands where he rescues an enchanted bird; the Kalandar Prince battles a fiery dragon. Through the magic of the stories the Sultan makes a journey of self-discovery, experiencing the kindness of strangers, the triumph of good over evil, and the power of a loving relationship to bring new possibilities. The Sultan becomes the hero of each tale, ultimately discovering his true capacity to forgive and to love.

WEDNESDAY MAY 7 AT 7:30 PM – SUZANNE VEGA

Singer-songwriter

Tickets: $34 to $50

Widely regarded as one of the most brilliant songwriters of her generation, Grammy Award-nominated Suzanne Vega emerged as a leading figure of the folk-music revival of the early 1980s when, accompanying herself on acoustic guitar, she sang what has been labeled contemporary folk or neo-folk songs of her own creation in Greenwich Village clubs. Since the release of her self-titled, critically acclaimed 1985 debut album, she has given sold-out concerts in many of the world best-known halls. In performances devoid of outward drama that never-the-less convey deep emotion, Vega sings in a distinctive, clear vibrato-less voice that has been described as “a cool, dry sandpaper-brushed near-whisper” and as “plaintive but disarmingly powerful.” Vega is best known for her hits “Tom’s Diner” and “Luka.”

SATURDAY MAY 10 AT 5 PM – LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER

Stage Readings, Theatre

Tickets: $15 to $25

Listen to Your Mother is a national series of original live readings by local writers on the beauty, the beast, and the barely-rested of motherhood, in celebration of Mother’s Day. SOPAC and Midtown Direct Rep are proud to sponsor Listen to Your Mother; North Jersey. The mission of Listen to Your Mother; North Jersey is to take the audience on a well-crafted journey that celebrates and validates mothering through giving a voice to motherhood (in all of its complexity, diversity, and humor) in the form of original readings performed live on-stage by their local New Jersey authors.

THURSDAY MAY 15 AT 7:30 PM – THE MAVERICKS

Country, Tex-mex, Americana

Tickets: $60 to $85

The Mavericks are back! The country-steeped garage band with a Cuban-American lead singer emerged from Miami in 1989 with their sultry debut that was equal parts innocence, intensity and vintage influences, has recently reunited after an eight-year hiatus. Time has a way of melting when you’re busy living life – and two decades have passed since their polyrhythmic brand of post-modern country has given the world “All You Ever Do Is Bring Me Down,” “Here Comes My Baby,” and “Dance The Night Away.”

SATURDAY JUNE 7 AT 8 PM – THE SMITHEREENS

Rock

Tickets: $33 to $60

The Smithereens are the seminal New Jersey rockers with irresistibly catchy hooks and rapturously fuzzed-out guitars. The group is best known for writing and playing catchy 1960s-influenced power pop that inspired countless alternative rockers including Kurt Cobain. The Smithereens gained popularity with 11, the album the spawned the hits “A Girl Like You,” “Blue Period,” and “Blood and Roses” which was featured in the 1986 action/thriller, Dangerously Close. More recently, The Smithereens were on tour with Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers and they also released 2011, their first album of new material in 12 years produced by Don Dixon.