Review of Performing Arts Society of Western NJ

3 years ago

First The positives:

First The positives:

Probably the best arts center in Newark, NJ. It's possibly even the best arts center in the state, but that's just my opinion. It looks much smaller then it's appearance would let on. It's a three story theatre with a capacity for 3,352 occupants! This surprised me by how large it truly was. NJPAC is clean and modern with a ton of space and plenty of seating options for what price you are willing to pay.

They offer are food court complete with alcohol options. There are merchandise vendors, and sometimes these are expanded on depending of the related performance.

The design of the structure is simple and arguably modest as there is nothing elaborate about it. I rather like the simplicity.

I recommend people regularly check the website for their ever changing variety of programs offered each year. I've been to several live film performances (Star Wars with a live orchestra) and video game scores (Video Game Live) which are my preferences.

They do offer dance and stage theatre, though I haven't attended one yet. I've also seen bookings for Ted Talk and special celebrity performances such as the hosts for Myth Busters. Comedy acts and single man performances from big names like Steve Martin and Martin Short also pop up on occasion. It really is amazing knowing all this goes through here.

Now for the cons:

I wouldn't spend much on the food court. It's got the standard fare goods to buy at a slightly over priced value that you'd expect. Just nothing there that really stands out that makes you want to buy it. If you want to support NJPAC, by all means buy food and merchandise, everyone else have a good meal with friends or family instead.

The seats are great with one exception. If one person has restless leg syndrome in your row, you will feel it. It becomes annoying when you try to enjoy something and your entire seat vibrates irregularly for an hour or two. This happens even in the best seating.

Tickets are mostly bought online without a hassle. After a dozen visits I finally had one that would prove to be weird very weird experience. While waiting in line for one event, the staff was completely over run and confused. It was a mid December, Friday 3pm booking, and after waiting in a long line the staff started splitting us to speed up everything. So they pulled my group out when I we were close to the counter and set me in another line after showing my tickets. We were then 2 minutes later pulled by another staff member to a third line after seeing my tickets. Then minutes later again pulled out from that line and thrown to the back of the line we were originally in after showing our tickets again. By the time we got to the counter they told me I was in the wrong line, and was redirected to the entrance. I was then told that need my tickets exchanged, so I went back to my counter, I was told to go back to the entrance... The entrance redirected me back again to the counter. By this time I discovered that they had given my prebought seats to another group. Finally they fixed the issue and bumped up our seats to near front row. My two friends were phased off after 15 minutes of madness by the staff. I was alright and liked the upgraded seats. Still I felt like I was stuck in an airport at some point. I don't blame the staff, it was just a result of an unexpected volume of star wars fans appearing there.