SOPAC looks beyond flooding from Ida

SOUTH ORANGE, NJ – The lobby of the South Orange Performing Arts Center was under 6 inches of water when the remnants of Hurricane Ida swept through South Orange and the rest of the Northeast on Wednesday, Sept. 1, shutting down the theater just as it was revving up to reopen after being closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The water ran into the theater on the first floor of the building and down the slope toward the stage, filling the orchestra pit.

“It came in at the loading dock and the back of the stage,” SOPAC Executive Director Dee Billia said in a phone interview with the News-Record on Monday, Dec. 6. “We cut about 2 feet out of the back and a little bit of the stage.”

The performing arts center was shut down and most performances were canceled; some have been relegated to the smaller upstairs space. The building, which is owned by the township, was cleaned out and remediated to prevent mold. Renovations have been going on ever since.

“The work is moving on,” Billia said. “We have a performance on Feb. 5, and I’m optimistic and hopeful that it will happen.”

Repainting and carpeting is happening now. Supply chain and shipping delays have slowed the work down. The next-biggest challenge has been rescheduling performers.
“If they’re on tour in the fall,” Billia said, “they might not be in the spring. Are they in your area? Can you afford them?”

A few smaller shows have taken place in the Loft, SOPAC’s upstairs performing space. On Thursday, Dec. 2, Temple Sharey Tefilo-Israel hosted a Hanukkah concert by Nefesh Mountain, so the performing arts center wouldn’t have to cancel the show. The annual gala was a hybrid event online and at Drew University.

“We’ve been able to keep functioning at a minimal level,” Billia said. “Just as we were beginning to open again, we got slammed with the flood. Nobody trains you for those things.”

The SOPAC staff said it is toying with the idea of offering livestream components to performances; there’s a chance of more flooding happening and the pandemic is far from over. Billia said they have the software and some knowledge about how to do it, thanks to the pandemic.

“It’s an idea we’re playing with,” she said. “We all thought, ‘COVID will be over soon with the vaccines,’ and then something else would happen. If people aren’t comfortable being around 400 people, I understand. But there’s nothing like a live performance. We don’t want to only stream, but it’s probably worth our while to try sometimes.”

On Feb. 5, bluegrass rap group Gangstagrass will open the renovated and water-free SOPAC. The Mark Gross Quartet follows the next day and, in March, performers include David Broza & Trio Havana, Edwin McCain and the Freddie Hendrix Quartet. Ukrainian quartet DakhaBrakha will be at SOPAC on April 2. The Milk Carton Kids are playing on April 9. In June, South Orange native Max Weinberg will return to play at SOPAC with his band, Jukebox. A full calendar of performances can be found at www.sopacnow.org/calendar.

“We’re excited to be back,” Billia said. “It’s so important that we’re a vital part of the South Orange and Maplewood community.”