Perelman Performing Arts Center (PAC NYC) Announces Grand Opening Events and Additional Performances from Award Winning Artists Lachanze, Ben Platt & José Feliciano

PAC NYC Aerial 2. Photo by Iwan Baan.

Lobby Restaurant Named “Metropolis by Marcus Samuelsson” 

Ribbon Cutting Confirmed for September 13

Free Family and Community Events to be Offered Opening Month

Perelman Performing Arts Center (PAC NYC) Executive Director Khady Kamara and Artistic Director Bill Rauch announced today additional opening events and performances to celebrate the September 19 grand opening of the new performing arts center at the World Trade Center site in Lower Manhattan.

Opening this fall is “Metropolis by Marcus Samuelsson,” a contemporary American restaurant at the core of this new cultural anchor of Lower Manhattan. Designed by Rockwell Group, Metropolis will offer a warm and welcoming dining and lounge experience, including a bar and outdoor terrace, throughout PAC NYC’s lobby level. The menu draws inspiration from the diversity of the five boroughs defined by generations of immigrants and honors the convergence of cultures throughout the great city of New York.

The PAC NYC opening will also include three free events for the community: Open House: ArtsCommunity Day (Sept. 27), Open House: Neighborhood Day (Sept. 28) and Open House: Five BoroughFamily Day (Sept. 30).

Expanding on PAC NYC’s music program, a new series, Downtown Sessions, will present intimate concerts with Tony Award winning artists LaChanze (Oct 1), Ben Platt (Oct 7) and the previously announced Brian Stokes Mitchell (Oct. 5). Citi card members and PAC NYC members will have early access to tickets.

PAC NYC’s inaugural artistic season will begin with Refuge: A Concert Series to Welcome the World (Sept. 19-23), a five-evening, Pay-What-You-Wish event featuring a vibrant mix of acclaimed musicians from around the globe curated around the theme of refuge. Global star José Feliciano and Armo (bothSept 23) have recently joined the concert series that features artists such as Common, Laurie Anderson, Michelle Zauner, Shoshana Bean, Angélique Kidjo, Arturo O’Farrill & The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra and many more.

On September 13, 2023, PAC NYC will inaugurate the building during a ribbon cutting and civic dedication ceremony with Mike Bloomberg, chair of the Perelman Performing Arts Center board of directors, PAC NYC leadership, elected officials, artists and other invited guests.

Family & Lobby Programming

Additional programming, including family performances, programming collaborations and free performances in the lobby on the Vartan and Clare Gregorian Stage, will be announced in the coming months.

Tickets & PAC NYC Individual Memberships

PAC NYC tickets beginning at $39 and memberships starting at $10 are available now at PACNYC.org orby calling 212.266.3000. For more information or to learn how to support PAC NYC, visit PACNYC.org.

Starting July 25, PAC NYC members and Citi cardmembers can purchase tickets to the Downtown Sessions concerts with LaChanze and Ben Platt, through an exclusive presale. Tickets go on sale to the general public on July 28.

All performances are located at PAC NYC at 251 Fulton Street.

The public can sign up for important updates from PAC NYC at PACNYC.org/sign-up.

Citi is the official card and a proud sponsor of PAC NYC.

PAC NYC is grateful for the support of Bloomberg Philanthropies

Accessibility

PAC NYC is committed to providing an enjoyable and inclusive experience for all patrons and ensuring that all audiences have access to our programs and performances. PAC NYC meets or exceeds the standards set by the Americans with Disabilities Act. The ADA Entrance at PAC NYC is sponsored by Citi. For more information on accessibility, please visit PACNYC.org/accessibility.

PAC NYC

PAC NYC is a dynamic new home for the arts, serving audiences and the creative sector through flexible venues enabling the facility to embrace wide-ranging artistic programs. The inaugural year will feature commissions, world premieres, co-productions, and collaborative work across theater, dance, music, opera, film and more. The vision for PAC NYC began when then Mayor Mike Bloomberg and his team worked to ensure the plan for rebuilding the World Trade Center site included a performing arts center.

Named for businessman, philanthropist and benefactor Ronald O. Perelman, the Perelman Performing Arts Center is a 138-foot-tall, cube-shaped building with radically flexible capabilities designed by the architecture firm REX, led by founding principal Joshua Ramus. REX’s design, created in collaboration with executive architect Davis Brody Bond, theater consultant Charcoalblue and acoustician Threshold Acoustics, is conceived for an artistic program that will have vast and varied needs to serve New York’s extraordinarily diverse arts community. The building is wrapped in nearly 5,000 half-inch thick marble tiles which have been book matched to create a symmetrical pattern, that is identical on all four sides of the building. The marble façade allows light to radiate in during the day and glow out during the evening. David Rockwell and his architecture and design firm Rockwell Group designed the interior of the lobby and restaurant with a dynamic, glowing ceiling visible from the street to create an inviting entry experience. The lobby’s restaurant, Metropolis by Marcus Samuelsson, along with the bar and outdoor terrace, offers a new gathering space for the Lower Manhattan community.