SOPAC's Seton Hall Nights Are Free at the Door. This November Brings an Opera and a Jazz Orchestra.
On a Seton Hall night at SOPAC, buying early costs you. A seat reserved online runs $5. Pick up the same seat at the box office at One SOPAC Way on the day of the show and you pay nothing. Seton Hall's Arts Council states the rule on its Classical Concert Series page:
"Admission to all Arts Council events at SOPAC is free day-of ($5 in advance online)"
The people most likely to stop at the box office on a Wednesday afternoon live close enough to walk there. This November the policy covers two Wednesday nights: a grand opera on November 11 and a big-band veterans tribute on November 18.
The timing helps. South Orange Downtown ran its Wednesday farmers market from 1 to 6 p.m. through October 28, so Wednesdays in the village are open again for something else.
How the day-of ticket actually works
The Arts Council runs Seton Hall's Classical Concert Series, its choral ensembles, Jazz 'n the Hall, Seton Hall Theatre and selected Walsh Gallery exhibitions. When SOPAC and Seton Hall announced their current programming, SOPAC called the arrangement a "historic partnership" that pairs professionals with students across jazz, classical and theater. The free day-of rule is what makes that partnership matter to a neighbor.
The rule depends on box office hours. SOPAC's box office is open Tuesday through Friday from 3 to 6 p.m., and again two hours before each performance. The phone line, 973-313-2787, is staffed during those same hours. Both November shows fall on a Wednesday, so the window opens at 3 p.m. on show day. If you can reach One SOPAC Way that afternoon, or in the two hours before curtain, your seat is free.
The series just ran this way for Seton Hall Theatre's Twelfth Night, which played SOPAC from October 29 through a November 1 matinee with the same "$5 online, free at the box office the day of" wording on its event page.
There's one mismatch on the jazz side. Seton Hall's Jazz 'n the Hall series page still shows a general price list: $25 regular, $15 for seniors and alumni, and $8 for SHU employees and non-SHU students with ID. The SOPAC event page for the November 18 concert gives the $5 online, free day-of wording instead. That event page is the ticketing record for the night. Seton Hall students with an SHU ID get into both series free.
The two Wednesdays, side by side
| Norma | The Analog Jazz Orchestra | |
|---|---|---|
| Date | Wednesday, Nov. 11 | Wednesday, Nov. 18 |
| Curtain | 6 p.m. | 7:30 p.m. |
| Series | SHU Classical Concert Series | SHU Jazz 'n the Hall |
| Box office on the day | Free | Free |
| Reserved online in advance | $5 | $5 |
| SOPAC/NJ Transit lot at curtain | Metered hours end at 6 p.m. | No meter charge after 6 p.m. |
Parking is what makes the earlier curtain cheap. SOPAC's Getting Here page lists the adjacent SOPAC/NJ Transit lot at $1 an hour from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays, capped at $5, and free all day Saturday and Sunday. If you pull in at 5 p.m. for Norma, you pay for one metered hour. For the jazz night, the meter has stopped before you arrive. Parking Lot #3 has EV charging at $1 an hour, accessible parking is in the SOPAC/NJ Transit lot, and SOPAC asks visitors to stay out of the Private Gravel Lot.
November 11: a grand opera on a Wednesday at 6
This is a full-scale production, with nothing student-sized about it. The Norma event page says the Seton Hall Classical Concert Series and the Alberto Italian Studies Institute are presenting MidAtlantic Artistic Productions in Bellini's Norma. It's a concert version with scenic projections, conducted by Professor Jason Tramm, with the Seton Hall University Chorus and the MidAtlantic Philharmonic Orchestra. SOPAC lists the cast as Amy Shoremount-Obra as Norma, Laura Zahn as Adalgisa, Nathan Schafer as Pollione and Henry Kim as Oroveso. The collaboration is in its 13th year of bringing grand opera to this stage, and this production plays one night only.
The 6 p.m. curtain changes how you plan the evening. Most dinner reservations in the village start after curtain time, so the meal either comes early and short or after the final scene. One version of the evening:
- From 3 p.m.: Stop at the box office at One SOPAC Way and pick up free tickets.
- Around 4:30 p.m.: Walk to Papillon 25 at 25 Valley Street, where happy hour runs daily from 2 to 6 p.m.
- 6 p.m.: Curtain.
- After the final bows: Dinner at Bistro d'Azur on Academy Street or Felina Steak South Orange on South Orange Avenue, both of which list Wednesday hours running to 10 p.m.
November 18: a gallery talk, then a big band
The second Wednesday has a later curtain, which leaves time for an early stop on the Seton Hall campus.
The Analog Jazz Orchestra is a group of veterans of the United States Army Jazz Band led by saxophonist Geoff Vidal. Its SOPAC program is a tribute to veterans, with standards and patriotic tunes, the week after Veterans Day.
Two hours earlier, Seton Hall's Walsh Gallery has a talk tied to its current exhibition, The Art of Community: The Wang Fangyu Collection of Asian Art, which runs through December 11. Shao Wang is scheduled to discuss his father's work and collection from 5 to 6 p.m. on November 18. The talk is listed on the university events calendar, so check there for any registration requirement before you go. The gallery is on the first floor of Walsh Library, open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. during the academic year. If you drive onto campus, Seton Hall's visitor parking rules call for a one-day permit from the booth at the Farinella Gate or the Ward Place Gate. The permit expires at 11:59 p.m.
That leaves about 90 minutes between the end of the talk and the downbeat at SOPAC. That's enough time to get your free tickets, since the box office opens again at 5:30 p.m., and to eat dinner on the way.
Where a Wednesday pre-show dinner actually works
Many village kitchens keep shorter hours early in the week, so for a Wednesday show it matters which ones are open. These are the confirmed options within walking distance of the box office:
- Bistro d'Azur, 14 Academy Street. French-Mediterranean, with a Southern French base. Open Wednesday through Sunday, 4 to 10 p.m.
- Felina Steak South Orange, 101 South Orange Avenue, at the historic Village Hall address. An Italian-American steakhouse serving dinner Wednesday through Sunday, 5 to 10 p.m.
- Papillon 25, 25 Valley Street. Modern American food and a martini bar, in business since 2003, with happy hour every day from 2 to 6 p.m.
SOPAC's Area Dining page lists a 10% savings at Bistro d'Azur and Papillon 25, plus 10% Tuesday through Thursday at Giorgio's Ristorante, 52 Vose Avenue. These discounts come through SOPAC's Local Business Network and apply to current SOPAC members with a valid member ID, not to anyone holding a ticket. If you're a member, the Giorgio's discount covers both of these Wednesday shows.
The rest of SOPAC's November calendar is sold the usual way. Kent Place School's Mamma Mia! runs November 6 and 7, The Last Waltz Celebration is November 15, and Remember Jones's Amy Winehouse celebration closes out the run on November 20. The two Seton Hall Wednesdays are the nights when the cheapest seat goes to whoever can get to the box office that afternoon.
At NJ From A to Z, we track South Orange the way neighbors use it, from which nights at One SOPAC Way are free to which kitchens are open on a Wednesday. If you'd like to know which streets put the box office, the train and Valley Street within an easy walk, start with a Free Local Market Consultation and we'll walk you through it block by block.
