4 • The Beacon November 18 , 2021
Kent Tusc ’ s PAC reaches into the community
Since its launch , the PAC has served as the home of the Tuscarawas Philharmonic along with hosting a variety of national and international touring performances .
By Ken McEntee
The ability to draw world-renowned acts like Jay Leno , B . B . King and Kenny Rogers to perform in New Philadelphia is just one benefit of having a modern , 1,089-seat performing arts center in town . But the real value of the Kent State University at Tuscarawas Performing Arts Center ( PAC ) may be the educational opportunities the center has made available to area students , suggested David Mitchell , general manager of the facility .
“ I am most proud and excited about the educational outreach we provide ,” Mitchell said , emphasizing that the center reaches around 10,000 students each year with some form of educational programming .
On Thursday , December 2 , Leno , the popular comedian and former Tonight Show host , will headline the celebration of the PAC ’ s 11th anniversary of service to Tuscarawas and surrounding counties . Leno originally was booked to perform at the center ’ s milestone 10th anniversary last year , but the event was cancelled because of the pandemic .
Unfortunately for those of you who have yet to score tickets , Leno ’ s performance and after-party quickly sold out . But there will be plenty of highlights in store for next year , Mitchell promised .
The PAC was conceived more than 11 years ago , Mitchell explained .
“ There was a discussion in the community about the need for such a facility on the university campus ,” he said . “ At the time , the conversation was about a 300- to 500-seat venue , but
Greg Andrews – the dean at the time – insisted on more than 1,000 seats to draw Broadway tours and other big events . People were shocked at first , but he was able to convince them about the larger facility , and , with the help of the community , they got it built .”
Since then , the PAC has served as the home of the Tuscarawas Philharmonic while hosting a variety of concerts and theater productions .
“ In addition , the center has become a community gathering place ,” Mitchell said . “ We play host to weddings , school proms , business meetings and expos . Many of our activities are related to the arts , but not always . We have a lot of things happening here all the time .” But the arts-education link , he said , has been an essential part of the PAC ’ s focus – whether programs bring students to the PAC or the PAC goes out to the students .
“ We do a lot of outreach where we take artists – sometimes those who are booked to perform here – out into the community schools ,” Mitchell said . “ Since I ’ ve been here in 2016 , we ’ ve taken artists out into 31 schools representing nine school districts and have connected artists with more than 9,500 students from elementary school to high school .”
As an example , he pointed out , in October , local high school students had the opportunity to meet , learn from and perform alongside the a cappella vocal group , The House Jacks , who gave a concert that evening .
“ With our Class Acts Series where students visit the PAC for a performance , for many of them it ’ s the first time that they ’ ve ever seen a live performance in a professional theater ,” Mitchell said . “ It ’ s really special to be able to give them that experience . Part of our goal is to remove the financial barriers that make that possible . We want to be accessible to everybody , so we offer performances for a dollar per ticket to school districts and homeschooled populations . We have to subsidize the cost , but we think this is important work that we need to do . If we weren ’ t doing these programs , they probably wouldn ’ t happen at all .”
Along with the education programs , Mitchell said he is proud to be able to bring headline acts and Broadway shows to the New Philadelphia area .
“ People would normally need to drive two hours to see some of the
“… we ’ ve taken artists out into 31 schools representing nine school districts and have connected artists with more than 9,500 students from elementary school to high school .
— David Mitchell , general manager
“ entertainment we bring here ,” Mitchell said . Among the upcoming performances are Grammy Award winners Ricky Skaggs and Richard Marx , and Summer – the Donna Summer Musical .
The PAC relies on donations , grants and sponsors – like AloNovus – to fund its educational programming .
You can view the schedule of upcoming events and learn more about the Kent State University Tuscawaras Performing Arts Center by visiting Kent . edu / tuscpac . The center is located at 330 University Drive NE , in New Philadelphia . You can call the PAC at 330-308-6400 .
Submitted In addition to headlining entertainment , the Kent State University at Tuscarawas Performing Arts Center ( PAC ) reaches around 10,000 students annually with some form of educational programming . These educational programs rely on donations , grants and sponsors for support .
BF-00526071