Thank you Sam Joseph | South Orange Performing Arts Center

(Pictured: Sam Joseph (seated) with his realty team.)

SOPAC is thrilled to announce Sam Joseph, Luxury Collection Specialist at Prominent Properties Sotheby’s International Realty as the 2022 SOPAC Gala Title Sponsor.

For more than 25 years, Sam has worked as a realtor specializing in Essex County’s luxury market.

A longtime supporter of SOPAC, Sam was an advisor to SOPAC’s initial Interior Design Committee in 2006. Throughout the years, Sam and his husband Dan Arrighi (a former member of the SOPAC Board of Governors) have generously sponsored many SOPAC events.

Now, through the Sam Joseph Team’s new affiliation with Prominent Properties Sotheby’s International Realty, they will bring their unique brand of luxury real estate to the SOMA community.

“As a realtor, I am an ambassador for the greater SOMA area, and SOPAC is an invaluable part of creating a vibrant, inclusive, artistic hub in northern New Jersey,” says Joseph. “I am excited to support SOPAC at this year’s Gala, and to honor my longtime friend Paul Bartick.”

“Fostering community investment, engagement and entertainment is at the heart of SOPAC’s mission,” says Stephen Beaudoin, SOPAC Executive Director. “I look forward to stewarding this partnership with Sam and am greatly appreciative for this ongoing support of SOPAC.”

What to Expect at the 2022 SOPAC Gala

After guests arrive at Orange Lawn Tennis Club at 6PM and check in, they will enjoy live music by a trio of young musicians from the celebrated Jazz House Kids music program, hors d’oeuvres and a strolling dinner buffet. During this time, guests can participate in a 50/50 raffle and bid on silent auction items and experiences, which includes concert tickets, opera tickets, sports tickets and memorabilia, outdoor adventure packages, paintings and much more. The silent auction will close for bidding at exactly 8PM, at which time the honoree award presentation, entertainment and live auction bidding will begin.

Jeremy Dobrish, a member of the SOPAC Board of Governors will host the second portion of the evening, during which SOPAC will honor Paul Bartick for his longtime dedication to SOPAC as Chair of the Board of Governors from 2016 to 2022, and the South Orange/Maplewood Community Coalition on Race for their nationally recognized non-profit work building and maintaining a thriving, racially integrated suburban community.

Following, auctioneer CK Swett will facilitate the live auction, which includes exciting items and experiences such as a weeklong vacation at the Raspberry Cottage on Great Pond, Maine; a private house concert featuring SOPAC’s Executive Director Stephen Beaudoin; a dinner for four with South Orange Village President Sheena Collum and Maplewood Mayor Dean Dafis; and more.

There will be cabaret-style performances by Broadway and West End star and West Orange resident Mark Evans—famous for his roles in Mrs. Doubtfire, Waitress, The Play That Goes Wrong, The Book of Mormon, Wicked, and many others—and two-time winner of Amateur Night at The Apollo and Newark native, Alexis Morrast.

The Gala celebration will conclude with grab-and-go dessert.

SOPAC hopes you will participate in the evening’s celebrations either by attending the Gala or participating, remotely, in the silent auction.

Please direct all questions about the Gala or silent auction to Acting Director of Development Katelyn Fatzler at katelyn@sopacnow.org.