Live theater is alive and well in Bergen County.  No matter where you live from Ridgewood to Fort Lee or from Bergenfield to Mahwah, every Bergen County homeowner is within a 15 minute drive to a live local theater.

Teaneck has 2 major artistic entities - The Garage Theater Group and The Puffin Foundation.  The Garage Theater Group has been presenting live theater since 1993 and is located in the Fairleigh Dickinson University Becton Theater.  A strong focus of The Garage Theater Group is nurturing young actors.  Theater classes are offered for ages 6-18 during the school year plus there’s a summer camp.  Also offered are adult classes, individualized coaching and a dance class.

At the end of each play, the cast and director get together with the audience for an open forum discussion.  This is a uniquely special part of seeing a Garage Theater production and it’s a very enriching experience.  I’ve attended plays here which I’ve enjoyed tremendously.  It’s also quite inspiring to see how talented our young local actors are.

The next 2 productions are going to be a lot of fun and both are musicals:  Narnia from March 11-13 and Seussical from  June 3-12.  Tickets are affordable and I’m sure that both productions will sell out quickly.

If you own a Teaneck home, you’re only a hop, skip and a jump away but no matter where you live in Bergen County, the Garage Theater Group is conveniently located.  At the same time, The Garage Theater Group is a positive for Teaneck real estate.  Being able to tell Teaneck home buyers that we have live theater in town adds value to Teaneck homes.

 The Bergen Pac (Bergen Performing Arts Center), located right in downtown Englewood, is where you will enjoy live performances – everything from the New Jersey Symphony to international stars. PAC performances have included Ray Charles, Pink Floyd, Dionne Warwick, Natalie Cole, the Beach Boys and comedians Don Rickles, Bil Cosby and Wanda Sykes just to name a few.

Begen PAC is extremely popular – world class entertainment that’s easy to get to; you don’t have to drive to Manhattan and pay the exorbitant parking fees of NYC garages.  Plus it’s so convenient for a full night out. 

Many people take advantage of the many excellent restaurants in downtown Englewood and then take in the show at Bergen PAC.  When the weather allows, Englewood has a downtown that is filled with people during the evening enjoying dinners, cappucino or just walking up and down Palisade Avenue looking at all the shops.

Bergen County also has many local theater companies including the Garage Theater Group in residence at Fairleigh Dickinson University and very popular community theater groups such as the Bergen County Players and The Player\’s Guild of Leonia. We even have our own opera company - The New Jersey Association of Verismo Opera.  

There’s another performing arts center that you can take advantage of  as well; Ramapo College has the Berrie Center for the Performing Arts.  This theater is situated on a beautiful campus and is host to quite a variety of plays, concerts, lectures.  Located in the northern end of Bergen County, it’s convenient for both northern Bergen County residents and folks from Rockland County, NY, too.  

As you can see, theater and the performing arts are very important to people in Bergen County.