Mandy Patinkin Performs in DRESS CASUAL at SOPAC Tonight

Celebrating its 7th consecutive season, SOPAC hosts a one-night only benefit concert with Broadway's master songman, Mandy Patinkin, tonight, June 22nd at 8pm. Accompanied by Paul Ford on piano, Patinkin brings his critically acclaimed theatre concert titled "Dress Casual".

Hundreds of community residents, leaders and businesses will attend to support SOPAC at what is the most anticipated event of the 2012-13 Season. "As we're about to embark on an exhilarating summer ahead, we pause to celebrate this past season and all the local supporters who helped make it possible," says Mark Packer, Executive Director, SOPAC. "We're thrilled to be welcoming a legend of the stage, Mandy Patinkin, to our very own SOPAC stage!"

Tony and Emmy Award-winner Mandy Patinkin has an extensive list of theatre credits that include Broadway, Off-Broadway and regional theater. He won a Tony Award for his 1980 Broadway debut as Che in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Evita and was again nominated in 1984 for his starring role in the Pulitzer Prize winning musical Sunday in the Park With George. He returned to Broadway in the Tony Award-winning musical The Secret Garden (1991), appeared as Marvin in Falsettos (1992) and in 1997 played a sold-out engagement of his one-man concert,Mandy Patinkin in Concert, with all profits benefiting five charitable organizations. Mandy's other solo concerts, Celebrating Sondheim andMamaloshen have been presented on Broadway, Off-Broadway and have toured the United States. His other stage credits include The Wild Party (Tony and Drama Desk nominations), The Winter's Tale, The Knife (Drama Desk nomination), Leave it to Beaver is Dead, Rebel Women, Hamlet, Trelawney of the 'Wells," The Shadow Box and Henry IV, Part I.

Mandy won a 1995 Emmy Award for his critically acclaimed performance in the CBS series "Chicago Hope," and recently starred in the CBS series "Criminal Minds" as FBI profiler Jason Gideon and in the Showtime Original Series "Dead Like Me" as the reaper Rube Sofer. Mandy begins a third season as CIA Division Chief Saul Berenson in the Emmy Award-winning Showtime Original Series "Homeland".

Mandy's live performances have received wide critical acclaim. Pamela Sommers of the Washington Post wrote, "The most arresting thing about Patinkin is the conversational, often impassioned quality of his singing...you find yourself listening like you've never listened before." Clive Barnes of the New York Post called Mandy "the greatest entertainer on Broadway today - period." In the New York Daily News, Howard Kissel called his performance, "the most exciting time I've had in the theatre in ages. He could single-handedly revive the American musical theatre." And the London Evening Standard called him, "a master entertainer of a type once thought to be extinct."

Paul Ford was the original pianist for the Broadway productions of Stephen Sondheim's Passion, Into the Woods, Sunday in the Park with George, the Off-Broadway production of Assassins, and most recently the revival of Pacific Overtures and the Tony award winning revival ofAssassins. His other Broadway credits include Curtains, 110 in the Shade (revival), Tom Sawyer, High Society, The Rink, Rags, A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine, The Secret Garden and Falsettos. Mr. Ford was the pianist for a number of concerts under the baton of Paul Gemignani including: the acclaimed Follies concert at Lincoln Center; the Carnegie Hall concert performances of A Sondheim Tribute,Anyone Can Whistle and South Pacific with Reba McEntire; A Little Night Music with the Philadelphia Symphony; Gypsy with Patti LuPone and the Chicago Symphony; and episodes of PBS' "My Favorite Broadway." He accompanied Mandy in Mandy Patinkin: Dress Casual at The Public Theater and on Broadway, both the Broadway and Off-Broadway engagements of Mamaloshen, and continues to work with him on all of his recordings and national/international tours.

Since 2006, SOPAC has been serving as a premier performing arts center in the region. SOPAC offers innovative artistic and cultural experiences for diverse audiences in an intimate, inviting environment. The multidisciplinary arts center hosts a variety of live performances, community events and education programs for all ages. To further expand its offerings, SOPAC has a partnership with the Juilliard School of Music to present Juilliard @ SOPAC-a series featuring upcoming musicians from the acclaimed conservatory. SOPAC is home for Seton Hall University Arts Council's performances, including Classical Concert Series, Jazz N' the Hall performances and Seton Hall Theatre productions. SOPAC also presents performances by its theater company in residence, Midtown Direct Rep, and its Dance Company in residence, Lydia Johnson Dance. For more information, visit SOPACnow.org.