Pacific Encore Performances
An Eye on the Future
By Vanessa M. Arico
www.pacificopera.org
Black-tie and informal concerts at Monmouth County private estates set the stage for an ongoing series of year round concerts enjoyed by Pacific Encore Performances’
In 1999, Weir discovered the renowned repertory company Pacific Encore Performances (PEP), while working in Australia in connection with a visual arts exchange program, and transplanted this unique company to the USA. Barry Henry, an international businessman and retired opera singer, started the company in Sydney in 1994. Made up of international singing actors, PEP has expanded beyond their initial slate of opera and operetta and now includes cabaret, musicals, show tunes, folk songs, pops, zarzuela, spirituals, and national songs – all performed in numerous dialects and languages.
Mary Weir, Monmouth County real estate entrepreneur, author, businesswoman and philanthropist started her career as an architectural designer specializing in restoration. She purchased and restored heritage homes, estates, and mansions and subsequently authored two books on her work. In 1980, she bought the deteriorating oceanfront hotel, Peninsula House in Sea Bright, New Jersey and retrofitted it with five restaurants and a magnificent Grand Ballroom. Under her expert management, it became a landmark on the Jersey Shore. In the late ‘80s, Mary was responsible for the pre-publication publicity for Lears magazine, one of the most successful launches in magazine history.
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