“I had a dream,” David Saint sang out for the first time on the stage of the Elizabeth Ross Johnson Theater. “And it’s finally coming true!”

Saint, artistic director of George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick, said everything’s coming up roses for both the theater company and New Jersey itself, with the creation of the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center providing a new destination in which to host and produce exciting artistic work.

“It’s finally happening because of a great public-private partnership between the city of New Brunswick, Mayor (James) Cahill, the county, the Middlesex County Freeholders, the state, Chris Paladino and New Brunswick Development Corp., and many others,” Saint said Tuesday during the first-ever backstage tour of the $172 million, 450,000-square-foot, 23-story NBPAC, currently under construction at the former site of George Street Playhouse and Crossroads Theatre Company.

“I can’t tell you how thrilling it is for me to stand here on this stage today, because it’s been a long time coming,” Saint said.