The brand-new New Brunswick Performing Arts Center will officially open this Thursday, Sept. 5, flinging open its doors to the public after years of planning and construction, and collaboration between Rutgers, Middlesex County and the city of New Brunswick.

The New Brunswick PAC, as it’s called, is located at 11 Livingston Avenue and already has shows booked through the end of 2019: American Repertory Ballet will perform there Sept. 20-22, Rutgers Theater Company presents “Sense & Sensibility” Oct. 4 – 12, the Rutgers Jewish Film Festival will be there Nov. 3 and “A Christmas Carol” will be performed there Dec. 5-15.

The New Brunswick PAC will also be the new performance home of George Street Playhouse, a Rutgers institution, American Repertory Ballet, Crossroads Theatre Company as well as the Middlesex County Arts Institute and Rutgers Mason Gross School of the Arts.

Its opening heralds a new and rapidly-expanding era for live entertainment and theater in Central New Jersey: The Avenel Performing Arts Center opened in Woodbridge this past April, and the New Jersey State Theatre, located just a few blocks away, has a booming lineup of shows, including comedian George Lopez Sept. 21, magician Jason Bishop Sept. 22, Tony Bennett Oct. 20 and Jay Leno in March.

Whew! Can Central New Jersey sustain all this culture? You betcha.