Bergen Performing Arts Center — Attraction in Englewood

Disappointing Experience at Bergen PAC – Poor Customer Service and Management

Today was the first and last time I’ll visit the Bergen Performing Arts Center (Bergen PAC). I have a three-year-old son, and since I’ve heard that Bergen PAC hosts various children’s shows, I thought it would be a fun experience for us. Everything went smoothly during the Sesame Street Live performance, but unfortunately, the experience turned into a nightmare at the end.

I've taken my toddler to other venues like Prudential Center, Barclays, and MetLife, and after every show, they offer photo opportunities with the characters. If there’s an additional fee, staff always make that clear, which I fully expect. At the end of this show, I asked a staff member about taking pictures with the characters, and whether a VIP pass or additional payment was required. He wasn’t sure, so I waited a few minutes to get clarification.

When I saw no obvious line for photos, I started walking out, and the same staff member called me back, saying they were starting the line. So, I returned with my son and stood in line. After waiting 30 minutes—being the last ones in line, by the way—the director , who had originally let us on the line, turned to me and said, “You can’t take a picture. I thought you had a lanyard. I could have sworn you had one.”

I was absolutely stunned. If he knew we needed a lanyard, why didn’t he tell us before we got in line? It’s not like we could have magically produced one, especially when no one had mentioned it up to that point. If this was a requirement, it should have been communicated when we were initially allowed to join the line. Instead, we waited for 30 minutes, only to be told we couldn’t take the picture. My toddler, who had been so excited, was heartbroken and started crying.

I tried to explain the situation to the director, asking him kindly to let my son take just one picture, since we had waited in line and were led to believe it was fine. But he rudely turned his back on us and said no. I then approached another director, a woman on stage, hoping she might be more understanding. Her response was even worse—she coldly told me to "get the kid out of here with all that crying."

Both directors were dismissive and unprofessional. Not once did they apologize for their mistake, and they showed no empathy for my upset child. If they had just admitted the confusion, apologized, and let my son take a picture, this would have been an entirely different review. But no, they chose to be rude and unhelpful.

At one point, the male director saw my son crying and suggested, “Elmo can at least wave at him,” then turned to me and smugly said, “At least I got him to wave.” That’s when I realized how truly insensitive and unprofessional the staff at Bergen PAC can be. Elmo was even waving as if he felt bad for my son, but the director stopped him from allowing my son to come up for a picture. It was heartless.

I’ve never experienced such poor customer service, especially from venue management. If the lanyard requirement had been communicated earlier, I would have happily purchased one or adjusted my expectations. Instead, I felt misled, disrespected, and treated poorly by the very people who should have ensured a positive experience for families.

I will not recommend Bergen PAC to anyone. Their management and customer service were completely unacceptable, and I will not be returning. It’s a shame that such a negative experience overshadowed what could have been a fun day for...

I have never been to your theater, or plan to go ever again I was at a show on Saturday May 4th, at 7p.m. The show was called Oh What A Night Of Doo Whop & Rock and Roll. The producer of the show was LAR Entertainment. Owned by Rob Albanese and his wife. I had a platinum seat in the 2nd row on the left. I watched the whole show with no problem. I was just wandering why I didn't see Rob. He usually comes on stage. I saw his wife Laura and said hello to her. After the show there is a meet and greet so I stood in the line with everyone else. Within 2 minutes a black security guard in uniform [ I'm saying black because I don't know if you have white guards] comes over to me and says I can't be in line and have to leave. We all thought it was a joke. I knew many of the people around me from other shows. This was no Joke. The guard in a uniform said The Management wants you to leave, I said I've never been here how would they know me. The guard said someone pointed you out. I said why and he didn't answer. Everyone was still in the theater and he walked behind me to the door. I am in my 70's and was parked 2 blocks away. It was very dark and raining and I was alone. Everyone one line saw this happen. How can you treat a paying customer like that. I wouldn't but a dog out in the rain. I called the theater and asked to speak to the Manager, the woman who answered said tell me what this is all about and I did. Does this happen often, she didn't seem that surprised. she said I'm sorry and that was the end off our phone call. I live almost 4 hours away and had to drive home in the rain shaking and crying and couldn't calm down. I was asked to leave your theater with not telling me why, and I don't know why till this day. There was another guard watching this whole thing, he had a tan cable knit sweater on and said you better leave. So I know they were working together. Getting back to Rob Albanese. He has done this before at other events. He was hiding. He has some kind of vendetta against me and I'm sure it was his idea. But these were your guards, they work for you. He books a lot of shows at your theater, I know how ruthless a person he is and two of the performers knew this was going to happen because I got the cold shoulder from them. I never heard from you, nothing for the way this was handled. It could have been your wife or daughter, what would you do. Never would I go there again. I hope these guards are fired, this is a horrible way to...

We went to see the Kenny G performance 11/18/21. Let me start by saying the performance was excellent, however as for the venue, eehh! It was our first time at Bergen PAC, probably our last. We unfortunately had balcony seat, so I cannot speak for orchestra seating. I am all of 5'4" and I have never had seating so uncomfortably tight. So much that not being to extend my feet forward at all made me and one of the people with me miserable. A little bit of basic comfort goes along way. My next complaint was the filming/picture taking policy. I don't know if this is typically a product of the the venue or of the performing artist, but there was no announcement regarding filming and no stopping of people from doing it. I was in a constant battle with the ladies in front of us; they constantly popped their hands in air, moving back and forth, taking pictures and filming, sending them and live streaming. It would have nice to be able to relax and enjoy the concert without constantly weaving to see the show. Finally, my last critique. One of the people in my party recently had a hip replacement, the other had a knee replacement. Of course, there is no elevator to the second floor. We were advised one will be put in when the theater is renovated. I'm not sure whether that ment we should leave and come back for the Kenny G after renovation performance, but it certainly didn't help for last night. I don't mean to sound like a whiner, but I have certain expectations when paying to see an event and this place fell short of them. Hopefully, they correct some these issue when they renovate, but I believe there's room to...