Why the Westhampton Beach PAC's Fall Lineup Looks the Way It Does, and What a Bigger Theater Would Change

At the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center, the top ticket price comes close to predicting whether a show sells out. Executive Director Julienne Penza-Boone gave the Village Board the numbers on August 19. Shows with tickets topping out at $89 sell out about 95 percent of the time. Shows with a top price of $150 or more sell out about 32 percent of the time.

Those numbers explain more about the theater at 76 Main Street than any season brochure does. The late-fall calendar follows from them, and so does the PAC's plan to add roughly 8,900 square feet behind its 1932 facade. That plan is now with the village Planning Board.

The rest of 2026 on the main stage

Here are the remaining evening shows of the year, with ticket prices where the PAC's box office lists them. Prices are live and can change, so check them before you plan a night around one.

Two of the three are stand-up comics. The music booking, Daniel Lanois Trio, tops out at $64, well under the $89 line. Compare that with the October 17 show, Aida Cuevas, listed at $92 to $133. That top price was above the $89 level Penza-Boone described to the board, though still under $150.

This isn't the summer calendar either. The Monday Night at the Movies series runs only in July and August, and the PAC's film listings show no screenings over the coming year. Late fall is live stand-up and music, and the pricing above shows why.

Why 425 seats set the price ceiling

The theater seats 425. Penza-Boone told the Village Board that performer fees have risen sharply since the COVID-19 pandemic. When a fee goes up and the number of seats doesn't, the extra cost lands on each ticket, and the August numbers show what happens once tickets pass about $150.

In the same presentation, as 27east reported, she said the PAC was having a strong summer. Ticket sales were up even as sales fell nationally, many shows sold out, and some had waiting lists. The constraint is the number of seats. The audience is there.

A theater in that position books acts whose fees still work at prices people will pay, and that tends to mean comedy. Penza-Boone named that tradeoff herself, in remarks quoted by 27east:

"We really want to get back to presenting really big marquee names in music, not just comedy."

What the extra 8,900 square feet would add

The expansion is designed to spread a performer's fee across more ticket buyers. Here is what was presented to the board on August 19, according to 27east's account:

• Six new rows of fixed seats, about 110 more seats in all, plus a flexible area in front of the stage that can work as a dance floor, cabaret seating or stadium-style seating.
• Total capacity of about 645 to 695, depending on how that floor is set up, up from 425.
• A deeper, wider stage with more backstage and wing space.
• First-floor bathrooms. None of the theater's accessible bathrooms are on the first floor now.
• A third-floor enclosed bar and terrace in the current fly space, for donors, artists and private rentals. Penza-Boone stressed that it would not be a public bar.

The capacity numbers tie straight back to ticket prices. At 645 seats or more, a fee that now needs a $150 ticket could be covered at a lower price, and that lower range is where the August numbers show shows selling out. Penza-Boone also said the larger room would let the PAC go after bigger touring acts and marquee musicians it can't book now.

The stage work matters for audiences beyond the evening shows. Penza-Boone said the current stage doesn't have enough wing space for some larger touring productions. She said the bigger stage is especially important for the school-day program, which brings thousands of children to the theater and is sometimes their first live performance. That program is already running this season. Mr. C LIVE! World in Motion, for grades 3 through 8, is on the calendar for November 12, and its 12:30 p.m. show is listed as sold out.

The Main Street view would stay the same. Architect John Rose of John David Rose Architect in Southampton told the board, according to 27east, "The front of the building has to, and will stay, just as it is." The addition would go behind the theater, on land the PAC has owned since 2008. Four outbuildings would come down. The roofline wouldn't get any taller, and building coverage on the property would go from about 45.5 percent to 50.6 percent, with 26 percent green space kept.

Where the plan stands at Village Hall

The project was first presented at a Village Board work session on May 20, before any formal application was filed. The finished building would be larger than downtown zoning allows, so it needs a special permit from the village.

The money has come in faster than the approvals. In June, Governor Hochul's office announced capital funding for a project to expand the theater and its stagehouse, part of a round of grants to arts nonprofits. By the August 19 presentation, the PAC said it had secured $18 million of its $25 million goal. That includes a $6 million New York State Council on the Arts grant, the second-largest of the 132 awards in that cycle.

The village review has started:

1. September 24. At the Planning Board meeting, the PAC application was heard in a continued work session. Attorney James N. Hulme appeared for the theater. The board voted 3 to 0, with two members absent, to tell the Board of Trustees it had no objection to the Trustees serving as lead agency for the state environmental review, known as SEQRA.
2. October 8. The Planning Board agenda listed the PAC as a holdover, last reviewed September 24, with its public hearing date "TBD."

The village posts its agendas, minutes and meeting video online. A hearing date would show up there first, and anyone with an opinion on the plan can speak then. The PAC wants the work finished for the theater's 30th anniversary in July 2028. As of the August presentation, that schedule depended on the village approval process. Mayor Ralph Urban spoke in favor of the project at that meeting and, as 27east reported, called it "a terrific addition to the community."

The building's other calendar, and Main Street's

Some of the PAC's dates this season don't depend on ticket prices at all. On Friday, October 30, the theater hosts a blood drive from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Appointments are encouraged but not required. On Sunday, November 22, at 3 p.m., "Melodies & Memories" is a free showcase of student performers 65 and older, with no registration needed. Today, people coming to events like these use a building with no accessible bathroom on the first floor. The proposed addition would change that.

The rest of Main Street's season starts the Saturday after Thanksgiving. On November 28, the Greater Westhampton Chamber of Commerce holds its Christmas Tree & Menorah Lighting Celebration on the Village Green from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Santa arrives with a Westhampton Beach Fire Department parade of lights. That morning, the Chamber's Holiday and Winter Markets open at St. Mark's Episcopal Church, 40 Main Street. They run Saturdays through December 26, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., with handmade goods, jewelry, clothing, specialty foods, baked goods and a winter farmers market.

One week later, on December 5, Anthony Rodia closes out the PAC's 2026 main-stage calendar. It's the last show of the year booked under the 425-seat limit that a Planning Board hearing could start to change.

I keep an eye on Main Street year-round, including when that hearing date gets posted at Village Hall. If you're weighing how a project like this could change your corner of Westhampton Beach, or you'd just like to talk about the village after summer, Samantha Bisagni is glad to talk it through with you. Let's Connect.