At the Sugar Loaf Performing Arts Center, most of November's nights go to tribute bands and touring headliners, and two December weekends go to The Nutcracker and Annie. Orange County is still working out the rental pricing behind that split.
This holiday season comes about a year after the County became owner of the building at 231 Creamery Pond Road. At a May 26, 2026 meeting of the Legislature's Physical Services Committee, recorded in the committee minutes, Parks officials said the County bought the center "in November" and that the Parks Department has managed it ever since. At that same meeting, the County said out loud that it is still balancing the big shows that bring in rental money against the local shows that need the stage. The Sugar Loaf PAC show calendar for the rest of 2026 shows that balance in action.
The Season on Two Tracks
Lay the dates from Oct. 24 through December in a row and they split into two groups. One group is touring tribute and headliner nights, mostly single 8 p.m. shows. The other is productions built locally by the Sugar Loaf Arts Collective and its partners, which run several performances over a weekend.
| Date | Show | Track | Listed tickets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct. 24, 8 p.m. | Bat Out Of Helloween: Celebrating Meat Loaf | Touring tribute | Not listed |
| Oct. 31, 11 a.m.–1 p.m. | Town of Chester Trunk or Treat, PAC lawn | Community | Not listed |
| Nov. 6, 8 p.m. | Rumours: The Ultimate Fleetwood Mac Tribute Show | Touring tribute | $35–$79 |
| Nov. 8, 8 p.m. | The Sweet Caroline Tour Featuring Jay White: A Neil Diamond Experience | Touring tribute | $35–$79 |
| Nov. 13–15 | Green Day's American Idiot | Multi-night production | $41 GA, $51 VIP |
| Nov. 18, 2 p.m. | Lunch & A Show – Country Jamboree | Matinee | $65 with lunch |
| Nov. 20, 8 p.m. | Echoes Of Pompeii: A Tribute To Pink Floyd | Touring tribute | $35–$79 |
| Nov. 21, 8 p.m. | Matt Fraser | Touring headliner | $60–$214 |
| Dec. 4–6 | The Nutcracker | Sugar Loaf Arts Collective | $35–$55 |
| Dec. 10, 8 p.m. | Twelve Twenty-Four Band | Touring | $35–$79 |
| Dec. 12, 7 p.m. | The One Funny Lisa Marie Holiday Show and Ugly Sweater Party | Holiday comedy | $35 GA, $55 VIP |
| Dec. 12, 8 p.m. | American Elton Christmas | Touring tribute | $30–$59 |
| Dec. 18–20 | Annie | Sugar Loaf Arts Collective and partners | $35–$79 |
The table shows the gap in scale. Matt Fraser's top seat is listed at $214. A ticket in Annie's back rows costs $45, and seats in the rear balcony section are listed at $35. Seven of the evening slots are single touring nights. The weekends after Thanksgiving go to the two productions put together close to home.
Tickets are sold through Diamond Grade Tix, which is linked from the PAC site, and the box office is open Wednesday through Friday, 1 to 5 p.m.
December Weekends Go to the Shows Built in the Valley
The model for those December weekends was The Addams Family, which played Oct. 16 through 18. The Warwick Advertiser reported that the cast had three Broadway guest artists in the leads: Sara Gettelfinger as Morticia, Jeff Skowron as Gomez and Robert Anthony Jones as Uncle Fester. Every supporting lead was hired locally after auditions that drew a record turnout. According to the same report, it was the largest production Core Theatre Group had staged so far, with a cast of 30 and a 12-piece orchestra. It was built "from the floor up and scaled to the Sugar Loaf stage" instead of arriving as a touring package.
Annie uses the same partnership. Its ticket page lists the Sugar Loaf Arts Collective as producer, working with Core Theatre Company, Greenwood Lake Theater Company, the Warwick Center for the Performing Arts and Diamond Grade Media. It describes a cast of professional artists and "talented young performers from throughout our community," along with a live orchestra. The Nutcracker on Dec. 4 through 6 is also presented by the Sugar Loaf Arts Collective.
These two shows have a deadline. The ticket pages for both Annie and The Nutcracker say prices go up $5 on Nov. 30. A family of four buying Annie seats in rows E through M pays $220 before that date and $240 after it. Annie runs four performances: Friday, Dec. 18 at 7 p.m., two shows on Saturday, Dec. 19, and a 2 p.m. matinee on Sunday, Dec. 20. The Nutcracker has a noon show on Saturday, Dec. 5, an easy fit for younger children.
The County Is Still Deciding What Each Kind of Show Pays
All of this runs through a management setup the County described at two committee meetings. In the December 15, 2025 minutes, Parks Commissioner Ewald said the County has a contract with Diamond Grade Media to manage the facility and collect rents, and that every booking "will all come through the County for approval." The term is one year with two one-year extensions.
The County pays the company nothing under that contract. At the May 26 meeting, Ewald explained that it is "a revenue-based contract." In exchange for managing the building, the company provides technical operation, security and advertising for 14 free County events. County staff handle ticketing and cleanup for those events. One of those free programs has already taken place. Legislator Scott said at the same meeting that she attended the senior movie event and that the Office for the Aging staff were "all hands-on deck."
The open question is rent. According to the May 26 minutes, Legislator Redeker told the committee that under the new contract, the cost to "a small business owner in our community" is 173% higher than under the previous contract. He asked the County to consider separate rental options, so national touring acts and local businesses would not pay the same way. The minutes summarize Ewald's reply this way.
"He also believes they may not be recouping enough from the larger shows, so there are some things that they have been discussing internally of a mechanism that maybe they can, if a show is very profitable, they can collect more revenue from that and figure out a way to make it less expensive for some of the local shows. But they also want to have controls there so that they are not having a small event taking up prime rental time when they could be having a large revenue generating event."
The minutes record that Legislators Tuohy and Redeker both said they did not want to price out local businesses, and Ewald described the current approach as trying "to keep as much the same as they can" while the County learns the facility. No fee change was recorded at that meeting. So the dates above, with most single nights going to touring acts and two December weekends going to local productions, come out of a rental structure that is still being worked out.
The budget figures explain why the question matters. Parks projected $589,757 to run and maintain the center in 2026. About $302,500 of that was expected from fees and rentals, and the remaining $287,000 was to come from County contingency. On those projections, ticketed shows and rentals cover roughly half of what the building costs. Beginning with the 2027 budget, the center gets its own organization within the Parks budget, and Ewald confirmed that ticket revenue will be recorded there.
The Building Upgrades Behind the Shows
The County has also been spending on the building itself. The work falls into two capital measures:
- December 2025, $1 million. The Legislature approved interior and exterior work. Ewald said about half would bring potable water to the building by extending a water main from an adjacent street through the parking lot. That would take the building off its well and add fire hydrants outside. The rest covers cameras, access controls, parking-lot lighting and parking improvements.
- September 2026, $500,000 state grant. On Sept. 22, the committee accepted a County Infrastructure Grant Program award from Empire State Development for a full-building generator and a connection to the municipal water main. The County's 50% match comes from the existing $1 million project.
Ewald described the generator's purpose plainly. Once it is installed, "the concerns of having a power outage while there is a performance going on will not be a concern." The minutes give no construction dates or planned closures, and the calendar runs straight through Dec. 20.
The upgrades follow the goals County Executive Steve Neuhaus laid out when Orange County announced the Legislature's 21-0 vote in July 2025. He listed free movies for seniors, a successful film festival, more performances for all ages and more educational programs. The senior movie has happened, and the fifth annual Sugar Loaf Film Festival played the center on Oct. 3. Chester's Town Board has since amended its draft Comprehensive Plan to reflect the County's purchase, according to the July 8, 2026 Town record.
Where the Season Starts
Bat Out Of Helloween opens the calendar on the main stage on Saturday, Oct. 24 at 8 p.m. A week later, the Town of Chester Trunk or Treat moves onto the PAC lawn on Saturday, Oct. 31, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Once November begins, the Nov. 30 price increase for Annie and The Nutcracker is the date to keep in mind for anyone planning a family outing in December.
If you live in Chester or Sugar Loaf and want to talk about what County projects like the PAC's new water main mean for your street, The Ramundo Team is happy to share what we're seeing around Creamery Pond Road. Schedule a Consultation whenever it suits you, maybe before or after the show.
