MIDDLE TOWNSHIP----The Performing Arts Center of Middle Township has announced a schedule of shows for the first half of 2013 including a Beethoven comedy, a tribute to Judy Garland and Liza Minnelli, and the first of eight concerts by pianist Linda Gentille and her Jersey Shore Pops.

Managing director Kay Aspell said the bookings are in keeping with The PAC’s policy to bring to its stage professional acts that are new to this area but are in demand in venues such as New York and Las Vegas.

The fun begins on Saturday night, Feb. 2, at 7:30 when Ludwig Van Beethoven in a two-person cabaret show at The PAC. In the story, everyone except the stage manager has quit at the cabaret, but Beethoven insists that the show must go on. So he assumes all the missing characters and there follow satirical comments and modern musical interpretations (yes, even Barry Manilow) that keep the audience laughing according to event organizers. To give the production the proper cabaret feeling, the entire audience is seated on The PAC stage.

“I have seen this show,” said Aspell, “ and I booked it quickly because never have I laughed so much.”

Fans of Judy Garland and Liza Minnelli should mark Saturday night, April 13, at 7:30 in their date book. That’s when the show “Liza and Judy--Together Again” comes to The PAC as Denise Rose and Suzanne Goulet recreate the roles of the famous mother-daughter team in song, dance and costumes. Songs include “Rockabye Your Baby,” “Cabaret,” “The Trolley Song,” “Over The Rainbow” and “New York, New York.”

And to open her season, Liberace protégée Gentille will bring her Jersey Pops Orchestra to The PAC on Saturday night, June 29, at 7:30 with the Irish tenor, Colm Fitzmaurice. He performed here during the first year of the orchestra and was so well received that he is returning by popular demand, said Gentille. The pianist and her orchestra, who have broken all house attendance records at The PAC during the past two years, will set out for a new one in 2013.

Aspell said other acts are being planned and the public will be notified in the media or on the website when they are finalized. For admission prices, reservations and further information, call 463-1924.