#!/usr/bin/perl -w
use strict;

my $text = '"SECTIONS 1-2-3-4 Offered Every Performance!"';

#one way use regex match...

$text =~ m/^\W*(\w+\s+\S+)/; #note doesn't modify $text
                             #just checks for match
my $x = $1;
print "$x\n";

# another way without using $1
# match is in array context and we use list slice to get
# the $1 match data

$x = ($text =~ m/^\W*(\w+\s+\S+)/)[0];
print "$x\n";

__END__
prints .....
SECTIONS 1-2-3-4
SECTIONS 1-2-3-4