UCPAC Hosts 34th Asbury Short Film Concert Tonight

The Union County Performing Arts Center Mainstage is the place to be this weekend for movie lovers as it presents the 34th Asbury Short Film Concert tonight, May 29 at 8 p.m. and the classic silent film Wings on May 30 at 8 p.m.

Asbury Short Film Concert combines world-renowned honorees with current festival award winners, providing a rare opportunity to see elite international films on a real theater screen in a historic 1928 motion picture palace. The emcee for the evening will be David Schoner, associate director for the New Jersey Motion Picture and Television Commission and an award-winning independent film producer.

Highlights of the show include: A Poet Long Ago from acclaimed film and commercial director Bob Giraldi, written by famed novelist Pete Hammill and starring Steve Schirripa (The Sopranos) and Boris McGiver (House of Cards); Globe Trot, independent filmmaker Mitchell Rose's brilliantly edited record of 50 individual dancers choreographed to the same piece of music; and In the Dark, a story of modern love in New York City marking the directorial debut of actor Bettina Bilger.

Set during World War I, Wings stars Clara Bow, Charles "Buddy" Rogers and Richard Arlen in a thrilling tale of two young pilots who fall in love with the same woman while fighting the enemy in the skies over France. Filmed in 1927 and acclaimed upon release for its technical prowess and realistic air-combat sequences, Wings won the first-ever Academy Award for Best Picture. Providing the soundtrack for this classic film on the theater's original Wurlitzer organ will be keyboard master BERNIE Anderson, Jr. He also will perform before the Asbury Short Film Concert.

Tickets for the Asbury Short Film Concert are $12 general admission, $10 for students/senior citizens. Tickets for Wings are $10 general admission. Tickets for both events are available by calling (732) 499-8226 or visiting www.ucpac.org.

UCPAC's Mainstage is housed in the beautifully restored Rahway Theatre, a historic landmark located at 1601 Irving Street in the heart of Rahway's Arts District, and easily accessible by major roads and public transportation.