2018 NJACT Perry Awards to Be Presented at the Union County Performing Arts Center

The New Jersey Association of Community Theaters (NJACT) is a volunteer organization dedicated to supporting local theater around the state. The group's core mission is to celebrate outstanding achievements by artists of all disciplines involved in the performance and production of New Jersey Community Theater. This is accomplished through the NJACT Perry Awards, New Jersey's premiere community theater awards program. Originally founded as the AVY Awards over 35 years ago by William Perry Morgan, the organization has transformed itself several times, but has always kept its focus on celebrating creativity, craftsmanship and community in local theater.

Today, NJACT is led by a volunteer board of directors. These theater veterans are aided by over 100 volunteers across the state. Together, they work to identify the best and the brightest that New Jersey community theater has to offer and celebrate their work with an awards ceremony every fall.

The Perry Awards are named in honor of William Perry Morgan. Perry, as his friends have always known him, was a gifted director, actor, composer, and musician who was once a driving force in New Jersey Community Theater. During his time in New Jersey, Perry and several of his close colleagues came to the realization that there was a need to recognize the many great accomplishments of their fellow thespians, who gave so freely of their talents to enrich the lives of theater patrons in New Jersey. And so the AVY Awards were born in 1973, named after the town of Avenel, NJ, where Perry lived. The Avy Awards were held every June and the announcement of each year's nominees was always a much-anticipated event throughout New Jersey's theater community. Perry continued to produce the AVY Awards for more than 20 years until, in 1994, he announced that he and his wife were relocating to Memphis, TN.

After Perry's departure and the retirement of the Avy Awards, a small group of individuals decided to keep the spirit of the AVY Awards alive by creating the ACT Awards. This awards program continued for several years until 1998, when it was renamed the Recognition of Excellence in Community Theater Award, or RECT Award for short. Then, in 2004, NJACT was formed to take over the awards program and, with the express permission of Perry Morgan, the awards themselves were renamed "The Perry Awards."

At that time, Perry Morgan stated, "The acknowledgment of excellence in Community Theater by any award serves only to reinforce that which is already known: that some of the finest theatrical productions ever produced are done so year after year in community theaters throughout New Jersey."

The NJACT Perry Awards are given for outstanding achievements in New Jersey Community Theater. At the beginning of each season, NJACT Member Theaters submit their shows for award consideration. Two NJACT Reviewers attend each production, evaluate all on-stage aspects of the performance, and provide separate numerical scores for over 50 different criteria across 10 different review categories. More than 200 shows produced by theater companies around the state are submitted each year, which require over 400 reviews by trained NJACT volunteers.

NJACT bestows Perry Awards in 33 performance and technical categories based on NJACT reviewer scores. Candidates with the top seven scores in each category are considered nominees. The nominee with the highest score in each category receives the Perry Award. There are also four Special Perry Awards available each year: Community Theater of the Year Award, the Lifetime Achievement Award, the David P. McMenemie Award, and the Perry Award for Outstanding Stage Management. Candidates for these awards are nominated by members of the community, and the recipient is determined by NJACT Board vote of those nominated.

The event will take place Sunday, September 16, 2018. Visit http://njact.org/ for more details.

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