Freeholder Board's UCACT Program to Continue at UCPAC's Hamilton Stage

The Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders is proud to announce that the 2016 Union County Advancing Community Theatre (UCACT) program will continue at UCPAC's Hamilton Stage in Rahway with the premiere of Wendy's Shadow, an original musical presented by Mystic Vision Players March 24-26; and the dark comedy God of Carnage presented by People Helping People, Arts and Entertainment April 7-9.

"The Freeholder Board is proud to support the artistic talent of Union County organizations through the UCACT program," said Freeholder Chairman Bruce H. Bergen. "Both of these productions bring to the community an experience that is both collaborative and engaging."

In this world premiere production of Wendy's Shadow, presented by Mystic Vision Players, the mischievous and magical adventure of Peter Pan is retold from Wendy's grown-up perspective, taking the audience back to Neverland - where dreams are born, and time is never planned - and asks if it's ever possible to leave the one you loved. With book, music and lyrics by David Maglione, additional lyrics and material by Tomas Ruiz, and original concept by David Maglione and Tomas Ruiz, Wendy's Shadow features a contemporary folk/rock score. The musical premiere will run for four performances at UCPAC's Hamilton Stage from Thursday, March 24 through Saturday, March 26 at 8:00 p.m., with a second performance on Saturday at 2:00 p.m.

Embracing the art of theatre to address an important social issue, People Helping People's production of God of Carnage, gets to the root and nature of how society deals with bullying. God of Carnage is a fast, furious, and very, very funny, dark comedy about two sets of parents who meet to discuss the unruly behavior of their children. Written by Yasmina Reza and translated by Christopher Hampton, this Tony-award winning play is recommended for mature audiences, and will run for four performances at UCPAC's Hamilton Stage on Thursday, April 7 and Friday, April 8 at 8:00 p.m., with two performances on Saturday, April 9 at 2:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.

Sponsored by the Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders through the UCACT program, both productions will be presented at UCPAC's Hamilton Stage in Rahway. Ticket prices vary for each production, with student and senior discounts available to both. For more information or to purchase tickets visit ucpac.org or call the UCPAC box office at 732-499-8226.

The UCACT program launched in 2015 as a special initiative of Freeholder Mohamed S. Jalloh during his chairmanship and continues on the footsteps of last year's success, which included a diverse body of work including two original plays, a student production, a new community theatre organization, among others featuring the high-quality artistic talent of many Union County residents.

The UCACT program aims to provide a strategic platform to support the development of Union County's rich theatre talent by leveraging existing resources and broadening the definition of economic development and public recreation to include support for community theatre. For more information about UCACT visit ucnj.org/ucact.

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