Rahway Theatre | |
Location | 1601 Irving St., Rahway, New Jersey |
---|---|
Coordinates | 40°36′37″N74°16′39″W / 40.61028°N 74.27750°W |
Built | 1927 |
Architect | David M Oltarsh |
Architectural style | Classical Revival |
Website | www |
NRHP reference No. | 86001509 |
NJRHP No. | 2714 [1] |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | August 13, 1986 |
Designated NJRHP | June 24, 1986 |
Union County Performing Arts Center (UCPAC), formerly the "movie palace" known as the Rahway Theatre, is a non-profit performance venue in Rahway, New Jersey, a small city west of Staten Island that was recently named "#2 Best Small Town Arts Scene" in the country by USA Today. [2] As of the early 2020s, downtown Rahway has become a regional hub in the performing and visual arts. [3] It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. [4]
It was founded as the vaudeville venue and silent movie house Rahway Theater in 1928 as an ornate movie palace. [5] It contains an original, working, fully restored [6] Wurlitzer pipe organ which was placed on the American Theatre Organ Society's National Registry of Significant Instruments. [7] It is an example of "Movie Palace" architecture, designed in the classical revival style by New York architect David M. Oltarsh.
In 2006, at the behest of Rahway's then-mayor James J. Kennedy, the Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders invested $6.2 million in the renovation of the UCPAC Mainstage (Rahway Theater). The building fell into dilapidation as a movie house in the 1970s. It was reopened by local nonprofit preservation group in 1984, [8] and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.
The UCPAC campus includes four performance spaces:
Capacity: 1334
Renovated in 2023-24 and built in 2012 abutting the Rahway River several hundred feet to the west of Mainstage, the Hamilton Stage features a new fully equipped proscenium theater.
Capacity: 199
Capacity: 65. Built in 2008, the Loft at UCPAC is located on the 2nd floor addition of the UCPAC Mainstage.
This 40’ x 60’ rehearsal space has floor-to-ceiling conservatory windows and wall-length mirrors on one side. It holds 55–75 (at maximum).
This room contains a Fazioli piano, one of only two in New Jersey. [9]
Hosts the Jazz Club at UCPAC.
Well-known music and comedy acts have included Johnny Cash, Martina McBride, Willie Nelson, B.B. King, Joan Jett, Joan Rivers, Louie Anderson, Sinbad, Cedric the Entertainer, Pat Benatar, Kenny Rogers, Lance Bass, Eddie Money, En Vogue, Starship, Otown, Aaron Carter, Ryan Cabrera, Bowling for Soup, Vanessa Williams, [10] Doug E. Fresh, Mark McGrath and Slick Rick. [11] [12]
The Main Stage at UCPAC in Rahway, as a former "classic movie palace," is the only New Jersey theater showing classic 35mm films, generally preceded by organ performances on the venue's original Wurlitzer theater organ. [13]
The UCPAC Film Festival is held at the venue.
The UCPAC area hosts many art galleries, converted industrial warehouse spaces, and rehearsal/studio space. In 2020, downtown Rahway received accolades as a Great Downtown by the APA:
"Downtown Rahway is a great place. It is a place that emphasizes livability, walkability, shopping, food, art, diversity and a destination. Centered in the heart of the bustling City of Rahway, next to the NJ Transit Station, Rahway's downtown is the building block for this diverse city." [14]
The city of Rahway and UCPAC in association with the Actors Fund has built safe affordable housing for artists only. Tenant applicants need to submit a portfolio of work to indicate their vocation and be assigned to a waitlist. [15]
UCPAC is walking distance to the direct train at Rahway Station to New York Penn Station. The ride is 38 minutes.
Union County is a county in the northern part of the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the county was the state's seventh-most-populous county with a population of 575,345, its highest decennial count ever and an increase of 38,846 (+7.2%) from the 2010 census count of 536,499. Its county seat is Elizabeth, which is also the most populous municipality in the county, with a 2020 census population of 137,298, and the largest by area, covering 13.46 square miles (34.9 km2). The county serves as a transition point between the Central Jersey and North Jersey regions of the state.
Rahway is a city in southern Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. A bedroom community of New York City, it is centrally located in the Rahway Valley region, in the New York metropolitan area. The city is 15 miles (24 km) southwest of Manhattan and 5 miles (8.0 km) west of Staten Island.
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