At 6 p.m. on Friday, October 30, the doors open at 1601 Irving Street to a movie market with vendors, cocktails and snacks, and an organ concert on the theater's Wurlitzer. "Carrie" starts at 7. "Pet Sematary" follows at 9. Both run on 35mm prints, and one $22 all-in ticket covers the pair.
The Union County Performing Arts Center is best known as a concert and comedy stage. This fall its calendar is full of film, though, and the pricing reads more like a neighborhood movie night than a night at a performing arts center. With a $5 Sunday matinee, a free indie showcase and a set of restaurant perks a few blocks away, downtown Rahway is one of the cheapest good nights out in Union County through Thanksgiving.
A movie palace showing movies again
The building opened as Bratter and Pollack's Rahway Theatre on Tuesday, October 16, 1928, with a benefit that mixed film and stage. UCPAC's own history says it was built in the movie-palace style for both vaudeville and screenings. It became The Union County Arts Center in October 1985, and most of the interior restoration was done between 1986 and 1990. In a 2024 profile, TAPinto Rahway reported that the theater still plays its original Wurlitzer for silent films.
The film program has also been renamed. Longtime patrons knew it as the Third Thursdays Film Series. On Sunday, September 7, 2025, UCPAC renamed its 35mm and 16mm series the I. Joseph Hyatt Classic Film Series. Hyatt was a lifelong Woodbridge resident, a film historian and author, and a UCPAC board member who spent more than two decades bringing classic cinema to the theater. On the series page, UCPAC calls itself the only theater in New Jersey currently showing classic 35mm films.
That claim matters because of where the theater is. If you live in Clark, Linden, Cranford or Woodbridge, the only classic 35mm program in the state, by UCPAC's count, is a short drive away. For many Rahway residents it's a walk.
The fall film slate, by date
This post goes up on Thursday, October 22. The first film event is the next day.
| Date | Event | Venue | Format | Ticket |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fri., Oct. 23 | The Screening Room, student and independent films | Hamilton Stage | Showcase | Free, first come, first served |
| Fri., Oct. 30 | Stephen King double feature: "Carrie" and "Pet Sematary" | Main stage | 35mm | $22 all-in |
| Sun., Nov. 15 | Sunday Film Series: "Rebel Without a Cause" | Main stage | 35mm | $5 |
| Thu., Nov. 19 | "The Karate Kid" | Main stage | 35mm | $17 advance, $22 day of show, all-in |
| Fri., Nov. 20 | "Kung Fu Panda" Popcorn & Pajamas | Hamilton Stage | Digital | $10 all-in |
The prices tell you who each night is for. The King double feature works out to $11 a film for an R-rated Halloween-week program with a bar and a market in the lobby. "The Karate Kid" costs $5 less if you buy before the day of the show. Doors open at 6 p.m. and the film starts at 7, with cocktails and a dojo-themed photo spot in the lobby.
The $5 Sunday is the best deal on the calendar
At $5, "Rebel Without a Cause" on Sunday, November 15, is the cheapest paid ticket on the fall film list. It's less than a quarter of the King double feature's price, and UCPAC credits support from the NJEDA A.R.T. Phase II Grant Program for the low price. Doors and an organ concert by Paul Citti on what UCPAC calls its "Biggest Little Wurlitzer" start at 1 p.m., and the 1955 film starring James Dean, Natalie Wood and Sal Mineo starts at 2.
A 2 p.m. start also leaves the evening free. Since the city's restaurant perks apply on the day of the show and many are tied to dinner, a Sunday matinee followed by an early dinner on Main Street fits the program well. More on that below.
The film is part of the I. Joseph Hyatt Classic Film Series. The full schedule is on the event page.
Hamilton Stage covers the free and family nights
Hamilton Stage is UCPAC's second venue, at 360 Hamilton Street. UCPAC lists it as a 199-seat theater. It hosts the free showcase and the family night, the fall's only film events built around something other than a classic print.
The Screening Room, Friday, October 23. This all-ages showcase of student and independent films is free. Free tickets are handed out at the venue on the day, first come, first served. Doors open at 9 a.m., and five blocks of films run from 10 a.m. through the afternoon. A filmmakers' mixer starts at 7 p.m., and the indie horror-comedy "Mittens" premieres at 8. There are refreshments and a cash bar. Details are on the Screening Room page.
"Kung Fu Panda" Popcorn & Pajamas, Friday, November 20. This is the one film night aimed at kids. Doors open at 6 p.m. with a craft table, and the film starts at 7. Pajamas are encouraged, and each $10 ticket comes with one free popcorn while supplies last. This screening is digital, not 35mm.
Two days later, on Sunday, November 22, UCPAC holds its Festival of Trees to kick off the holidays. A week after that, on November 29, NJ Ballet performs a sensory-friendly "The Nutcracker." The film season leads straight into the December calendar.
Show your ticket at dinner
The city of Rahway runs the dinner side of the night through its Dinner & A Show program. Bring your UCPAC ticket to a participating restaurant on the day of the show and you get that restaurant's perk. The program encourages reservations. On its events page, UCPAC points visitors to the program and notes that many restaurants and bars are within walking distance of the theater. Perks currently listed include:
- Fork, 1519 Main St.: a free Peachy Lychee cocktail with any entrée.
- Luciano's Ristorante & Lounge, 1579 Main St.: a free glass of house red or white with any entrée.
- La Malinche, 1588 Irving St.: a free piece of tres leches cake when you order two entrées.
- Nancy's Towne House, 1453 Main St.: a free glass of wine, sangria or beer when you order dinner.
- The Lounge at Watt, 1403 Irving St.: a draft beer with one entrée, or an appetizer or dessert with two.
- Cubanu Restaurant & Lounge: a free mojito, sangria, wine, beer or dessert with an entrée. You have to show your ticket before you order.
Read the fine print before you count on a perk. The city notes that participating businesses can change, suspend or end their offers without notice, and UCPAC's events page has its own note on which shows qualify. Call ahead, especially for the free Screening Room, since it's not clear whether a free ticket counts.
Fork is the newest restaurant on that list. It took over the space at 1519 Main Street that Romero's Tavern used to occupy and opened on January 16, 2025, according to MyCentralJersey. Its website still takes reservations and online orders. Next door at 1533 Main Street, Flavour Hub opened this spring as a burger spot, according to a May 14, 2026, WhereYouEat write-up. It isn't on the Dinner & A Show list, but the address puts it in the same stretch of Main Street.
For a drink after the second feature, the Rahway SID directory lists Wet Ticket Brewing at 1435 Main St., The Irving Social at 1443 Irving St. and 29 West Bar & Lounge at 29 W. Main St. For coffee before the Sunday matinee, The Coffee Box is at 1465 Irving St. and Boba Ka Tea House is at 1431 Irving St.
Three ways to use the calendar
- Halloween week: Get dinner at Fork or Luciano's on Friday, October 30, and arrive by 6 for the organ concert and the market. Two films cost $22, and the night ends around 10:30.
- Sunday matinee: Get coffee on Irving Street, take in the 1 p.m. organ set and the 2 p.m. "Rebel Without a Cause" for $5 on November 15, then have an early dinner with your ticket in hand.
- Family Friday: Kids come in pajamas to Hamilton Stage at 6 p.m. on November 20, and the whole outing costs $10 a person.
Part of how we price and present a home in Union County is understanding what's within walking distance, from a 1928 movie palace running 35mm film to the restaurants a block or two away. If you live near downtown Rahway and want to know what your home is worth, Justin Torres and the Just Sells team can put together a free home valuation that accounts for those amenities.
