UCPAC Presents ICON 2019: The Battle of New Jersey's Best Musical Theater Voices

Union County Performing Arts Center presents ICON 2019: The Battle of New Jersey's Best Musical Theater Voices beginning this September! Back for its sixth season, ICON is a singing competition much like "American Idol" meshed with "The Voice," but in the genre of musical theater. The winner of ICON 2019 receives a grand prize that includes $10,000 and the lead role in the winner's dream show!

The competition will begin with 90 artists and at each of the six Elimination Rounds, 15 artists will sing one selection on UCPAC's Hamilton Stage. Any musical theater selection or song that is theatrical in nature is allowed; for example, Disney, Smash, Greatest Showman, and songs written by theatrical composers are all applicable.

Three judges score each artist based on a number of categories. Vocal strength, presentation, and vocal quality are among the technical categories, but the most heavily weighted is called the "It Factor," which is how they put it all together. These total scores reveal the winner of each round, and that person goes directly to the Semi-Finals.

The next highest scorer of the night will be sent to the Sing For Your Life Round on Wednesday, September 23rd! The audience will also vote for their favorite of the round, and the highest number of audience votes will send a second artist to the Sing For Your Life Round. In addition, any of the three judges may choose to use their one save to send a second artist directly to the Semi-Finals should they agree unanimously.

At the Sing for Your Life Round, the 12 artists outlined above will be given a second chance to advance. They will each sing again, either the same song or an entirely new song, in what is essentially another elimination round, only this time, three artists are definitely going on to the Semi-Finals. The score is based on a combination of both the judges' thoughts and votes from the audience.

Next, the Semi-Finals pit 16 artists against each other: the (6) round winners, (3) Judges Saves, (3) artists who advance from the Sing For Your Life Round, and the (4) returning Finalists from 2018 who receive an automatic buy into the Semi-Finals. Five artists will advance from this round to the Finals, including one artist chosen solely from audience votes.

Then, at the Finals someone will be crowned winner of ICON 2019. The grand prize includes $10,000 and the lead role in the winner's dream production!

Schedule:

• Elimination Round 1 - Thursday, September 12; 8:00PM (Hamilton Stage)

• Elimination Round 2 - Thursday, September 19; 8:00PM (Hamilton Stage)

• Elimination Round 3 - Thursday, September 26; 8:00PM (Hamilton Stage)

• Elimination Round 4 - Thursday, October 3; 8:00PM (Hamilton Stage)

• Elimination Round 5 - Thursday, October 10; 8:00PM (Hamilton Stage)

• Elimination Round 6 - Thursday, October 17; 8:00PM (Hamilton Stage)

• Sing for Your Life Round - Wednesday, October 23; 8:00PM (Hamilton Stage)

• Semi-Final - Sunday, November 17; 7:00PM (Main Stage)

• Finals - Sunday, December 1; 7:00PM (Main Stage)

The Union County Performing Arts Center's Hamilton Stage is located at 360 Hamilton Street in Rahway, NJ. The Semi-Finals and Finals will be held at The Union County Performing Arts Center's Main Stage located at 1601 Irving Street in Rahway, NJ.

General admission tickets, starting at $15.00, can be purchased at www.ucpac.org/events, in person at the Box Office, or by calling 732.499.8226. The Box Office can be reached via email at boxoffice@ucpac.org.

Student price available through the box office! Please visit the Box Office in person and ask.

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