Ami Martino of Clark, NJ recently won the NJACT Perry Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play at the NJACT Perry Awards held at the DoubleTree Hotel and Executive Meeting Center in Somerset, NJ.  Ms. Martino was nominated for this award for her portrayal of Sally Bean in the mystery, "Rehearsal for Murder" at Westfield Community Players in Westfield, NJ.  Ms. Martino is a nurse by day and actress by night.  She made her Westfield Community Players debut with this production.  A veteran of community theater, her favorite roles include: Soupy Sue in "Urinetown", Anne Frank in "The Diary of Anne Frank", and Isabel in "Pirates of Penzance".

The mystery was produced by Steve Lemenille, also from Clark, and directed by Brian Remo, of South Plainfield.  Both Mr. Lemenille and Mr. Remo also received nominations for Outstanding Production of a Play for "Rehearsal for Murder."  This production was also nominated for Outstanding Lighting for a Play (nominee: Jessica Foerst, Westfield, NJ), Outstanding Scenic Design (nominees: Bill McMeekan, Scotch Plains; Brian Remo), Outstanding Sound Design for a Play (nominee: Glen Crane, Scotch Plains, NJ),  Outstanding Properties for a Play (nominee: JoAnne Lemenille, Clark, NJ), Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play (nominee: Steve Lemenille, Clark, NJ), Oustanding Costume Design of a Play (nominee: Naomi Yablonsky, Springfield, NJ) and Outstanding Director of a Play (nominee: Brian Remo).

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 eight 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.