Paper Mill Playhouse facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Paper Mill Playhouse

Entrance to the Paper Mill Playhouse.
Address	22 Brookside Drive Millburn, New Jersey United States
Coordinates	40°43′40″N 74°18′33″W
Operator	Mark S. Hoebee
Type	Regional theater
Capacity	1,200
Opened	1934
Years active	77

Paper Mill Playhouse is a regional theater with approximately 1200 seats, located in Millburn, New Jersey on the Rahway River. Due to its relatively close location to Manhattan, it draws from the pool of actors (and audience members) who live in New York City. Paper Mill was officially designated as the "State Theater of New Jersey". From 1971 to 2008, Paper Mill held the New Jersey Ballet as its resident ballet company, with the annual production of Nutcracker until the premiere 25th Anniversary tour of Les Misérables took up the ballet's performance slot. Mark S. Hoebee serves as the producing artistic director, and is often credited as saving the Paper Mill during the financial crisis in 2008. In 2016, the playhouse received the Regional Theatre Tony Award.

History

Building

In March 1795, Sam Campbell built The Thistle Paper Mill on land along the Rahway River in the town of Millville, later renamed Millburn. Campbell ran his business for about 20 years until he was forced to close down due to a fire. The building remained vacant for several years and ownership changed several times. In the late 1870s, Diamond Mill Paper Company took over the property and used it for their paper making business until 1928.

Writer and performer Antoinette Scudder, along with actor and director Frank Carrington formed a partnership in the late 1920s to create their own theater. The eventually found the vacant mill, and spent many years working on it, turning it into a theater.

Another fire in 1980 changed the course of the theater, and it closed for rebuilding. On October 30, 1982, the Paper Mill reopened for their first theatrical production since the fire. This period of time became the focal point of a lawsuit between the theater and Millburn on whether or not they would be exempt from property taxes during the time the property was not in use.

Theater

Founded in 1934, Paper Mill Playhouse raised the curtain on its first performance with Gregorio Martinez Sierra’s The Kingdom of God on November 14, 1938. By the end of the first year, Carrington had coaxed entertainer Irene Castle out of retirement to make her dramatic debut in Noël Coward’s Shadow Play. The first few years featured a variety of classical and modern plays. By 1941, the Playhouse had begun to specialize in operettas, which it continued until the early 1950s.

Change marked this period in Paper Mill’s history, especially with Miss Scudder’s death in 1958. Angelo Del Rossi joined as associate producer in 1964, working closely with Carrington until his death in 1975. Del Rossi became executive producer and remained in that role for nearly 40 years until his death in August 2014.

In 1971, the New Jersey Ballet staged its first production of The Nutcracker at Paper Mill with world-renowned dancer Edward Villella in the role of the Cavalier. The Nutcracker production has been produced annually at Paper Mill since then.

In 1972, Governor of New Jersey William Cahill proclaimed Paper Mill the "Official State Theater of New Jersey." The theater has been cited as a State Center of Artistic Excellence and as a Major Impact and Distinguished Arts Organization by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.

Through the years, Paper Mill Playhouse has welcomed such talent as Christopher Patterson, Gloria Stuart, Alice Ripley, Eddie Bracken, Laura Benanti (Rising Star Award winner), Orson Bean, Betty Buckley, Carol Channing, Kristin Chenoweth, Christine Ebersole, George S. Irving, Laurence Guittard, Anne Hathaway (Paper Mill Conservatory alumna and Rising Star Award nominee), Shanice Williams (Paper Mill Conservatory alumna, Rising Star Award nominee, and Adopt-A-School participant), Dee Hoty, John Mahoney, Dorothy Louden, Donna McKechnie, Ann Miller, Stephanie Mills, Liza Minnelli, Estelle Parsons, Bernadette Peters, Chita Rivera, Tony Roberts, Patrick Swayze, Karen Ziemba, Adrian Zmed, Nick Jonas (actor, singer and member of the band the Jonas Brothers), Bailey Hanks (the winner of Legally Blonde: The Musical – The Search for Elle Woods), Lynn Redgrave, Lorna Luft, David Garrison, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Mickey Rooney, Barbara Rush, Betsy Palmer, Robert Horton, Vivian Vance, Jerome Hines, Shelley Winters, Hugh O'Brian and Gloria Swanson, among many.

In April 2003, Michael Gennaro, former executive director of Chicago's Steppenwolf Theater, joined Paper Mill as president and CEO. Paper Mill Playhouse was one of the first theaters to begin the regional theater movement in the United States. It has grown to be one of the most acclaimed not-for-profit professional theaters in the country, and attracts more than 450,000 people annually, and has one of the largest subscription based audiences.

Financial issues

On April 3, 2007, Paper Mill announced that it would need $1.5 million to open its season and an equal amount to complete its season, or it would be forced to close its doors. On April 6, 2007, Paper Mill announced that it had received $300,000, enough to cover costs of rehearsals and preview performances for its production of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.

Paper Mill announced that it would have to do more well-known shows to stay in business. On June 17, 2008, the Township of Millburn voted to purchase building and four acres of land the Paper Mill sits on for $9 million. They have entered into a 75-year lease with the theater; and its operations will remain independent. Prior to this deal the Paper Mill had accumulated $4.5 million in debt. Based on the terms of the lease, the Paper Mill would pay $1 for the first two years. After 2 years the rent would grow to equal 1% of the theater's annual operation income. The Paper Mill maintained an option to repurchase the property from the town after 11 years of the lease. The artistic director at the time, Mark S. Hoebee, is attributed with saving the Paper Mill.

Seasons

World premiere

US premiere

East coast premiere

Season	Show 1	Show 2	Show 3	Show 4	Show 5	Show 6	Show 7
1992–1993	The Wizard of Oz	Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street	My Fair Lady	Phantom
1993–1994	Paper Moon	Animal Crackers	South Pacific	Singin' in the Rain	Peter Pan
1994–1995	Forever Plaid	Oliver!	Brigadoon	The Secret Garden
1995–1996	Nine	Dreamgirls	You Never Know	Comfortable Shoes	Call Me Madam	Evita
1996–1997	Applause	Gigi	No, No Nanette	Man of La Mancha
1997–1998	Big River	Children of Eden	The Mask of Moriarty	Death of a Salesman	Follies	The Will Rogers Follies
1998–1999	Gypsy	Jekyll & Hyde	Up, Up, and Away	Wuthering Heights	Crazy for You	Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
1999–2000	Mame	Rags	Noises Off	Deathtrap	The Student Prince	Pippin
2000–2001	Anything Goes	Victor/Victoria	Art	An Ideal Husband	Funny Girl	Carousel
2001–2002	A Chorus Line	Red, Hot and Blue	The Dinner Party	I'm Not Rappaport	The King and I	My Fair Lady
2002–2003	Miss Saigon	Annie	Blue	Romeo and Bernadette	Camelot	Grease
2003–2004	Ain't Misbehavin'	The Sound of Music	The Tale of the Allergist's Wife	The Chosen	Baby	Guys and Dolls
2004–2005	Of Thee I Sing	She Loves Me	The Drawer Boy	Harold and Maude	The Baker's Wife	Ragtime
2005–2006	Cinderella	The Diary of Anne Frank	Carnival!	A Midsummer Night's Dream	Hello Dolly!
2006–2007	Godspell	A Wonderful Life	Summer and Smoke	Romance/Romance	Seven Brides for Seven Brothers	Pirates!
2007–2008	Happy Days: The Musical	Meet Me in St. Louis	The Miracle Worker	Steel Magnolias	Kiss Me, Kate	Little Shop of Horrors
2008–2009	Oklahoma!	Disney's High School Musical	The Importance of Being Earnest	Master Class	1776	The Full Monty
2009–2010	Little House on the Prairie	On The Town	Lost In Yonkers	Smokey Joe's Cafe	Peter Pan
2010–2011	Hairspray	Les Misérables	The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee	A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum	Curtains
2011–2012	Newsies	White Christmas	Boeing-Boeing	Damn Yankees	Once on This Island
2012–2013	A Chorus Line	The Sound of Music	Lend Me a Tenor	Thoroughly Modern Millie	The Little Mermaid
2013–2014	Honeymoon in Vegas	Oliver!	The Other Josh Cohen	South Pacific	Grease
2014–2015	Can-Can	Elf	Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike	The Hunchback of Notre Dame	Ever After The Musical
2015–2016	Bandstand	A Christmas Story: The Musical	A Bronx Tale	Pump Boys and Dinettes	West Side Story
2016–2017	The Producers	The Bodyguard	A Comedy of Tenors	Million Dollar Quartet	Mary Poppins
2017–2018	The Honeymooners	Annie	The Outsider	The Sting	Half Time
2018–2019	The Color Purple	Holiday Inn	My Very Own British Invasion	Benny & Joon	Beauty and the Beast
2019–2020	Chasing Rainbows: The Road to Oz	Cinderella	Unmasked	Sister Act	The Wanderer

Affiliations

Paper Mill is a member of the Council of Stock Theatres (COST), a group of theaters who join together to negotiate with the various unions that are involved in stage productions. COST's contract with Actors' Equity allows for a minimum weekly salary which is smaller than what Broadway productions must pay their actors; Paper Mill is also allowed to cast a minimal amount of non-union actors, which is forbidden for Broadway shows. This gives Paper Mill the ability to produce shows on a larger scale than most Broadway productions (and in a shorter amount of time).

Educational programs

Paper Mill also has a large theater school offering a variety of classes. They have also run classes for developmentally disabled students with VSA New Jersey.

Starting in 1996, the Paper Mill holds annual Rising Star Awards (modeled after the Tony Awards) every spring, honoring excellence in high school theater performances across the state of New Jersey. Students who are nominated in lead and supporting acting categories receive scholarships to Paper Mill's Summer Musical Theater Conservatory and may perform in their annual finale concert. Former Conservatory attendees include Anne Hathaway, Julia Knitel, and Rob McClure.

Rising Star Award Recipients

The 2016 Rising Star Awards were held on June 7, 2016, in the Paper Mill Playhouse theater. The awards show was broadcast and streamed live on HomeTowne Television. The 2016 recipients include:

• Overall Outstanding Production – Summit High School – "Mary Poppins"
• Outstanding Actress in a Leading Role – Claire Fitzpatrick as "Mary Poppins" – Summit High School – "Mary Poppins"
• Outstanding Actor in a Leading Role – Trevor Braun as "Charlie Chaplin" – Fair Lawn High School – "Chaplin: The Musical"
• Outstanding Actress in a Supporting Role – Jazmin Palmer as "Fraulein Schneider" – Pingry School – "Cabaret"
• Outstanding Actor in a Supporting Role – Ross Turkington as "Cookie McGee" – Montclair Kimberly Academy – "Nice Work If You Can Get It"
• Outstanding Performance in a Featured Role – Eric Judson as "Paul" – West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South – "A Chorus Line"
• Outstanding Featured Ensemble Member – Greg Lobo as "Big Jule" – Bernards High School – "Guys and Dolls"
• Outstanding Featured Ensemble Group – "The Silly Girls" – Columbia High School – "Disney's Beauty and the Beast"
• Outstanding Chorus – Academy of the Holy Angels – "Children of Eden"
• Outstanding Direction – Katie McSherry – Academy of the Holy Angels – "Children of Eden"
• Outstanding Choreography/Musical Staging – Jennifer Williams – Union High School – "Mary Poppins"
• Outstanding Music Direction – George Croom – Academy of the Holy Angels – "Children of Eden"
• Outstanding Orchestra – West Morris Central High School – "In the Heights"
• Outstanding Costuming Achievement – Katherine Winter – Summit High School – "Mary Poppins"
• Educational Impact Award – St. Joseph Regional High School – "Urinetown"

2015 Rising Star Awards 

The 2015 Rising Star Awards were held on June 2, 2015, in the Paper Mill Playhouse theater. The awards show was broadcast & live streamed live on HomeTowne Television. The 2015 recipients include:

• Overall Outstanding Production – Union High School – "Sophisticated Ladies"
• Outstanding Actress in a Leading Role – Adina Triolo as "Princess Winnifred" – Princeton Day School – "Once Upon a Mattress"
• Outstanding Actor in a Leading Role – Nick Berninger as "Chris" – St. Joseph Regional High School – "Miss Saigon"
• Outstanding Actress in a Supporting Role – Paulina Hill as "Lady of the Lake" – Midland Park Junior/Senior High School – "Spamalot"
• Outstanding Actor in a Supporting Role – Sean McManus as "Tobias Ragg" – Summit High School – "Sweeney Todd: School Edition"
• Outstanding Performance in a Featured Role – Kristian Adap – Union High School – "Sophisticated Ladies"
• Outstanding Featured Ensemble Group – "The Sophisticated Gentlemen" – Union High School – "Sophisticated Ladies"
• Outstanding Chorus – Westfield High School – "Urinetown"
• Outstanding Direction – Tricia Benn, Bethany Pettigrew – Columbia High School – "Ragtime: School Edition"; James Mosser – Union High School – "Sophisticated Ladies"
• Outstanding Choreography/Musical Staging – Jennifer Williams, James Mosser – Union High School – "Sophisticated Ladies"
• Outstanding Music Direction – James Mosser, Laura Muller – Union High School – "Sophisticated Ladies"
• Outstanding Orchestra – Union High School – "Sophisticated Ladies"
• Outstanding Costuming Achievement – Paul H. Canada – Gill St. Bernard's School – "Once Upon A Mattress"

2014 Rising Star Awards 

The 2014 Rising Star Awards were held on June 3, 2014, in the Paper Mill Playhouse theatre.

2014 Recipients include:

• Overall Outstanding Production – Princeton Day School – "Urinetown"
• Outstanding Actress in a Leading Role – Emma Magbanua as "Kim" – Union High School – "Miss Saigon: School Edition"
• Outstanding Actor in a Leading Role – Keenan Buckley as "Julian Marsh" – Summit High School – "42nd Street"
• Outstanding Actress in a Supporting Role – Jessica Toltzis as "Penelope Pennywise" – Princeton Day School – "Urinetown"'
• Outstanding Actor in a Supporting Role – Jacob De Stefano as "Frau Blucher" – Midland Park Junior/Senior High School – "Young Frankenstein"'
• Outstanding Performance in a Featured Role – Christopher Centinaro as "Bud Frump" – Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School – "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying"'
• Outstanding Featured Ensemble Group – "The Church Ladies" – Cicely L. Tyson School of Performing and Fine Arts – "The Color Purple"'
• Outstanding Chorus – Princeton Day School – "Urinetown"'
• Outstanding Direction – Alex Perez – High Tech High School – "Spring Awakening"'
• Outstanding Choreography/Musical Staging – Kelly Motts-Sacks – Summit High School – "42nd Street"'
• Outstanding Music Direction – Andrew Schmidt – Princeton Day School – "Urinetown"'
• Outstanding Orchestra – Summit High School – "42nd Street"'

2013 Rising Star Awards 

The 2013 Rising Star Awards were held on June 4, 2013, in the Paper Mill Playhouse theatre and included special appearances by people such as Jesse Eisenberg and Morgan Kirner (recipient of the 2012 Outstanding Actress in a Leading Role Rising Star Award).

2013 Recipients include:

• Overall Outstanding Production – Summit High School – "Disney's Beauty and the Beast"
• Outstanding Actress in a Leading Role – Jana Bernard as "Marmee March" – Gill St. Bernard's School – "Little Women"
• Outstanding Actor in a Leading Role – Matthew Lynn as "Bat Boy" – Westfield High School – "Bat Boy: The Musical"
• Outstanding Actress in a Supporting Role – Kaitlin Leddy as "Rita LaPorta" – Red Bank Catholic High School – "Lucky Stiff"'
• Outstanding Actor in a Supporting Role – Nicholas Wainwright as "Herr Schultz" – Ocean County Performing Arts Academy – "Cabaret"'
• Outstanding Performance in a Featured Role – Sadesia Wray as "Demeter" – Union High School – "Cats"'
• Outstanding Featured Ensemble Group – "The Silly Girls" – Summit High School – "Disney's Beauty and the Beast"'
• Outstanding Chorus – Union High School – "Cats"'
• Outstanding Direction – Anne Poyner – Summit High School – "Disney's Beauty and the Beast"'
• Outstanding Choreography/Musical Staging – James Mosser and Jennifer Williams – Union High School – "Cats"'
• Outstanding Music Direction – Wayne Mallette and Steve Rapp – Summit High School – "Disney's Beauty and the Beast"'
• Outstanding Orchestra – Union High School – "Cats"'