Students from YOUR TOWN Featured at Paper Mill Playhouse

Paper Mill Playhouse (Mark S. Hoebee-Producing Artistic Director, Todd Schmidt-Managing Director) is proud to present more than 120 of the region's most talented young performing artists from Paper Mill Playhouse's Summer Musical Theatre Conservatory in a fully produced, original concert on the Paper Mill main-stage titled "New Voices of 2011: I'll Take Manhattan," celebrating Broadway's love affair with its hometown. Members of the Conservatory's Senior, Junior Plus, and Junior Companies (ages 10-18) are directed and choreographed by Paper Mill Playhouse's professional artistic staff in this concert which is the culmination of the five-week Summer Conservatory. Also appearing are numerous winners and nominees of the 2011 Paper Mill Playhouse Rising Star Awards who won a full scholarship to attend the Conservatory.

"The New Voices Concert is unique in that it is tailored specifically to the talents of the students participating in the program each year," remarked Mark S. Hoebee, Producing Artistic Director for Paper Mill Playhouse. "New Voices 2011 -I'll Take Manhattan also has special significance because it is a salute to New York City. Music, art, romance, heartbreak, adventure - all take on a new meaning when they happen in the Big Apple. Through song, dance and narration the students will celebrate all that is inimitable about this great town."

Performances of "New Voices of 2011: I'll Take Manhattan", will be held on Friday, July 29th at 7:30pm and Saturday, July 30th at 3:00pm and 7:30pm. Single tickets range in price from $25 to $45. Tickets may be purchased by calling (973) 376-4343, online at www.papermill.org, or visit the Paper Mill Playhouse Box Office at 22 Brookside Drive in Millburn. Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express are accepted.

The Paper Mill Playhouse Summer Musical Theatre Conservatory is a program of vigorous study allowing students to enhance their individual performance potential while developing a broad base of theater experience and knowledge. Students participate in intensive classes including musical theater performance, acting, dance, and improvisation, while also attending guest workshops led by professional actors, directors, and casting agents. The final weeks are devoted to rehearsals for the New Voices Concert, performed annually on the Paper Mill stage. The Conservatory offers the unique opportunity for gifted and talented young performers to work at their own level and challenge themselves to achieve new goals and learn new skills. Key to the curriculum is the development of self discipline, respect, and a commitment to excellence that will serve these young artists throughout their lives.

"From the first day of class all the way through opening night of New Voices, we require our students to rise to the demands of this rigorous program," stated Lisa Cooney Paper Mill Playhouse Director of Education. "We ask them to work harder than they ever have before as young performers, and we strive to build an incredible ensemble company, while each student hones their own individual performance skills. Our faculty pushes the students to believe in themselves as professional artists and treats them as such. We find summer after summer that our students meet our expectations and more. When they move on to college or the professional world, they are ready for the challenges they'll face, and time and again they thrive and ultimately live their dream of being a professional performer. It's gratifying when they make a name or themselves on Broadway or in Hollywood, but even if they do not, the skills they learn and the work ethic they develop will serve them in any field."

Students from Paper Mill Playhouse's Conservatory have appeared in numerous Broadway productions, film, television, and regional theater. Conservatory Alumni include:

Laura Benanti - 2008 Tony Award winner for Gypsy, Broadway roles include Into the Woods, The Sound of Music, The Wedding Singer, Swing!
Anne Hathaway - Twelfth Night, Film: "Rachel Getting Married" (2009 Academy Award & Golden Globe nominee), "Bride Wars", "Get Smart", "Brokeback Mountain", "The Devil Wears Prada", and Disney's "The Princess Diaries"
Nikki M. James - Broadway: Tony Award Winner for Book of Mormon, All Shook Up
Paul Iacono - MTV's New Series "The Hard Times of RJ Berger" and 2009 MGM Films remake of "Fame"
Matthew Scott - Broadway: Jersey Boys, A Catered Affair, Sondheim on Sondheim
Monette McKay - Broadway's Memphis
Julia Knitel - Broadway's Bye, Bye Birdie
Lael Van Kuran - Broadway's Sister Act
Robert McClure - Broadway: Avenue Q
Krista Pioppi - National Tour: Spring Awakening, Paper Mill: The Sound of Music and Disney High School Musical
Frank Dolce - Fox's TV Series "Sons of Tucson" and Broadway: Billy Elliot, Miramax Films- "Doubt"
Elizabeth Egan Gillies - Nickelodeon's "Victorious" and Broadway: 13! The Musical
Veronica J. Kuehn - Broadway: Mamma Mia! and Xanadu
Eric Schneider - Broadway: Jersey Boys, National Tour: Grease, Paper Mill's Happy Days, A New Musical
Constantine Rousouli - Broadway: Hairspray, National Tour: Legally Blonde