Paper Mill Playhouse Hosts 'The Little House On The Prairie Festival' 9/12

Paper Mill Playhouse (Mark S. Hoebee-Artistic Director, Mark W. Jones-Executive Director) is proud to announce a community event to celebrate the opening of the 2009-2010 season. The Little House on the Prairie Harvest Festival will be held in Taylor Park and Main Street in Downtown Millburn on Saturday, September 12th from 1:00pm until 5:00pm. This is a fee, fun-filled event for the entire family featuring a live blue-grass band, a live country-rock band, professional and amateur square-dancing, free pony rides, free petting zoo, free hayrides, free face painting, a pie baking contest, a Prairie themed costume contest, specialty foods, an appearance by cast members from Little House on the Prairie-The Musical, and much more.

Bring your favorite lawn chair out to Taylor Park for four hours of continuous country music. The Lewis Brothers are the tri-state area's best known bluegrass band. The current incarnation is a five piece band featuring banjo, dobro, mandolin, guitar and stand up bass. The group, heavily influenced by Flatt and Scruggs and Bill Monroe, features along with Wanamaker Lewis on banjo, Peter Lorch on guitar and vocals, Jim Heffernan on dobro-the area's best-Larry Hunsberger on mandolin and vocals, and Lewis Brothers stalwart Ron Greenstein on bass. Outstanding instrumentals and great vocals with tight three-part harmony highlight this top-notch band's profile. The Lewis Brothers will alternate sets with The Classix. With their big blues, country, southern rock and classic rock sound, The Classix have been launching crowds throughout the United States onto the dance floor since 1999. The Classix play all the popular favorites plus a sophisticated selection of original tunes that will leave the crowd begging for more.

For the kids, Paper Mill Playhouse is offering, free pony rides, a large petting zoo, and horse-drawn hayrides. Happy Tales is New Jersey's original traveling petting zoo & farm with friendly farm animals, pony rides and horse-drawn hay rides. There will be a children's area set up on the Main Street side of Taylor Park. Kids should also prepare their best prairie out-fits for the costume contest with fun prizes for kids.

For the adults, put on your baking gloves and get ready for Millburn's Premier Pie-Baking Contest with multiple prizes for best looking pie and best tasting pie. To register your participation for the Pie Baking Contest, please call Amanda Householder at Paper Mill Playhouse, 973-379-3636, ext. 2645.

Food vendors will be selling refreshments on Main Street throughout the day or make it a picnic and bring your own meal.

September 10 - October 10
Little House on the Prairie- The Musical
With Melissa Gilbert as Ma

MUSIC BY Rachel Portman
BOOK BY Rachel Sheinkin
LYRICS BY Donna DiNovelli
BASED ON THE BOOK "LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE" BY Laura Ingalls Wilder
SPONSORED BY RBC WEALTH MANAGEMENT
Restoring our faith in the future by recalling the stories of our past...
Little House on the Prairie has remained one of the most beloved celebrations of early Americana since the appearance of Laura Ingalls Wilder's popular classic book series 70 years ago. Now the inspirational stories take on a brand new frontier in an uplifting new musical with an award-winning "dream team" of creative talent including director Francesca Zambello (Disney's The Little Mermaid on Broadway). Melissa Gilbert, who played ‘Laura' for ten years in the much loved-television series, continues her legacy by starring as ‘Ma'. Families will continue to fall in love with these life-affirming stories about the Ingalls' struggles and triumphs through the celebration of the pioneering spirit and the core values on which this country was founded - a spirit that resonates within each of us today. Little House on the Prairie, The Musical is proudly sponsored by RBC Wealth Management. Little House on the Prairie, The Musical is generously supported by a grant from The Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation, and by a Recovery Act award from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Single tickets for all five mainstage productions go on-sale to the public on Monday, August 3rd for the 2009-2010 season. The season opener, Little House on the Prairie had its world premiere production in August, 2008 at the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis, where it shattered all box-office records and sold-out for 12 consecutive weeks. Tickets may be purchased by calling 973-376-4343, or at the Paper Mill Box Office at 22 Brookside Drive in Millburn, or online at www.papermill.org. Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express accepted. Groups of ten or more can receive up to a 35% discount on tickets and should call 973-379-3636 ext. 2438. Paper Mill Playhouse will produce eight performances a week, Wednesday through Sunday.

Paper Mill Playhouse, a not-for-profit arts organization, is one of the country's leading regional theatres. Paper Mill Playhouse programs are made possible, in part, by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, A Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, and by funds from the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional major support is provided by generous contributions from numerous corporations, foundations, and individuals. Paper Mill Playhouse is a member of Theatre Communications Group, the National Alliance for Musical Theatre, the Council of Stock Theatres, and the New Jersey Theatre Alliance.

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