Paper Mill's Rising Star Awards Honor High School Performers On 6/16

Paper Mill Playhouse's (Mark S. Hoebee-Artistic Director, Mark W. Jones-Executive Director) Rising Star Awards are modeled after the Tony® Awards and Paper Mill's program serves the entire state of New Jersey with 100 entered productions from public, private, and parochial high schools. On Tuesday, June 16th at 7:30pm the nominees perform and the award recipients are presented with a crystal award from Rising Star Award partner Tiffany's & Co.

Among the top nominated high schools, Summit High School garnered seventeen category nominations, followed by Fair Lawn High School with fifteen, and Rahway High School with thirteen. Tied with eleven nominations apiece are Nutley High School and Union High School. Cranford High School received ten nominations followed by Gill St. Bernard's School with eight. Bergen County Academies, Butler High School, Howell High School, New Milford High School, and Princeton Day School each garnered four nominations.

Since their inception in 1996 the Paper Mill Playhouse Rising Star Awards for Excellence in High School Musical Theater have ignited the careers of many notable performers, all of whom attended high school in New Jersey. Among early nominees and winners are Academy Award nominee Anne Hathaway, Tony® Award nominee Laura Benanti who starred on Broadway opposite Patti LuPone in Gypsy, Jared Gertner's name was called to accept the very first Rising Star Award for an Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role. After appearing as "The Lion" in Toms River North High School's production of The Wiz, Jared later made his Broadway debut in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.

Paper Mill awards $60,000 in scholarship money at the Rising Star Awards. Three $1,000 cash scholarships to outstanding individual students participating in entered Rising Star Award productions, who plan to continue studying theater in college. A technical theater scholarship is sponsored annually by Scaramouche Costumes, LLC. Paper Mill has also partnered with Westminster Choir College of Rider University in Princeton, New Jersey to offer a renewable scholarship worth $14,000 each year to a selected student participating in an entered Rising Star Award production wishing to major in musical theater. Additionally, students receiving final nominations in the lead and supporting acting categories automatically receive a full scholarship to Paper Mill Playhouse's competitive Summer Musical Theater Conservatory.

For a complete list of nominees visit www.papermill.org.