Shanice Williams

Paper Mill Playhouse has announced the nominations for the 2023 Rising Star Awards!

Brian Jordan Jr., who stars as Maurice Web on the hit BET series 'Sistas,” will direct and choreograph a brand new production of the Tony Award-winning musical, The Wiz at True Colors Theatre Company (915 New Hope Road, Atlanta, GA 30331).

Paper Mill Playhouse, (Mark S. Hoebee-Producing Artistic Director, Michael Stotts-Executive Director) recipient of the Tony Award for Regional Theatre, will hold auditions for students to be a part of the theater’s prestigious Summer Musical Theater Conservatory and Musical Theater Technique Intensive for 2023 on Saturday, January 21st and Sunday, January 29th at Montclair State University, College of the Arts/Life Hall, 1 Normal Avenue, Montclair, NJ. 

Members of Paper Mill Playhouse's competitive Conservatory are directed and choreographed by Paper Mill Playhouse’s professional artistic staff in a fully produced, original concert titled A Whole New World: A Tribute to Alan Menken. The concert features over 90 talented young performers, on July 29 at 7:30 PM and July 30 at 1:30 PM and 7:30 PM.

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. The 2022 Paper Mill Playhouse Rising Star Awards ceremony took place at Paper Mill Playhouse on Monday, June 6, at 7:30pm, and was livestreamed. 

The 2022 Paper Mill Playhouse Rising Star Awards ceremony will take place at Paper Mill Playhouse on Monday, June 6, at 7:30pm, featuring presenters from both Broadway and beyond. See the full list of nominees.

Audiences are invited to 'Ease On Down The Road' to the Taft Theatre when The Children's Theatre of Cincinnati presents the world-premiere adaptation of THE WIZ JR., April 2-11, 2022. This fresh 60-minute version rounds out the company's 21-22 MainStage Season. Tickets are on sale now.  

Paper Mill Playhouse has announced auditions for the institution’s 2022 Summer Training Programs including the prestigious Summer Musical Theater Conservatory or the Musical Theater Intensive. Paper Mill Playhouse welcomes audition videos from students 10-18 years old.

If you are a person who enjoys a good “out of sync,” then you belong in the turbulence-riddled realm of Arcadia by way of the Pasadena Playhouse where kings are queens, handmaids love above their station and amazons are…well, lots of things to a lot of people.

The cast stars Alaska 5000 (RuPaul's Drag Race), Lea DeLaria (Orange is the New Black), Yurel Echezarreta (Steven Spielberg's West Side Story), Tiffany Mann (Be More Chill), George Salazar (Little Shop of Horrors), Emily Skeggs (Fun Home), and Shanice Williams ('Dorothy' in NBC's The Wiz Live!).

Watch a clip of Tiffany Mann and the company of HEAD OVER HEELS at Pasadena Playhouse sing 'Beautiful'!

The Pasadena Playhouse opens its 2021-2022 season on November 13, 2021 with HEAD OVER HEELS, co-directed and co-choreographed by Jenny Koons and Sam Pinkleton. For these live performances featuring the music of the iconic L.A.-based female rock band The Go-Go’s, the Pasadena Playhouse had been reconfigured to include a dance floor to complement the traditional reserved theatre seats. HEAD OVER HEELS‘s cast is diversely comprised of: Alaska 5000, Lea DeLaria, Yurel Echezarreta, Tiffany Mann, George Salazar, Freddie, Emily Skeggs and Shanice Williams. Got the chance to catch George before their first preview for some behind-the-scenes info.

Pasadena Playhouse will present for Head Over Heels, with music of The Go-Go's, which kicks off the Playhouse's 2021-2022 season.

Pasadena Playhouse is now presenting Head Over Heels! The production is being directed, choreographed, and conceived by Jenny Koons and Sam Pinkleton and features music direction by Kris Kukul.

The cast stars Alaska 5000 (RuPaul's Drag Race), Lea DeLaria (Orange is the New Black), Yurel Echezarreta (Steven Spielberg's West Side Story), Tiffany Mann (Be More Chill), George Salazar (Little Shop of Horrors), Emily Skeggs (Fun Home), and Shanice Williams ('Dorothy' in NBC's The Wiz Live!).

Pasadena Playhouse has announced initial casting for its production of HEAD OVER HEELS. Leading the cast will be Alaska 5000 (RuPaul's Drag Race), Lea DeLaria (Orange is the New Black), Yurel Echezarreta (Steven Spielberg's West Side Story), Tiffany Mann (Be More Chill), George Salazar (Little Shop of Horrors), Emily Skeggs (Fun Home), and Shanice Williams ('Dorothy' in NBC's The Wiz Live!).

While it seems impossible to bring the theatrics of musical theatre to TV screens on a weekly basis, when you get down to it, television provides an insanely wide array of opportunities. However, just like movie musicals, its history is filled with ups and downs, and even nowadays networks struggle to find that balance.

Watch the entire ceremony and performance highlights from the 2021 Paper Mill Playhouse Rising Star Award, featuring performances from schools representing all corners of the state of New Jersey.

Since their inception in 1996, the Paper Mill Playhouse Rising Star Awards for Excellence in High School Musical Theatre presented by the Investors Foundation have ignited the careers of many notable performers, all of whom attended high school in New Jersey. 

Today we're celebrating Black History Month by taking a closer look at the 2009 Encores! production of The Wiz, which starred James Monroe Iglehart, Joshua Henry, LaChanze, Ashanti and more. Watch as we take you inside rehearsals with the cast!