John McEwen News

Paper Mill Playhouse has confirmed the loss of its beloved Theatre School Founding Director Mickey McNany, who lost her brave battle with cancer on Wednesday morning. 

On Monday, November 2, 2015, New Jersey Theatre Alliance will honor three New Jersey theatres and a current board member at Curtain Call, the annual celebration of New Jersey professional theatre.

In 2014, New Jersey Performing Arts Centerlaunched the Stage Exchange series, where cutting-edge new play development meets insightful community dialogue. Heading into its second year, NJPAC announces an inaugural commissioning program as part of the Stage Exchange. Following the commission period and staged reading at NJPAC, each play will receive a world premiere in the 2016-17 season at a New Jersey theater.

New Jersey Theatre Alliance, a service organization for the state's Equity producing theatres, is proud to announce that Jersey City Children's Theater (JCCT) has been accepted for membership in the Alliance. JCCT is now recognized, together with the 34 other professional theatre companies that are members of the Alliance, as a major force in bringing the joy and power of professional theatre to all residents and visitors of New Jersey.

New Jersey Theatre Alliance (the Alliance) has selected two of its member theatres, Paper Mill Playhouse and The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, to decorate the public halls of Drumthwacket, the Governor's Official Residence in Princeton, this holiday season. For the second year in a row, the Drumthwacket Foundation has partnered with the Alliance for this special holiday event, whose theme is: "Fantasy Through the Arts."

On November 3rd, New Jersey Theatre Alliance will present Excellence Awards to two New Brunswick theatres, Crossroads Theatre Company and George Street Playhouse, at 'Curtain Call,' the annual celebration of New Jersey's professional theatres. Each year, New Jersey Theatre Alliance, the service organization for the state's professional theatres, presents Excellence Awards to professional theatres in New Jersey that have shown exemplary achievements in the field. The Alliance will also honor Kessler Foundation with the Star Award for its ongoing support of programs that make theatre accessible to people with disabilities.

Ruth Zamoyta of Summit, NJ, has joined the New Jersey Theatre Alliance as Development & Communications Director. Previously, Zamoyta was Communications and Projects Manager in the Office of the President at Columbia University for four years, and worked as an independent marketing, strategy, and project consultant for a variety of organizations including small businesses and non-profits.

On July 1st, Todd Schmidt, Managing Director of Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, NJ, began his appointment as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the New Jersey Theatre Alliance (NJTA), the service organization for the state's professional theatres. Also on that date, Michael Hurst, Managing Director of Two River Theater in Red Bank, NJ, began his three-year term on the Board.

On July 1st, Todd Schmidt, Managing Director of Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, NJ, began his appointment as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the New Jersey Theatre Alliance, the service organization for the state's professional theatres. Also on that date, Michael Hurst, Managing Director of Two River Theater in Red Bank, NJ, began his three-year term on the Board.

On June 19th, at the sixth annual Cultural Access Network Awards, three organizations and one individual will be honored for their leadership, innovation, and commitment to increasing access to the arts for people with disabilities. The Awards are offered annually by the Cultural Access Network Project, cosponsored by the New Jersey Theatre Alliance and the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State; for the fifth year in a row, the event will be held at Grounds For Sculpture in Hamilton, New Jersey.

Every March, the New Jersey Theatre Alliance (NJTA), its professional member theatres and partner organizations offer an annual statewide theatre 'open-house' with free and discounted tickets to performances, workshops and events. For the second year, the Alliance and the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) will offer a 'festival-within-the-festival' at NJPAC over this weekend, March 21 through Sunday, March 23 with eight events.

Every March, the New Jersey Theatre Alliance (NJTA), its professional member theatres and partner organizations offer an annual statewide theatre "open-house" with free and discounted tickets to performances, workshops and events. For the second year, the Alliance and the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) will offer a "festival-within-the-festival" at NJPAC over the weekend of Friday, March 21 through Sunday, March 23 with eight events.

New Jersey Performing Arts Center (President and CEO, John Schreiber) and Two River Theater (Artistic Director John Dias and Managing Director Michael Hurst) announced today a new collaboration that will bring a concert version of Meredith Willson's The Music Man, performed by an African-American cast, to audiences in both Newark and Red Bank, New Jersey.

New Jersey Theatre Alliance, the service organization for the state's professional theatres, will celebrate with their member theatres, friends and supporters at Curtain Call on Monday, October 21st at Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton, NJ.

On June 21st, at the fifth annual Cultural Access Network Awards, four organizations and one individual were honored for their leadership, innovation and commitment to increasing access to the arts for people with disabilities. Attended by over 100 community leaders and artists, the Awards are offered annually by the Cultural Access Network Project, (CAN) cosponsored by the New Jersey Theatre Alliance and the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State; for the fourth year in a row, the event was held at Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton, New Jersey.

Playwrights Theatre will be conducting various writing residencies this spring in Newark through their New Jersey Writer's Project, a co-sponsored program with the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. Playwrights Theatre was one of eighteen organizations pre-qualified to provide educational services to the Newark Board of Education.

New Jersey Theatre Alliance, the service organization for the state's professional theatres, will celebrate with their member theatres, friends and supporters at Curtain Call on October 22nd. The event (formerly known as the Applause Awards), will be held at Ursino, the elegant new farm-to-table restaurant on the campus of Kean University in Union, which is also home to Premiere Stages, one of NJTA's 32 professional theatre members.

The Actors Fund Housing Development Corporation (AFHDC) today launched a market study to determine the interests of performing and visual artists and others associated with the arts, entertainment and creative industries in affordable housing in Rahway, NJ. In an event at the new Hamilton Stage, the AFHDC began a four-week initiative to survey artists from metropolitan New York to Trenton, NJ. Survey results will help shape the Rahway Residence for the Arts, a 69-unit affordable housing project the AFHDC will develop in the Rahway Arts District (RAD).

On June 7th, at the fourth annual Cultural Access Network Awards, three organizations and one individual will be honored for their leadership, innovation and commitment to increasing access to the arts for people with disabilities.