120 of the Region’s Most Talented Students in New Voices of 2013: Swing Awakening

Millburn, NJ – Paper Mill Playhouse (Mark S. Hoebee-Producing Artistic Director, Todd Schmidt-Managing Director) is proud to present more than 120 of the 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 mainstage titled New Voices of 2013: Swing Awakening. Members of the competitive Conservatory who earned coveted spots in the 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 program. Also appearing are numerous winners and nominees of the 2013 Paper Mill Playhouse Rising Star Awards who won scholarships to attend the Conservatory.

Performances of New Voices of 2013: Swing Awakening will be held on Friday, August 2^nd at 7:30pm and Saturday, August 3^rd at 1:30 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.

This year’s New Voices theme is a celebration of the rich history of standards and jazz hits that are the soul and heart of musical theatre.  “New Voices is an amazing opportunity to see the stars of tomorrow,” stated Mark S. Hoebee, Paper Mill’s Producing Artistic Director.  “This fully produced, original concert features more than 120 incredible performers.  It is amazing to see these young performers grow into professional artists and grace our stage with an inspiring, heartfelt performance.”

The Paper Mill Playhouse Summer Musical Theatre Conservatory is a program of rigorous 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 Playhouse 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.”

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Students from Paper Mill Playhouse’s Conservatory have gone on to appear 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 Wedding Singer, Swing!

Anne Hathaway – Twelfth Night, Film: “Les Miserables (2013 Academy Award winner) “Rachel Getting Married” (2009 Academy Award & Golden Globe nominee), “Get Smart”, “Brokeback Mountain”, “The Devil Wears Prada”, and Disney’s “The Princess Diaries”

Robert McClure – Broadway: Chaplin, Avenue Q

Nikki M. James – Broadway: Tony Award Winner for Book of Mormon, All Shook Up

Constantine Rousouli – Broadway: Ghost, The Musical, Wicked

Ali Stroker – Oxygen’s “The Glee Project Season 2”

Matthew Scott – Broadway: Jersey Boys, A Catered Affair, Sondheim on Sondheim

Monette McKay – Broadway’s Memphis, Mamma Mia!

Lael Van Keuran – Broadway’s Sister Act

Elizabeth Egan Gillies – Nickelodeon’s “Victorious” and Broadway: 13! The Musical

Veronica J. Kuehn – Broadway: Mamma Mia!, Xanadu

2013 CONSERVATORY PERFORMERS BY TOWN

New Voices is generously supported by the Investors Foundation.  Major funding for Paper Mill Playhouse Education Outreach is provided by The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation and MetLife Foundation.  

PAPER MILL PLAYHOUSE, a not-for-profit arts organization, is one of the country’s leading regional theaters.  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.  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.