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LISA COONEY, the director of education for the Paper Mill Playhouse, based in Millburn, freely admits, ''Student performances aren't for everybody.'' So she was surprised last year by the audience for ''New Voices,'' an annual show that features the dancing, acting and singing talents of 120 New Jersey show business hopefuls, ages 10 through 18. ''We did a focus group and found that 66 percent of the audience weren't related in any way'' to the student performers, Ms. Cooney said. The students are participants in Paper Mill's competitive Summer Musical Theater Conservatory, a five-week program held at Montclair State University beginning each June. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The executive director of the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, N.J., Mark W. Jones, below, has resigned. The resignation, reported in The Star-Ledger of Newark, was submitted on June 24. Mark Hoebee, the theater's artistic director, has taken on the new title of producing artistic director and said that a search was under way for a managing director with whom he would share leadership of the organization. Efforts to reach Mr. Jones on Tuesday were unsuccessful. Mr. Jones, who came to the theater in November 2007, helped to bring the Paper Mill back from the financial brink with a real estate deal in June 2008. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

MILLBURN, N.J. -- ''I'm a little scared,'' confessed one of the children in the black-box theater at the Paper Mill Playhouse here on a recent Friday. The admission, made by a 10-year-old latecomer in a Lion King T-shirt who occasionally buried his head in his mother's lap, hardly fazed the drama teacher, Leslie Fanelli, 54, of New Providence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It could have been 1955 again. At the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, it was the opening night of a new production of ''Damn Yankees,'' and the orchestra began the overture. Those familiar songs -- ''Heart'' (''miles and miles and miles of heart''), ''Whatever Lola Wants,'' ''Goodbye, Old Girl'' -- were instant reminders of why this Faustian baseball musical won seven Tony Awards 56 years ago. This is a first-rate, frequently thrilling revival, even if it does have one disappointing flaw. But that comes later. The curtain goes up on two characters who would surely describe themselves as an old married couple. Joe Boyd (Joseph Kolinski), whose waistline and blood pressure have seen better days, is engrossed in a televised baseball game, in which his team, the Washington Senators, is losing to the New York Yankees. His wife, Meg (Patti Cohenour), begins singing ''Six Months Out of Every Year,'' a baseball widow's lament. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

THE little old ladies gave it everything they had, thumping their walkers and stomping their orthopedic shoes in unison on the stage of the Paper Mill Playhouse. But in the end, a cluster of energetic dancing cowboys edged them out. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article profiles the Millburn, New Jersey's Paper Mill Playhouse. The article notes that the Paper Mill theater, which is described as one of the premier nonprofit theaters in New Jersey, may be forced to close in 2007 due to an estimated $1.5 million shortfall. The article notes that the April 2007 run of "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" may be the theater's last production.

Features the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, New Jersey. Presentation of the theater's upcoming productions; Appearance of music performer Leslie Uggams in the drama `Black Girl.'

The township of Millburn, N.J., has agreed to buy the land and buildings of the Paper Mill Playhouse for $9 million and rent them to the theater, which is recovering from a near-fatal financial crisis. The Millburn Township Committee voted unanimously on Tuesday to approve the purchase, which will help the theater pay off a $3.5 million bank loan it took out last year; close this year's deficit; provide working capital; and beef up a newly created endowment. The theater's debt should be cleared by the end of July, said Mark W. Jones, executive director of the Paper Mill. The theater will hold a 75-year lease, with the rent for the first two years set at $1, then growing until it eventually equals 1 percent of the theater's annual operating income. (Its current budget is $18.6 million.) In the 11th year of the lease, the theater has an option to buy back the land. As landlord, the township has no say over management of the theater, only the use of the property, Mr. Jones said. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article reports that the financially floundering theater, Paper Mill Playhouse, in Millburn, New Jersey, has announced a plan that includes administrative restructuring, a sizable bank loan and help from the government. It has also announced that it would finish its season in 2007 on schedule and continue operating in 2008. According to Kenneth Thorn, the president of the theater's board of trustees, this plan will lay the foundation for a longer-term financial solution for the theater.

Melissa Gilbert and three other stars of the Guthrie Theater's 2008 production of ''Little House on the Prairie, the Musical'' in Minneapolis are to follow the show to Millburn, N.J., when it opens at the Paper Mill Playhouse on Sept. 10, according to its Web site, papermill.org. Playbill.com reported that Ms. Gilbert, who starred as Laura in the television series based on the books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, will lead the cast in the role of Ma, with Steve Blanchard, Kara Lindsay and Kevin Massey reprising their roles as Pa, Laura and Almanzo Wilder. The Paper Mill cast will also include Kate Loprest (Nellie), Alessa Neeck (Mary) and Carly Rose Sonenclar (Carrie). ... Catalina Sandino Moreno, nominated for an Oscar in 2005 for her performance as a pregnant teenager in the movie ''Maria Full of Grace,'' will star opposite Matthew Broderick in the New Group's world premiere of Kenneth Lonergan's ''Starry Messenger.'' Previews at the New Group@Theater Row, on West 42nd Street in Manhattan, are to begin in October. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A woman in the middle of Row D, looking up from her program, waved to her friend about 10 seats away. ''Judy Garland's daughter!'' she called out. Her friend nodded in appreciation. It was shortly before the overture at a recent performance of ''Irving Berlin's White Christmas,'' this year's sparkly holiday production at the Paper Mill Playhouse. So if there was any doubt that Lorna Luft was the star attraction, it was quickly erased. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article reports that the theater Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, New Jersey is collecting donations to keep itself alive. The theater is facing a $2.8 million shortfall. In March-April 2007, the theater is reported to have collected about $300,000 in donations. The donations will help the production of theatrical production "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers." The theater is also considering to take a bank loan.