By Mabel Pais

“We are very excited to celebrate excellence in high school musical theater with the students of New Jersey”

–  Mark S. Hoebee, Paper Mill Playhouse’s Producing Artistic Director

“We consistently hear from top-tier colleges and casting directors that a Paper Mill Playhouse Rising Star Award is a significant accolade for an aspiring theater artist”

 – Lisa Cooney, Paper Mill’s Director of Education

Since their inception in 1996, the Paper Mill Playhouse Rising Star Awards for Excellence in High School Musical Theatre have ignited the careers of many notable performers, all of whom attended high school in New Jersey.  Among the early nominees and winners are Academy Award winner Anne Hathaway (Les Misérables), Tony Award winners Laura Benanti (Gypsy) and Nikki M. James (The Book of Mormon), Tony nominee Rob McClure (Chaplin), Shanice Williams, star of NBC’s The Wiz Live! and Olivier Award nominee Jared Gertner (The Book of Mormon).

This year Union High School took the prize for Outstanding Overall Production.

Indian American students recognized for the role of Outstanding Actress in a Leading Role were Mira Mookerjee of Moorestown High School as Lilli Vanessi/Katharine in Kiss Me, Kate; and Rakesh Potluri of Princeton Day School as Assistant Lighting Designer/Master Electrician in Bat Boy The Musical.

The Paper Mill Playhouse Rising Star Awards are modeled after the Tony Awards, and Paper Mill Playhouse’s program serves the entire state of New Jersey, with nearly 100 entered productions from public, private and parochial high schools. Paper Mill Playhouse conceived and created the awards in 1996 to give schools the opportunity to showcase their musical arts programs on a statewide level. The musicals are adjudicated by Paper Mill Playhouse throughout the spring by a group of 70 evaluators, with each school receiving four independent evaluations.  Schools nominated for Outstanding Overall Musical and Leading Actor/Actress nominees perform at the event, and award recipients are presented with an engraved crystal award.

Paper Mill Playhouse also awards $5,000 in scholarships at the Paper Mill Playhouse Rising Star Awards.  Four $1,000 cash scholarships are given to outstanding individual students who plan to continue studying theater performance in college. Paper Mill Playhouse is pleased to award a prize of $500 to a school receiving the 2018 Educational Impact Award, which acknowledges a school that successfully connects the musical to the district’s curriculum, using the production as a teaching tool for the greater student body and local community.

Through the Rising Star Theater for Everyone Inclusion and Access Award and a partnership with The Cultural Access Network of New Jersey, a project of the New Jersey Theatre Alliance and the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, Paper Mill Playhouse will present a cash award of $1,000 to a school to recognize excellence in the promotion and practice of creative inclusion of students and adults with disabilities as performers, designers, musicians and production staff. Additionally, this award seeks to recognize and reward a school that takes steps to ensure their performances are accessible to audiences with disabilities.

Lastly, students receiving final nominations in the lead and supporting acting categories receive a scholarship to Paper Mill Playhouse’s competitive Summer Musical Theatre Conservatory, a professional training program, which, along with advanced classes in singing, acting and dance, offers the nominees an opportunity to perform in the season finale concert, “New Voices of 2018: From Sea to Shining Sea” on July 27 and July 28 at Montclair State University.

For more information and a complete list of Rising Star Awardees, visit https://papermill.org/2018-rising-star-award-winners

(Mabel Pais writes on The Arts and Entertainment, Social Issues, Health and Wellness, and Spirituality)