Paper Mill History

 

 

 

HOW IT ALL BEGAN
In 1795, Samuel Campbell opened The Thistle Paper Mill on the site of the current Paper Mill Playhouse.  Destroyed by a fire in the 1860’s, it was rebuilt and continued to operate for another 35 years.  In 1934, Antoinette Scudder purchased the derelict paper mill and enlisted Frank Carrington as her co-founder and Executive Producer. 

November 14, 1938    
Paper Mill Playhouse opens its doors with The Kingdom of God, a play by Martinez Sierra, and sixteen plays were produced over the next two years.

1938                                       
Multiple Tony Award®, Academy Award®, and Golden Globe Award® winner José Ferrer performs in Flight Into China.   Eva Le Gallienne and Rex O’Malley appear in Noel Coward’s Private Lives.

1939                                       
Frank Carrington and Antoinette Scudder put on the First New Jersey Theatre Festival and establish a theatre school for children.  Frank Carrington announces that Paper Mill Playhouse would become a permanent repertory theatre producing shows year-round. Papa Is All, directed by Frank Carrington and Agnes Morgan Agnes Morgan (who had joined the Playhouse as co-director) originates at Paper Mill Playhouse, moves to Broadway, and tours the country.

1940                                       
“The Paper Miller” is the Morris-Essex Railroad’s solution for limited travel due to gas rationing during war years.  Patrons picked up the train in     Newark and the railroad arranged to pick up audience members after the curtain went down at Paper Mill Playhouse. 

1941
Carrington and Morgan stage a decade of mostly operettas consistently featuring Donald Gage and Dorothy Sandlin. 

1942                                       
Paper Mill Playhouse premiers The Desert Song, which with The Student Prince holds the record for most repeated productions at Paper Mill Playhouse with a total of nine.

1951
Operettas are no longer the focus of the theatre’s programming.  More musicals and plays are incorporated into the Playhouse’s repertoire and guest Directors are frequently employed along with many stars of stage and screen.

1956
A notable season that includes The Chalk Garden starring Dorothy and Lillian Gish and The Heiress starring and directed by Basil Rathbone.

1958                                       
Antoinette Scudder, the matriarch of Paper Mill Playhouse, passes away leaving behind a legacy as an arts philanthropist.  Angelo Del Rossi is hired as the casting director and later becomes Associate Producer.                       

1960                                       
Tony® Award winner Donna McKechnie performs in Redhead and multiple Academy Award winner Jane Fonda appears in No Concern of Mine. Additional star power that season included Arlene Francis, Kevin McCarthy,  Academy Award winner Celeste Holm, Academy Award winner Joan Fontaine, Cathleen Nesbitt, Eve Arden, Constance Bennett, Mike Nichols and Elaine May.

1961                                       
The great Gloria Swanson stars in Between Seasons. Academy Award and Golden Globe Award  winner Celeste Holm appears in in Invitation to a March.  Multiple Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award   winner Jean Stapleton and Golden Globe Award , multiple Academy Award and Emmy Award winner Shelley Winters appear in Country Girl.

1962
A season that would feature Tom Bosley, Walter Pidgeon, Hans Conreid, Eileen Brennan, Margaret O’Brien, Julie Wilson, Tallulah Bankhead and Myrna Loy, not to mention Chita Rivera direct from Broadway in Bye Bye Birdie.  Long time leading lady Betsy Palmer makes her Paper Mill debut in Maggie and South Pacific.

1963
Carol Channing appears with Gene Wilder in The Millionairess and is discovered by Broadway producer David Merrick and tapped to play the lead in the new Broadway musical Hello Dolly!  Eva Gabor performs in Shot in the Dark and the esteemed Claudette Colbert stars with Cyril Ritchard in The Irregular Verb to Love.

1964
The First Lady of the American Theatre, Helen Hayes, makes her Paper Mill debut in The White House. The season also includes Van Johnson and Richard Benjamin in 1000 Clowns, Hermione Gingold in Oh Dad, Poor Dad, and award winning star-to-be Liza Minnelli in Carnival.

1965                                       
Eleven plays and five musicals were produced featuring stellar performances by the likes of June Allyson, Dana Andrews, Betty White, George Hamilton, Bert Lahr, Beatrice Lillie, Jack Gifford and Dom DeLuise.  Paper Mill Playhouse’s production of The Glass Menagerie starring Maureen Stapleton, George Grizzard and Piper Laurie transfers to Broadway.                                                                                      

1966
The season opens with A Case of Libel starring Van Heflin followed by Dial M for Murder with Joan Fontaine.  Newcomers Barbara Cooke and Sandy Duncan appear in The Boyfriend.  Nancy Walker directs and stars in Fallen Angels and Hollywood heartthrob Fabian stars in John Loves Mary.

1969                                       
Paper Mill Playhouse’s production of Here Lies Jeremy Troy transfers to Broadway.  Paper Mill favorite Eddie Bracken makes his Playhouse debut in You Know I Can’t Hear You When The Water’s Running.  By the end of the 1960’s Paper Mill Playhouse had produced 145 productions. 

1970
The decade begins with a season of seven plays and only three musicals.  Paper Mill debuts include Vivian Vance, Dody Goodman, George S. Irving, Maureen O’Sullivan, Tammy Grimes and Brian Bedford.  Fresh from his stint in “Star Trek”, William Shatner stars in The Tender Trap.

1972                                       
Governor William Cahill proclaims Paper Mill Playhouse the ‘State Theatre of New Jersey’.  The New Jersey Ballet makes its debut with Nutcracker Suite starring Edward Villella.

1973                                       
Multiple Tony Award and Golden Globe Award winner Bernadette Peters performs in Dames at Sea. Mickey Rooney stars in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Helen Gallagher reprises her Tony Award winning role in No, No, Nanette.

1974
Future Dirty Dancing star Patrick Swayze dances in the chorus of The Music Man.  Anne Meara and Jerry Stiller headline Prisoner of Second Avenue and Ann Miller stars in Anything Goes.

1975                                       
Frank Carrington passes on, leaving a legacy of producing great productions established over four decades at Paper Mill Playhouse.  Angelo Del Rossi assumes the leadership position as the new Executive Producer.

1977
Muli-award winning Julie Harris performs The Bell of Amherst.  The season also includes appearances by Eva Marie Saint, David McCallum, Ginger Rogers, Virginia Mayo and Bert Parks.  Broadway-bound Christine Ebersole appears with Ed Ames in Shenandoah.

1978
Academy Award winners Geraldine Page and Sandy Dennis and Emmy winner Rip Torn appear in The Little Foxes.

January 14, 1980                     
A major fire burns Paper Mill Playhouse to the ground.

1981                                       
Ground breaking commences on the new 1,200 seat theatre operated today.  The community fundraises and lends support for the re-building of Paper Mill Playhouse.

October 30, 1982                   
The new Paper Mill Playhouse opens with an opening night gala that mixes celebrities and long time Paper Mill Playhouse supporters in the newly built theatre complete with accessible seating and an infrared listening
system.  Paper Mill Playhouse re-opens its doors with the American premiere of Robert and Elizabeth starring Leigh Beery.  Berry and Marc Jacoby and directed by Robert Johanson.

1982                                       
Jason Robards and Colleen Dewhurst headline the amazing cast of You Can’t Take It With You which then transfers to The Kennedy Center and on to Broadway where it is filmed for “Broadway on Showtime.”

1983                                       
Judith McCauley and Richard White make the first of their many Paper Mill appearances singing the leading roles in The New Moon.  Paper Mill Playhouse’s production of Annie marks the start of sign-interpreted performances.

1984                                       
Robert Johanson is appointed Artistic Director of Paper Mill Playhouse.  Johanson creates new works, revisits
classics, and adapts literature for the stage during his time at Paper Mill Playhouse. 

1985                                       
Paper Mill Playhouse’s production of Inherit the Wind starring E.G. Marshall and Robert Vaughn  wins “Showtime’s Search for Excellence in American Theatre Award”.  Tony Award winner Judy Kaye performs in Windy City.

1986                                       
The season kicks off with Damn Yankees starring Orson Bean and directed by the great George Abbott.
Candide caught the attention of the National Endowment for the Arts and          ranked Paper Mill Playhouse second in the nation for artistic excellence, surpassed only by the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.

1987                                       
My One and Only marks the start of audio described performances and sensory seminars at Paper Mill Playhouse. 

1988                                       
Emmy Award  winner Tony Randall performs in Two Into One and Lee Roy Reams heads the cast of La Cage Aux Folles.

1989                                       
Showboat is nationally broadcast on the PBS “Great Performances” series and receives two Emmy Award nominations.  Multi Tony Award winning Director/Choreographer Susan Stroman makes her choreographic debut with the world premiere of Rhythm Ranch.  The Adopt-A-School project is implemented and expanded to create Paper Mill Playhouse’s Education Department.

1992
Academy Award nominee Rob Marhsall (Chicago) makes his professional directing debut with a stellar production of Chess.  Judy McLane, in the first of her many Paper Mill appearances is the leading lady.  The Wizard of Oz opens Paper Mill’s tenth season the current theatre.  Oz is eventually remounted at The Theatre at Madison Square Garden starring Roseanne Barr and then tours nationally with Eartha Kitt and Mickey Rooney.

1993
Future Tony Award winner and television star Kristin Chenoweth makes her professional debut in Animal Crackers.

1995
Mark S. Hoebee directs his first Paper Mill production with an acclaimed revival of Dreamgirls.

1996                                       
The Rising Star Awards are created to encourage and reward excellence in New Jersey’s high school musicals.  It is also the first year of the Summer Musical Theatre Conservatory and annual New Voices concert.  Gigi with Glory Crampton in the title role. is the first show to have open-captioning at Paper Mill Playhouse. 

1997                                       
Film actress Anne Hathaway is featured in Paper Mill Playhouse’s New Voices Concert after attending Paper Mill’s theatre school for several years.  Rising Star Award winner and future Tony Award winning Broadway star Laura Benanti receives her Actors’ Equity Card in Man of La Mancha.  The east coast premiere of Stephen Schwartz and John Caird’s Children of Eden results in Paper Mill’s first original cast album.

1998
Ann Miller and Donna McKechnie lead the all-star cast of the acclaimed revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Follies which generates international attention.  Gypsy starring Betty Buckley and Deborah Gibson is named one of the “Top Ten Theatrical Events of the Year” by USA Today.

1999                                       
Paper Mill Playhouse’s production of Crazy for You was nationally broadcast on the PBS Great Performances Series and nominated for an Emmy Award.  Tony Award winners Christine Ebersole and Kelly Bishop star in Mame.

2001
Mark S. Hoebee joins the Playhouse staff as Associate Director.  Eddie Bracken celebrates his history-making 15,000th appearance on stage during the run of Carousel

2002                                       
Golden Globe Award, multiple Emmy Award, and multiple Tony Award winner Judd Hirsch and Tony Award winner Ben Vereen perform in I’m Not Rappaport which transfers to Broadway.

2003
Angelo Del Rossi retires as Executive Producer and Michael Gennaro leaves Chicago’s Stppenwolf Theatre Company to become Paper Mill’s President and CEO.

2004                                       
Tony Award winner John Lloyd Young performs in The Chosen alongside the esteemed Theodore Bikel.

2005                                      
The world premiere of Harold and Maude: The Musical at Paper Mill Playhouse stars Academy Award winner Estelle Parsons and is directed and choreographed by Mark S. Hoebee.  John  Mahony performs in The Drawer Boy.

Spring 2007                
A financial crisis causes Paper Mill Playhouse to launch a “Save the Theatre” campaign to enable the 2006-2007  season to finish its productions of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and Pirates!.  The community donates more than one million dollars in four weeks.

FALL 2007:
A loan from Investors Savings Bank allows Paper Mill to move forward with its 2007-2008 Season.  In November, Mark W. Jones is appointed Executive Director, bringing an impressive 30 year history in arts management.

2008   
In January, Mark S. Hoebee is promoted to Artistic Director and joins Executive Director Mark W. Jones in taking the reins of the theater.  In June, Millburn Township votes to purchase Paper Mill Playhouse’s four acre site and buildings for nine million dollars.  This is the first time in New Jersey’s history that a municipality has supported an arts organization at such a high level.  In September, Paper Mill Playhouse opens its 70th Anniversary Season!

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