About Rising Star Awards

The Paper Mill Playhouse Rising Star Awards were created in 1996 to encourage and reward exceptional accomplishments in the production of high school musical theatre. Now in its 15th year, the Rising Star Awards are a statewide competition of New Jersey high school musicals modeled after Broadway's Tony Awards, and with Paper Mill's assistance, the program has been replicated in several regions nationwide.

Recognition of outstanding achievement by students and educators will be made in the areas of performance, design, direction, choreography, technical production and overall production excellence. The Rising Star Award Corps of Evaluators (comprised of theater professionals, performing artists and designers, and theater arts educators) will fan out across New Jersey between January and April to see shows at all 100 entered schools and will make nomination recommendations in various performance and production categories. In June, the Tony Awards-style Rising Star Awards Gala Ceremony is presented on the Paper Mill stage, where nominees perform and selected recipients are presented with an engraved crystal award from sponsor Tiffany & Co.

Paper Mill Playhouse also awards four $1000 cash scholarships to outstanding individual students participating in entered Rising Star Award productions who plan to continue studying theater in college. A fifth scholarship for $1000 dedicated to technical theater is sponsored by Scaramouche Costumes, LLC.

Lastly, students receiving final nominations in the lead and supporting acting categories win a full 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 on the Paper Mill stage in our annual New Voices Concert.

Who can participate and what is required? Any New Jersey public, private or parochial school may enter by completing an application and being among the first 100 to apply by a January deadline TBD. All schools in NJ will receive a notice via US mail instructing them on how to locate and submit an application electronically, as well as how to access the Rules and Guidelines, Auxiliary Awards and Scholarship information. All schools must submit the electronic application. Applications for the 2011 program will be posted on the Paper Mill website on December 1, 2010. All schools will be required to use the e-application form submitted via email. The hardcopy print-out must be signed by the adult director or school administrator. Signatures of parents or a non-employee of the school are not accepted. All accepted applications will be confirmed via email. It is strongly advised that schools not wait until too close to the deadline to submit their application. Schools should apply early, even if their title and dates are not yet confirmed by the licensing house. TBA may be listed for both questions.