FEATURING PAPER MILL PLAYHOUSE’S STAR-STUDDED LINEUP OF BROADWAY LEGENDS INCLUDING NEW TONY AWARD WINNER ANDRÉ DE SHIELDS, TONY AWARD WINNERS LILLIAS WHITE & DONNA MCKECHNIE PLUS A FINAL PERFORMANCE FROM THE LATE GEORGIA ENGEL.

Paper Mill Playhouse (Mark S. Hoebee-Producing Artistic Director, Michael Stotts- Managing Director), recipient of the Regional Theatre Tony Award, along with Sony Masterworks Broadway announces the July 19^th release of HALF TIME (ORIGINAL CAST RECORDING), with music by Matthew Sklar, lyrics by Nell Benjamin and additional music by Marvin Hamlisch and Ester Dean.  Available for preorder now, the album features music from the Bob Martin and Chad Beguelin-written musical, which made its 2018 debut at Paper Mill Playhouse and tells the uplifting true story of ten New Jersey seniors with extraordinary dreams.

The Half-Time (Original Cast Recording) features some of the last songs written by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning composer Marvin Hamlisch, who passed away during the show’s early gestation.  The album also features a who’s who of Broadway talent, including five-time Emmy Award-nominated actress Georgia Engel (The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Everybody Loves Raymond), Tony and Emmy Award winner Lillias White (The Life, Sesame Street), Tony and Drama Desk Award winner Donna McKechnie (A Chorus Line) and Emmy Award winner André De Sheilds (The Wiz), who most recently won a Tony for his role in Hadestown.  The Original Cast Recording is dedicated to the memory of Georgia Engel.

Based on the motion picture Gotta Dance, directed, written and produced by Dori Bernstein, Half Time tells the incredible true story of ten determined dreamers who audition to dance at half time for a major basketball team., inspired by the true story of the Brooklyn Nets NETSational dance team. They have three things in common: they love to dance, they have something to prove, and they are all over 60. Only after making the cut do they learn they won’t be dancing tap, salsa or swing—instead, they will bring down the house with a style that is entirely new to them: hip-hop. Take the uplifting journey with these dreamers—and the young coaches who inspire them along the way—as they battle self-doubt, stereotypes and even each other for a chance to bust a move at center court in front of 20,000 screaming fans. Together they remind us that in life, when the odds are stacked against you and the challenges seem too great to overcome, it’s not the end of the game—it’s Half Time.

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Paper Mill Playhouse (Mark S. Hoebee-Producing Artistic Director), recipient of the Regional Theatre Tony Award, presents Irving Berlin’s Holiday Inn, based on the film from Universal Pictures, with music and lyrics by Irving Berlin, and book by Gordon Greenberg and Chad Hodge.  Irving Berlin’s Holiday Inn begins performances TOMORROW, Wednesday, November 21, 2018, and will continue through Sunday, December 30, 2018, at Paper Mill Playhouse (22 Brookside Drive, Millburn, NJ). Bank of America is the Major Sponsor of Irving Berlin’s Holiday. Paper Mill Playhouse’s 2018-2019 season is proudly sponsored by Investors Bank.

Directed by Mr. Greenberg (The Baker’s Wife, 1776 – Paper Mill), and with choreography by Denis Jones (Mary Poppins – Paper Mill,Holiday Inn – Broadway, Tony nomination), music direction by Shawn Gough (Annie, Paper Mill), the principal cast features Paige Faure(Honeymoon in Vegas – Paper Mill) as Lila Dixon, Jordon Gelber (Avenue Q) as Danny, Ann Harada (Avenue Q) as Louise,  Jeff Kready(Thoroughly Modern Millie – Paper Mill) as Ted Hanover, Hayley Podschun (Peter Pan – Paper Mill) as Linda Mason, Nicholas Rodriguez(Tarzan) as Jim Hardy with Jian Harrell and Aidan Alberto alternating in the role of Charlie Winslow.

They are joined by Jordan Beall, Gene Biscontini, Colin Bradbury, Tricia DeSario, Taylor Fields, Kelly Gleason, Juliane Godfrey, Berklea Going, Joshua Israel, Julie Kavanagh, Mallory Nolting, Clifton Samuels, JT Teeling, Karl Skylar Urban, Amy Van Norstrand,Scarlett Walker, Travis Ward-Osborne, and John T. Wolfe.

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Paper Mill Playhouse (Mark S. Hoebee-Producing Artistic Director, Todd Schmidt-Managing Director), recipient of the 2016 Regional Theatre Tony Award, is proud to announce John Doyle’s production of The Color Purple will open the 2018-2019 season, replacing the previously announced Unmasked. The Tony Award-winning revival of The Color Purple that exhilarated Broadway will thrill audiences at Paper Mill Playhouse from September 26 to October 21. With a soul-raising, Grammy-winning score infused with jazz, gospel, ragtime and blues, The Color Purple is an unforgettable and moving revival of the American classic. Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel and Academy Award-nominated feature film, The Color Purple leaves its mark on the soul. Casting will be announced at a later date.

From Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning bestseller and Steven Spielberg’s Oscar-nominated film comes a stage musical with a book by Marsha Norman and music and lyrics by Stephen Bray, Brenda Russell, and Allee Willis. This stirring family chronicle follows the inspirational Celie as she journeys from childhood through joy and despair, anguish and hope to discover the power of love and life. The original Broadway production ran from 2005 to 2008, earning eleven Tony Award nominations. An enthusiastically acclaimed Broadway revival opened in late 2015 and ran through early 2017, winning two 2016 Tony Awards—including Best Revival of a Musical.

“The Color Purple is a title that has been on my wish list for a number of years and we are thrilled to produce this masterpiece for our audience,” commented Mark S. Hoebee, the theater’s Producing Artistic Director. “John Doyle’s visionary reimagining of this powerful tale will take our audiences on an unforgettable journey. We received news last week from our producing partners in London that due to unforeseen scheduling issues, Unmasked can no longer be presented as part of our 2018-2019 Paper Mill Playhouse season. We look forward to presenting it in a future season.”

Paper Mill Playhouse will produce eight performances a week, Wednesday through Sunday. Three, four and five-show subscription packages are available now starting at just $111. Each subscription package includes a different level of special benefits (see www.PaperMill.org for details). Youth subscriptions are available for children ages 4-18 with the purchase of an adult subscription with accessible discount pricing. Single tickets will go on sale on August 20 starting at just $35. Tickets and subscriptions may be purchased by calling 973.376.4343, or at the Paper Mill Playhouse Box Office at 22 Brookside Drive in Millburn, or online at www.papermill.org.  Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express accepted.  Groups of ten or more can receive up to a 40% discount on tickets and should call 973.315.1680. Subscribers who have chosen Unmasked as part of their series will automatically have their seats transferred to The Color Purple. If subscribers would like add tickets to The Color Purple or modify their subscription, they can call the Paper Mill Playhouse subscriptions office at 973.379.3717.

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