Paper Mill History

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Toward the end of the 18th Century, in March of 1795, Sam Campbell built a mill on a tract of land along a brook in a town then known as Millville. He operated it for nearly 20 years until fire ended his business. After several abandoned years, the mill changed hands many times until, in the late 1870s, Diamond Mill Paper Company took over and began making paper products until 1928.

Around the time the mill was shutting down, Antoinette Scudder, an artist and writer of poetry and plays, began a friendship with Frank Carrington, an actor and director in the theatre. A partnership was born. Their vision for a theatre in New Jersey grew after several collaborations for the stage. Soon the pair discovered the vacant mill and over the course of several years created a theatre on the site of the former paper mill.

Founded in 1934, Paper Mill Playhouse raised the curtain on its first performance in 1938, opening with a production of Spanish playwright Martinez Sierra's The Kingdom of God on November 14, 1938. By the end of the first year, Carrington had coaxed entertainer Irene Castle out of retirement to make her dramatic debut in Noel Coward's Shadow Play. The first few years featured a variety of classical and modern plays. By 1941, the Playhouse had begun to specialize in operettas, which continued until the early 1950s.

Change marked this period in Paper Mill's history, and with Miss Scudder's death in 1958, one stage of the journey ended. Angelo Del Rossi joined as Associate Producer in 1964, working closely with Carrington until his death in 1975, when he assumed the position of Executive Producer. Not long after that, a fire in 1980 would again change the course of the theatre's journey. Paper Mill began to rebuild and on October 30, 1982, the curtain rose again. In April 2003, Michael Gennaro, former Executive Director of Chicago's Steppenwolf Theater, joined Paper Mill as President and CEO.

Paper Mill Playhouse was one of the first to begin the regional theatre movement in the United States. It has grown to be one of the most acclaimed non-profit professional theatres in the country and attracts more than 425,000 people annually. In 1972, Gov. William Cahill proclaimed Paper Mill the "Official State Theatre of New Jersey." The theatre has been cited as a State Center of Artistic Excellence and as a Major Impact and Distinguished Arts Organization by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.

Through the years, Paper Mill Playhouse has welcomed such talent as Laura Benanti (Paper Mill Conservatory alumna), Betty Buckley, Carol Channing, Kristin Chenoweth, Christine Ebersole, Anne Hathaway (Paper Mill Conservatory alumna and Rising Star Awards nominee), Ann Miller, Liza Minnelli, Bernadette Peters, Chita Rivera, Patrick Swayze, and Karen Ziemba.

Paper Mill's state-of-the-art physical resources and award-winning artistic staff have allowed the theatre to give new life to many of America's most beloved musicals and establish itself as a leader in producing a wide range of plays, including World and American Premieres. Recent highlights include:

• The 1984 production of You Can't Take it With You is transferred to the Kennedy Center and Broadway, and was videotaped for "Broadway on Showtime" and PBS's "Great Performances."
• The 1999 production of Crazy for You was nationally broadcast over PBS' "Great Performances" and was nominated for an Emmy;
• The 2001 production of Funny Girl was taped for the permanent collection of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. It is the eighth Paper Mill production to be so honored;
• The 2002 play, I'm Not Rappaport starring Judd Hirsch and Ben Vereen successfully transferred to Broadway's Booth Theatre in July, 2002;
• Miss Saigon was chosen as one of the "Top Ten Theatrical Experiences in New Jersey in 2002" by The Star-Ledger.

Our Mission

Paper Mill Playhouse preserves and nurtures the American musical theatre, and aspires to be a vital artistic and education center recognized throughout the region and the nation for its high-quality, innovative theatre and training programs.

The theatre is commited to rediscovering and reimagining classic musicals and plays, developing new musicals, training young and emerging artists, and ensuring that the theatre is accessible to all.