The 2008 Rising Star Awards Final Nominations will be posted on this page on Monday, May 12, 2008.

NJ schools wishing to be added to the mailing list to receive a 2008 Rising Star Awards application notice via US mail should send their school address to Lisa Cooney, Interim Director of Education, at mailto: lcooney@papermill.org. Applications will be posted on the Paper Mill Playhouse website on Friday, November 16, 2007. The deadline to return applications is Wednesday, January 16, 2008.

NOMINATIONS PROCESS: Rising Star Evaluators will attend shows during the Production Round (1/24/08 to 4/20/08) and will submit recommendations in each category for the Nomination Committee to consider. Each entered production is adjudicated by four individual Evaluators. At the conclusion of the Production Round, the Nomination Round begins and continues for a two-week period during which time each category's Evaluator recommendations will be independently reviewed by members of the professional staff of Paper Mill Playhouse. To advance into the Nomination Round, individual performances or productions must receive a nod in a given category by a majority of Evaluators attending the show (typically 3-out-of-4 Evaluators). Recommendations submitted by Evaluators are just that, recommendations, and do not guarantee a Final Nomination. The Nomination Committee will consider all eligible candidates with a fresh perspective using feed back and scores provided by the Evaluators, and by viewing the required support material submitted by the school. Outstanding Overall Production nominations are based on the number of Final Nominations the school received in other categories, the numerical scores and impressions provided by the Evaluators, and the impressions of the Nomination Committee. Consideration will be given for the level of difficulty of the material. Each school will receive a certificate for every Final Nomination received as well as a program listing at the Awards Ceremony.

HONORABLE MENTION: Honorable Mentions are included in each category to further reward achievement in a program that becomes more competitive each year. Honorable Mention designees will receive a certificate and a program listing at the Awards Ceremony. Unfortunately, due to limited seating for the Awards Ceremony, we are unable to offer tickets to those receiving Honorable Mention beyond the original ticket allotment of their school.

AWARDS CEREMONY: The Rising Star Awards ceremony will take place at Paper Mill on Tuesday, June 10, 2008 at 7:30 pm. Schools are provided with a ticket allotment based on the number of Final Nominations received. Tickets are available only through nominated schools and are not sold to the general public through the Paper Mill box office or Education Department. Schools nominated in Outstanding Overall Production will be asked to perform a number from their show and students nominated as Leading Actor and Actress will be asked to perform as well. Paper Mill will contact those schools and students to make the necessary arrangements for these performances.

Click below for a downloadable PDF.

The S.T.A.R. Program is made possible by Investors Savings Bank Foundation, Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, Wyeth, The Ambrose & Ida Fredrickson Foundation, John Burgio and Ruth Bedford in memory of Jane Burgio, and The Bloomingdale's Fund of the Federated Department Stores Foundation.

Paper Mill's Education Outreach programs are generously supported by The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, PNC Bank, Shirley Aidekman-Kaye, and The Mall at Short Hills. Paper Mill’s programming is made possible, in part, by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts. Paper Mill Playhouse received funding through a grant from the New Jersey Department of State.

2005 recipients

2006 recipients

2007 recipients