The Paper Mill Playhouse, the regional theater 20 miles outside of New York City, will be forced to close its doors unless it raises $1.5 million by April 6, according to The Star-Ledger. The 69-year-old theater in Millburn, New Jersey, which regularly employs Broadway stage actors, is set to present Seven Brides for Seven Brothers starting April 11.
According to the story, Paper Mill has reached out to government officials for grants and loans and also to members of the New York theater community who have a history with the theater to help raise the money.
For many decades, Paper Mill became a favorite of theatergoers for presenting large-scale revivals of well-loved musical theater classics. After longtime leader Angelo Del Rossi left the theater in 2003, he was replaced with former Steppenwolf Theatre executive Michael Gennaro, who tried to reinvent the theater's image by mixing new works in with the tried and true. When he left Paper Mill in January 2007, the theater had lost 6,000 subscribers during his tenure-on a whole, the 40,000 subscribers the theater boasted in 1990 are now down to 19,500.
Having learned that its audiences prefer classic musicals—its recent revival of Romance/Romance was a dud with audiences—Paper Mill promises a return to form if it is able to raise the needed funds.
