Conservatory an Intensive Theater Experience

And then finally they spun more than once on the balls of their feet. Several of the students fell in their attempts at the move, but some stayed on their feet.

It was the first day of the third week of the Paper Mill Playhouse's Summer Musical Theater Conservatory, which has drawn over 100 students, including Peter Surace and Caroline Scobee from Scotch Plains, to Montclair State University to learn how to be better performers.

Unlike the Paper Mill Theatre School, which is open to anyone no matter their skill level, the conservatory requires an audition and is a selective process. Lisa Cooney, Paper Mill director of education, said the program is modeled after a professional conservatory and it is a demanding course.

"(The students) are focused and hardworking," she said. "Ninety-nine percent of the kids who come here want to make a career out of this."

Participants range in age from 10 years old through 18 years old. The junior division of students ages 10-12 years old are at Paper Mill working. The junior-plus division—students ages 13-14 years old—and the senior division—students ages 14-18 years old—are at Montclair State.

The day at Montclair State is broken into two parts. Students spend 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in classes, with only a short break for lunch. They then spend 3-5 p.m. in rehearsals for the New Voices performance, which caps the conservatory at the end of the month.

Classes focus on singing, dancing and acting with some focus on preparing students for auditions. In one class, students sang a song they were preparing for an audition, and an instructor critiqued their performance. The plan is to make students better in each category so they are the "triple threat."

"Most (who come here) will say they're excellent singers, good actors or workable dancers, and we try to level that out for them," Cooney said. "To be the triple threat, that is what gets you the work."

Teresa Wittleder, a rising senior at Millburn High School, has been involved with the programs at Paper Mill since she was 8 or 9 years old, and now she's in her second year of the conservatory.

She's primarily a singer, she said, and she came to the program because she was so strong in that one area. There were countless times she would be on stage and feel she had weaknesses, she said, and the conservatory has helped her improve.

"I've learned how to handle myself on stage and in an audition," she said. "It's more intense (than other Paper Mill programs), picky and precise. You become more proficient in all three areas."

Jennifer Dilzell, who graduated from Westfield High School in June, is one of the few students who won't be majoring in theater in college, but she wants to do public relations work for theaters in the future.

Having two previous years of experience, she came back this year after not attending in 2008 because she wanted to get another experience before going to college. The teachers are inspirational and the students are talented.

"It's a great environment to be in," said Dilzell, who will attend Cornell University in the fall. "It's given me so much self-confidence. I'm a completely different person than I was before coming here."

She's now willing to try new things, which she wouldn't do before attending the conservatory, she said.

While most of the students go through auditions, there are spots held open for students who were nominated or won a Rising Star Award in one of the major categories last spring. Of the 28 nominees, 14 of them are among the 120 students at Montclair State.

Peter Surace, a Scotch Plains resident who was nominated for his role as Fred Graham/Petruchio in Kiss Me, Kate at Westfield High School, had already done the conservatory for two years before attending this year.

"I got in on a scholarship this year, and it wasn't something I couldn't pass up," he said.

The program has improved him in many areas, including his acting, which he feels needed work.

"When you have bad habits in that area, it's hard to change," he said. "I've always needed to work on it."

He's made more friends this year than he has in years past. When he is away from the program on a weekend, he said, he wants to get back on Monday to see everyone. Everyone is helpful and supportive of each other, he said, and one of his best friends is in the program.

Friendship is something that brought Ben Szydolowski and Austin Bommer, both of South Orange, to the program. Both are rising freshmen at Columbia High School and are in the junior-plus division for the second year in a row.

Szydolowski said Bommer sent him the link to the program and he decided to audition. They both said having a friend in the program is helpful the first few days.

"You don't know anyone and can end up sitting alone at lunch," Szydolowski said. "By the third day, though, everyone is getting along."

Bommer said the students decided to eat lunch in a circle in a way to get to know each other.

Szydolowski said the program has been a learning experience not only to refine his techniques.

"You learn so much," he said. "There is so much that goes on behind the scenes. I never realized how hard it is to make it."

Bommer said she comes from a line of performers—her mother danced on Broadway and her father is an actor, including at Paper Mill—and wants to follow in their footsteps. The program has helped her branch out and expand her skills.

"I was shy at first," she said. "(The instructors) try to get so much out of you, things you don't get out of yourself."

Chase Harrison, who will be in eighth grade at Millburn Middle School this fall, is in his first year of the conservatory, and he said performing has been a hobby for him, but it could turn into a career path.

He was looking for a more intense program to become a better performer when he auditioned. The program has helped him improve, he said.

"Even in the areas where I am strong, I have seen improvement," he said.

The program ends with the New Voices performances. There are three shows scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on July 31 and 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on Aug. 1.

Dilzell said the final performance is one of the best experiences of the program.

"It's inspirational," she said. "It's cool to be on the Paper Mill stage with everyone else."

The show isn't the typical linear performance, but rather more like a variety show featuring songs from a number of productions. This year's theme is "Thoroughly Modern Musicals," which will review 15 years of Broadway shows.

Tickets for the show range in price from $22.75 to $38.75. Tickets may be purchased by calling 973-376-4343, or visiting the Paper Mill Playhouse Box Office at 22 Brookside Dr. in Millburn, or online at www.papermill.org.