Schools

'Curtains' Crew Members Nominated for Rising Star Awards

The three SP-F students are among a long list of nominees.

Three Scotch Plains-Fanwood High students have been recognized for their hard work on the Repertory Theatre production "Curtains."

The Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn announced its 2010 Rising Star Award nominees Thursday afternoon, and among them were three SP-F students who worked behind the scenes on the spring musical: Vangelis Dimopoulis for student musical director; Samantha Mannino for stage manager; and Devra Traiman for student choreographer.

The three Raiders are up against 23 other nominees in the Student Achievement Award category,  including students from Summit, Rahway and Westfield.

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SP-F students and directors put endless hours of hard work into "Curtains" this spring, practicing four times a week for the more than 11 weeks, according to the high school's repertory theatre director John Brzozowski.

"It's been the most challenging play in the five years I've been here," he said prior to its debut.

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This year's production included about 45 student cast members and 30 or more crew and ensemble members.

The Paper Mill Playhouse Rising Star Awards, presented by the Investors Savings Bank Foundation, are modeled after the Tony Awards and serve the entire state of New Jersey with 100 entered productions from public, private and parochial high schools.

Paper Mill Playhouse conceived and created the awards in 1996 to give schools the opportunity to showcase their musical arts programs on a state level.  The musicals are adjudicated by Paper Mill Playhouse throughout the spring by a group of 70 evaluators, with each school receiving four independent evaluations. 

The 2010 Paper Mill Playhouse Rising Star Awards ceremony is set for June 8 at the Millburn theater, when the nominees perform and the award recipients are presented with a crystal award from Paper Mill Playhouse Rising Star Awards partner Tiffany & Co.  

Paper Mill Playhouse also awards $5,000 in scholarships at the Paper Mill Playhouse Rising Star Awards. Four $1,000 cash scholarships are given to outstanding individual students who plan to continue studying theatre in college, and a technical theatre scholarship of $1,000 is sponsored annually by Scaramouche Costumes, LLC.

 

 


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