Two local real
estate companies have come to the rescue of the
financially struggling Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn,
N.J., one of the Northeast's premier nonprofit
theaters, according to a newspaper report.
At an emergency
board meeting at the theater Thursday night, Kenneth
Thorn, chairman of the theater's board of trustees, said two
real estate companies were backing a bank loan that
would help the theater stay afloat. Thorn declined to
name the real estate companies.
''We are not
going to close,'' Thorn told The Star-Ledger of
Newark, N.J. ''We will make sure all the people are
able to see the shows they've paid for.''
Officials
announced earlier this week that they would have to close
the 69-year-old theater, lay off more than 100
employees, and cancel a five-week performance of
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers if they
didn't raise $1.5 million by Friday.
Thorn told the
board members Thursday that technical rehearsals for
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers would begin
Friday afternoon as planned.
Mark Hoebee, the
theater's acting artistic director, said after the
meeting that individual donations made over the phone and
Internet would also allow the theater to make its
payroll for the next two weeks.
The Paper Mill
Playhouse was designated as the ''Official State Theater
of New Jersey'' by Gov. William Cahill in 1972. Over the
years it has hosted performances by stars such as
Carol Channing, Liza Minnelli, and Bernadette Peters.
The theater had
been conducting a capital campaign that would help offset
its financial troubles, but that campaign fell apart after
its president and chief executive, Michael Gennaro,
left in January. The theater also suffered from lesser
known shows that didn't sell well and fell short of
its subscription ticket goal. (AP)
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