Paper Mill
Theater finds financial help

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)