Madison High School Musical Nominated For NJ Award

MADISON, NJ — Madison High School is among those nominated for Paper Mill Playhouse's 2022 statewide Rising Star Awards.

Every year, schools compete for the opportunity to have their music heard. This year's nominees were announced on May 2. The winners will be announced live on June 6th, with presenters from Broadway and beyond. The ceremony will be streamed live on Paper Mill's Facebook and YouTube pages.

Madison High School was nominated for the Rising Star 'Theater For Everyone' Inclusion And Access Award in connection with their performance of "Sweet Charity." Blake Spence, a teacher at Madison High School was also nominated for the Outstanding Educator Award.

Since their inception in 1996, the Paper Mill Playhouse Rising Star Awards for Excellence in High School Musical Theatre have launched the careers of many notable performers, all of whom attended high school in New Jersey.

Among the early nominees and winners are Academy Award winner Anne Hathaway, Tony Award winners Laura Benanti and Nikki M. James and Olivier Award nominee Jared Gertner.

"We are so thrilled to be back with in-person adjudication of live performances. Once again, we are providing partial and full scholarships to the nominees in our Supporting and Lead performance categories," Paper Mill Playhouse said.

Paper Mill Playhouse also awards $5,000 in scholarships at the Paper Mill Playhouse Rising Star Awards Presented by the Investors Foundation. Five $1,000 cash scholarships are awarded to outstanding individual students who intend to continue their studies in theater performance or technical theater in college.

Scholarship applicants and recipients will be notified by email the week of May 9.

Tickets to the live Rising Star Awards Ceremony on Monday, June 6 will be made available to final nominees via their school contact on May 4.

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