(MILLBURN, NJ)-- Paper Mill Playhouse has announced early casting for Half Time, a new musical, directed and choreographed by Tony Award winner Jerry Mitchell. Five-time Emmy nominee Georgia Engel (The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Drowsy Chaperone) and Tony and Emmy Award winner Lillias White (The Life, Sesame Street) will lead the cast in this uplifting true story of ten New Jersey seniors with extraordinary dreams who audition to dance at halftime for a major basketball team. 

Half Time has a book by Bob Martinand Chad Beguelin, music by Matthew Sklar, lyrics by Nell Benjamin and additional music by Marvin Hamlisch and Ester Dean. Half Time will run at Paper Mill Playhouse from May 31 to July 1, 2018. Half Time is produced in association with Dori Berinstein and Bill Damaschke. Paper Mill Playhouse's 2017-2018 season is proudly sponsored by Investors Bank.

From the director/choreographer of Kinky Boots comes the incredible true story of ten determined dreamers who audition to dance at half time for a major basketball team. They have three things in common: they love to dance, they have something to prove, and they are all over 60. Only after making the cut do they learn they won’t be dancing tap, salsa or swing—instead, they will bring down the house with a style that is entirely new to them: hip-hop. Take the uplifting journey with these dreamers—and the young coaches who inspire them along the way—as they battle self-doubt, stereotypes and even each other for a chance to bust a move at center court in front of 20,000 screaming fans. Together they remind us that in life, when the odds are stacked against you and the challenges seem too great to overcome, it’s not the end of the game—it’s Half Time.

“I am thrilled our new musical Half Time will be a part of the very exciting 2017-2018 Paper Mill season,” stated Tony Award-winning director and choreographer Jerry Mitchell. “Half Time celebrates the singular power of music and dance to unleash big emotions and bring people together.  We can’t wait to share it with the amazing audiences at Paper Mill.”

“We are excited to welcome legends Georgia Engel and Lillias White to Paper Mill Playhouse,” commented Mark S. Hoebee, Paper Mill Playhouse’s Producing Artistic Director. “This new musical, inspired by the documentary Gotta Dance, is a true New Jersey story that will be thrilling for audiences of any age.”

Half Time will be performed at Paper Mill Playhouse eight times a week, Wednesday through Sunday. Performance schedule: Wednesday at7:30pm, Thursday at 1:30pm and 7:30pm, Friday at 8:00pm, Saturday at 1:30pm and 8:00pm and Sunday at 1:30pm and 7:00pm. 

GEORGIA ENGEL (Dorothy/Dottie). Broadway: The Drowsy Chaperone; Hello, Dolly! (with Ethel Merman); My One and Only (with Tommy Tune). Off-Broadway: Annie Baker's John (Signature Theatre) and Uncle Vanya (Soho Rep), both directed by Sam Gold, Will Eno's Middletown (Vineyard Theatre).  Television:  Hot in Cleveland, Everybody Loves Raymond (three Emmy nominations), Coach, The Mary Tyler Moore Show (two Emmy nominations).

LILLIAS WHITE (Bea). Broadway: Fela!, The Life, Dreamgirls, Chicago, How to Succeed…, Once on This Island, Barnum.  Off-Broadway:Romance in Hard Times, Texas in Paris, Crowns, The Princess and the Black-Eyed Pea. Awards: Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, Audelco, Obie, Emmy, Bistro Award (The Lillias White Effect). Film: Pieces of April, Nasty Baby, Disney’s Hercules (voice of lead Muse). TV: Sesame Street, Gotham, Person of Interest, South Pacific (PBS), Law & Order, SVU, Smash. Concerts/Cabaret: Jazz at Lincoln Center, 54 Below, The Venetian Room, Sydney Opera House, The Blue Note. Lillias holds an Honorary Doctorate in Fine Arts from CUNY.

Full casting will be announced at a later date.

PAPER MILL PLAYHOUSE, a not-for-profit arts organization under the direction of Mark S. Hoebee (Producing Artistic Director) and Todd Schmidt (Managing Director) and recipient of the 2016 Regional Theatre Tony Award, is one of the country's leading regional theaters.  Paper Mill Playhouse programs are made possible, in part, by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. Paper Mill Playhouse is a member of the National Alliance for Musical Theatre, the Council of Stock Theatres, and the New Jersey Theatre Alliance. 

PHOTO: Lillias White (left) Georgia Engel (right) Photo by Matthew Murphy