(MILLBURN, NJ) -- Disney has awarded Paper Mill Playhouse a $150,000 grant to bring the Disney Musicals in Schools (DMIS) program to New Jersey. Disney Musicals in Schools is an initiative developed by Disney Theatrical Group to create enduring theater programs in public elementary schools. The grant funds two years of programming. Paper Mill Playhouse will select up to four area public elementary schools to participate in the 2026-2027 school year, and another five will be selected for next year.
The selected schools will participate in a 17-week musical theater residency, led by a team of teaching artists trained by Paper Mill Playhouse and Disney Theatrical Group, at no cost. Each school will receive performance rights, education support materials, and guidance from the teaching artists. The program focuses on professional development, where participating schoolteachers partner with Paper Mill Playhouse’s teaching artists to learn how to produce, direct, choreograph and music direct, culminating in the first 30-minute Disney KIDS musical at their school. As a capstone to the experience, Paper Mill Playhouse will host a Student Share Celebration in which each school performs one number from their show on the Paper Mill Playhouse stage for an audience of students, teachers, family, and community members.
Using the unique world of musical theatre, Disney Musicals in Schools helps to foster positive relationships between students, faculty, staff, parents, and the community. Students and teachers work in teams, developing the wide spectrum of skills needed when producing a piece of musical theatre, including: critical thinking, problem solving, ensemble building, communication, self-confidence, and interpersonal skills.
"Paper Mill Playhouse has enjoyed an extraordinary artistic partnership with Disney over the years, bringing beloved productions to our stage that have inspired audiences of all ages," said Mark S. Hoebee, Producing Artistic Director of Paper Mill Playhouse. "We are thrilled to deepen that relationship through Disney Musicals in Schools, introducing the joy of musical theater to students and educators across our community. We know firsthand the power these stories have to spark imagination, build confidence, and bring people together, and we are honored to help schools create meaningful arts experiences that will have a lasting impact.”
Applications are now being accepted for the upcoming school year. Up to four schools will be selected to participate in the 2026-2027 year program free of charge. Any Essex County public elementary school within the following districts are eligible to apply: Newark Public Schools, Irvington Public School District, East Orange School District, and Orange Board of Education. Schools that are Title 1 with demonstrated economic need will be prioritized.
For more information, or to apply, please visit www.papermill.org/DMIS or contact [email protected].
Disney Musicals in Schools was launched in 2009 in response to Disney Theatrical Group’s concern that public elementary schools were not afforded equitable access to the arts. After successfully offering the program in New York City schools, Disney Theatrical Group began partnering with organizations in other communities across the United States. Disney Musicals in Schools is part of Disney’s commitment to inspire future generations of storytellers.
Disney KIDS musicals, created in partnership with Music Theater International (MTI), are 30-minute musicals designed for elementary school performers and have been adapted from the classic Disney films 101 Dalmatians, Aladdin, Finding Nemo, Frozen, The Aristocats, The Jungle Book, The Lion King, and Winnie the Pooh.
DISNEY THEATRICAL GROUP (DTG), a division of The Walt Disney Studios led by Andrew Flatt and Anne Quart, brings the stories you love to life through stage productions, arena shows, and immersive experiences. Each year, DTG’s productions and experiences reach nearly 40 million guests across 300 cities on five continents, with hundreds of millions of people entertained around the globe since the company’s inception.
Since its stage debut in 1994 with Beauty and the Beast, Disney Theatrical Group has become one of the most successful theatre producers in the world, earning 20 Tony® Awards and more than 60 nominations for its 10 Broadway titles. Its New York productions include The Lion King, Aladdin, Frozen, Newsies, Elton John & Tim Rice’s Aida, TARZAN®, Mary Poppins (co-produced with Cameron Mackintosh), The Little Mermaid and Peter and the Starcatcher. Additional stage ventures include the current North American tour of Beauty and the Beast, the Olivier Award-nominated Shakespeare in Love, Hercules, stage productions of Disney’s High School Musical, Der Glöckner von Notre Dame in Berlin and King David in concert on Broadway.
Disney Theatrical Group has also collaborated with leading regional theatres across the United States to develop new musicals including The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Freaky Friday. Under the Buena Vista Theatrical banner, the company licenses titles from the 20th Century Studios film library for stage adaptation, including Anastasia; Moulin Rouge! The Musical; The Devil Wears Prada and Mrs. Doubtfire.
Next up: the stage adaptation of The Greatest Showman.
Disney Theatrical Group also oversees a growing global portfolio of live entertainment and immersive experiences that expand Disney storytelling beyond the traditional stage. These include Disney On Ice; Mundo Pixar Experience; Disney Junior Live On Tour: Let’s Play!; The Nightmare Before Christmas Light Trail; Avatar: Guardians of Eywa; The Rocky Horror Picture Show at Sphere and Secret Cinema’s Pirates of the Caribbean: The Immersive Adventure. Through these experiences, DTG creates new ways for audiences around the world to engage with beloved stories and characters through live entertainment.
Music Theatre International (MTI) is one of the world's leading theatrical licensing agencies, granting theatres from around the world the rights to perform the greatest selection of musicals from Broadway and beyond. Founded in 1952 by composer Frank Loesser and orchestrator Don Walker, MTI is a driving force in advancing musical theatre as a vibrant and engaging art form.
MTI works directly with the composers, lyricists and book writers of these musicals to provide official scripts, musical materials and dynamic theatrical resources to over 100,000 professional, community and school theatres in the US and in over 150 countries worldwide.
MTI is particularly dedicated to educational theatre, and has created special collections to meet the needs of various types of performers and audiences. MTI’s Broadway Junior® shows are 30-and 60-minute musicals for performance by elementary and middle school-aged performers, while MTI’s School Editions are musicals annotated for performance by high school students.
MTI maintains its global headquarters in New York City with additional offices in London (MTI Europe) and Melbourne (MTI Australia).
PAPER MILL PLAYHOUSE, recipient of the Regional Theatre Tony Award, is a nationally renowned not-for-profit theater under the direction of Mark S. Hoebee (Producing Artistic Director) and Michael Stotts (Executive Director). A beloved New Jersey arts institution since 1938, Paper Mill creates and produces groundbreaking new musicals and reimagined classics. Several productions have gone on to Broadway and launched national tours, including The Great Gatsby, Disney’s Newsies, Bandstand, Honeymoon in Vegas, A Bronx Tale, and Les Misérables (25th Anniversary production). The theater is also the home to an award-winning center for musical theater education and artist training, with outreach programs that impact thousands of students each year.
As one of the nation’s premier musical theaters, Paper Mill fosters a creative environment to advance the art form, educate students, develop future theater lovers, nurture inclusion, and provide access for all. Paper Mill Playhouse programs are made possible, in part, by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a partner agency of the National Endowment for 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.
H. B. W. B. - Humor, Babes, Wisdom, Brevity
Humor, Babes, Wisdom, Brevity>H. B. W. B. - Humor, Babes, Wisdom, Brevity
The legendary Sun Ra Arkestra returns with exuberant cosmic jazz — a stirring blend of big‑band swing, free jazz, bebop, spiritual jazz and Afrofuturist spectacle. Formed in Chicago in the mid‑1950s as the vehicle for the visionary composer Sun Ra, the Arkestra has spanned seven decades, touring the globe and inspiring generations with its bold, otherworldly sound.
A pioneer of early synthesizer use and the free‑jazz movement of the 1960s, Sun Ra combined musical innovation with a spiritual mission—using positive vibrations and music to uplift the universe. The Arkestra’s theatrical live shows fuse space‑age improvisation, singing, dancing, chanting and Afro‑pageantry, and helped define Afrofuturism in music and performance.
Artwork by Yadira Hernández
Mei Semones is a Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter and guitarist crafting jazz-inflected indie pop in both Japanese and English. Drawing on her background in jazz guitar and her Japanese heritage, she blends inventive harmonies, intricate rhythms, and bilingual lyricism into a sound that is both intimate and exploratory.
