Paper Mill Playhouse Awarded $20K Grant from NEA

Millburn’s Paper Mill Playhouse will receive a $20,000 National Endowment for the Arts grant as part of the agency’s state and regional grant program, according to a published report.

While the state will receive 15 grants totaling $284,500, according to a Tuesday NJ.com report, the theater will receive the grant for its sensory-friendly productions, according to a Tuesday report on NJ.com.

The Paper Mill has hosted sensory-friendly productions for the past several years, according to its website.

Each April, the NEA awards the grants, the report said, singling out $879,000 to the New Jersey State Council on the Arts last year. However, this year, the federal budget sequester has delayed awarding the grants.

The 817 awards represent projects in 13 artistic fields and disciplines, including arts education, dance, design, folk and traditional arts, literature, museums, opera, theater and media and total $26.3 million, the report said.

The theater will host its next sensory-friendly performance on June 26 at 4 p.m. featuring “The Little Mermaid.”

The performance, according to the Paper Mill website, is designed specifically for children on the autism spectrum or with other developmental disabilities, and planned in cooperation with Autism New Jersey and Douglass Developmental Disabilities Center at Rutgers. This is the first time Paper Mill Playhouse has expanded its Autism-Friendly performances to a main stage production.