Town teen to appear in Paper Mill’s ‘New Voices’

BLOOMFIELD, NJ  — Bloomfield resident Ellie Kallay, 16, will again be performing in the Paper Mill Playhouse production of “New Voices.” The annual midsummer show, which is the culmination of the summer musical-theater conservatory program at the Paper Mill, features the singing and dancing ability of 120 performers, ages 10 to 18.

The theme of the program this year is “Everything Old is New Again.” Ellie will be performing in a section of the program devoted to Broadway productions with a biographical background. She will be singing, “Who Will Love Me As I Am.” This is a song from “Sideshow,” a story about Violet and Daisy Hilton, conjoined twins who were a real-life, 1930s carnival act. The original Broadway production opened in October 1997 and closed after 91 performances.

Ellie will not be singing alone, of course. But in an interview last week, she said that although the song has been rehearsed, it has not been staged yet, so she is not sure if she will be physically connected, via wardrobe, to the other half of her duet. Auditions for parts in “New Voices” are after a student has been accepted into the conservatory program.

“Not everyone will get a solo,” Ellie said, “but they do their best that everyone is featured in some way. I’m in one of the few featured couples. My section is very dance-heavy. There’s a lot of lifting.”

There are two other sections to the “New Voices’ approach to the theme of everything old being new again: pop songs and musicals, and songs based on foreign films.

Music from Gloria Estefan, the current show, “Hamilton,” and a tap dance based on “Yankee Doodle Dandy” are featured.

“There’s a lot of ‘Hamilton,’” Ellie said.

Last summer at the Paper Mill, when the “New Voices” theme was “Hurray for Hollywood,” Ellie performed as Ginger Rogers.

“I’ve gotten a lot better since last year with playing different characters,” Ellie said. “I’ve been working on my soprano voice. I’ve been cast in a lot of soprano, ingenue roles.”

A role she mentioned was that of Nikki, in “Curtains.” Another was the character of Eileen Evergreen, in “Nice Work If You Can Get It,” The latter Broadway production, incidentally, having had two Bloomfield residents in its cast: Joey Sorge and Michael McGrath. McGrath won the 2012 Tony for best featured performer for his work in “Nice Work If You Can Get It.”

During the last year, Ellie has worked with puppets in the role of Lucy in “Avenue Q,” at Montclair Kimberley Academy, where she is going into her junior year.

But the recent experience that seemed to most excite her was having opened for Michael Feinstein in a concert commemorating the centennial of Frank Sinatra’s birth.

“I’ve worked with NJPAC for quite a few years,” Ellie said. “They called me in to audition for a Sinatra quintet for a fundraiser.”

But she said one thing led to another and the act opened for Feinstein when he played the arts center in December.

Ellie has been busy elsewhere, too, this last year.

“I was in a Broadway/mentor program through the Vanguard Theater Company, in South Orange,” she said. “It connected me with Michelle Pawk, a Tony winner, in May, for a month.”

Pawk won the 2003 Tony for best featured actress in a play when she performed in “Hollywood Arms.”

She also performed in an adaptation of “Twelfth Night,” for an Internet series on Youtube.

“I also did my first rehearsals in New York City, for ‘Cabaret,’ in a performing arts workshop,” she said”

All this work has added up for Ellie, who hopes to attend a musical theater program at college.

“I definitely feel more confident about myself as a performer,” she said in regard to all the experience she has accumulated. “College auditions will be here before you know it. It will be very competitive.”

Correction: An earlier version of this story stated that Ellie attended Mount Kimberly High School, when she in fact attends Montclair Kimberley Academy. The story has been updated with the correct information.

  Broadway, Montclair Kimberley Academy, Paper Mill Playhouse