Just as the Tony Awards celebrate and recognize the best of Broadway, the The National High School Musical Theater Awards celebrate outstanding achievement in high school musical theater. The Jimmy Award for Best Performance by an Actor and Best Performance by an Actress – named the Jimmy Awards in honor of theater owner and producer James M. Nederlander – will be presented on Monday, June 25, at a live awards show at the Minskoff Theatre on Broadway. The event will be hosted by the stars of the upcoming Broadway-bound national tour of Jekyll & Hyde, Deborah Cox and Constantine Maroulis.
“We aim to create a connection between the talented students in the amateur world of high school musicals and the professional theater world,” says Van Kaplan, President of the National High School Music Theater Awards. Kaplan is also Executive Producer of Pittsburgh CLO, the organization which launched the Gene Kelly Awards in 1991 to recognize the high school musical theater talent in the region. “Gene Kelly was the honorary chairman of the board and he really believed that you can strive to be the best through the spirit of competition,” says Kaplan. “We have been able to shine a light on the great work that has been done in our high school programs, and we have seen high school districts invest in their local programs and put money into their arts programs.” The Pittsburgh model was soon adopted successfully by other programs around the country. With the establishment of the Jimmy Awards in 2009, the best of their best are now able to come to New York to compete on a national level. “We have elevated the profile of musical theater in our schools and communities. Over the last four years it has been very rewarding in that many of our kids have received scholarships, they have met working professionals, and they have gotten an opportunity to perform on a Broadway stage,” says Kaplan.
Click here to purchase tickets for The Jimmy Awards.
This year, 30 regional programs will be participating in the National High School Musical Theater Awards. The ceremony mirrors the format of The Kellys in Pittsburgh: The awards ceremony includes an opening and a closing number that is created specifically for the show, as well as musical medleys in which the performers get to play the roles for which they won awards in their own regional competitions. Imagine, for instance, a Tevye and a Sweeney Todd in the same musical number. In addition, those performers who are selected to be finalists will perform a musical piece they have prepared for the competition. The New York awards show itself is the culmination of an intense week of preparation for the young musical performers, which starts when they arrive mid-week at New York University’s New Studio. The students receive private coaching sessions with Broadway professionals for their audition pieces as well as for the medleys and original musical numbers. They rehearse through the rest of the week until the awards ceremony on Monday night. “Being on a college campus, working with professionals and then to get to perform on a Broadway stage in front of casting agents and other industry professionals is just a wonderful gift,” notes Kaplan. “It’s an experience that I wish was available when I was a student in high school.”
BROADWAY OR BUST
Unlike the Tony Awards show, the Jimmy Awards have never been televised for a national audience. That will change this year with Broadway or Bust, a three-part television series currently in production that will air during prime-time on three consecutive Sundays in September on public television stations around the country. “We thought that seeing incredibly motivated and talented kids, driven to follow their dreams would make remarkable public television,” says Laurie Donnelly, an executive producer of the documentary series.
Donnelly explains that Broadway or Bust will be more than an awards show telecast – the filmmakers are following the kids through an entire process. “The series will start in the regional competitions,” she explains. “It shows kids leaving their home towns, maybe for the first time for many of them, and coming to New York; then being dropped into this intense week-long boot camp and the one-on-one coaching sessions; and then finding out who the winners are.” The Jimmy Awards ceremony itself will feature in the last part of the series.
“I was blown away by the level of talent,” reports co-executive producer Lance Schultz, who says they tried to get a snapshot of America by following local high school musical theater competitions in sample regions – San Diego, Atlanta, Memphis and Pittsburgh. “They all have a different story,” he reports, adding that, in addition to showcasing the talent of the young performers, the producers are hoping to capture what it is like for these students to participate in the program. “For a handful of kids that have worked hard and persevered, this is one of the greatest opportunities – to step out on a Broadway stage.”
Click here to purchase tickets for The Jimmy Awards.
By Gerard Raymond
