With the Tony Awards behind us, the theatre community moves on to its next big awards night: the annual Jimmy Awards. The National High School Musical Theatre Awards, or as they are affectionately dubbed “The Jimmys” for their namesake theatre owner and producer James M. Nederlander, will be held on June 24, 2019. Tony-winner Ben Platt (Dear Evan Hansen) will return as the awards show host, an honor he will repeat, having emceed the 2017 Jimmy Awards.
Hoping to live stream the Jimmy Awards? Red carpet coverage as well as the ceremony itself can be viewed, as last year, through Facebook. The Facebook Live presentation is in partnership with the Broadway League Foundation and Dear Evan Hansen. Apples and Oranges Arts is partner, handling video production for the live stream, with WABC-TV serving as the official media partner.
The National High School Musical Theatre Awards is the culminating event of 43 regional competitions from across the U.S. Two winners from each of those programs will be sent to New York City where they will enjoy a week of events, workshops, and master classes. Finally, they will attend the Jimmy Awards ceremony to compete for the accolade in the categories of Best Performance by an Actor and Actress. Last year’s winner for Best Actor Andrew Barth Feldman, is currently playing the title character in Dear Evan Hansen. Best Actress winner of 2018, Renee Rapp, is poised to take over the role of Regina George in Mean Girls.
Mark Robinson is the author of the two-volume encyclopedia The World of Musicals, The Disney Song Encyclopedia, and The Encyclopedia of Television Theme Songs. He maintains a theater and entertainment blog at markrobinsonwrites.com.