A record 86 students take part in the 11th annual National High School Musical Theatre Awards—known affectionately and more commonly as the Jimmy Awards— June 24. Dear Evan Hansen Tony winner Ben Platt returns to host the ceremony for the second time at Broadway’s Minskoff Theatre.
Each of the young performers earned his or her spot in the national finals after winning Best Performance by an Actor or Actress in one of 43 regional competitions celebrating their work in high school musical productions. They arrived in New York City last week to participate in a series of workshops, master classes, and rehearsals before the main event. Telly Leung, Randy Graff, Maryann Hu, Adam Kantor, Michael McElroy, Jenni Barber, and Eliseo Roman served as industry coaches throughout the week.
Set to make appearances as presenters are Jagged Little Pill’s Derek Klena and Be More Chill star George Salazar, as well as four Jimmy Awards alumni currently on Broadway: Kyle Selig (Mean Girls), Stephanie Styles (Kiss Me Kate), and last year’s winners: Andrew Barth Feldman (Dear Evan Hansen) and Reneé Rapp (Mean Girls).
The winners will be chosen by this year's judges: Nathan Flower, Montego Glover, Alecia Parker, Marc Platt, Tara Rubin, Thomas Schumacher, Stephen Schwartz, and Bernard Telsey. Preliminary judges who evaluate nominees prior to the ceremony include Gabriel Barre, Robert Cuccioli, Nathan Flower, Stephanie Klapper, and Seth Sklar-Heyn.
