The Jimmy Awards are upon us once again. Gathering the best in high school theatre from across the nation, the Jimmys are the theatre's answer to the NFL Draft, sometimes even quite literally. Young Broadway stars like Renée Rapp, Andrew Barth Feldman, Eva Noblezada, and Kyle Selig all made Broadway debuts soon after participating in the Jimmys.
This year's winners will be named in a June 26 ceremony at Broadway's Minskoff Theatre hosted by High School Musical star and Broadway favorite Corbin Bleu. Watch live above from 7:30 PM ET.
The evening is the culmination of a week of master classes and rehearsals for the nominees, each already the top winner of their home region's awards system. Finalists will be chosen over the week, with each invited to perform an excerpt from their regional-winning performance onstage at the Minskoff before a panel of judges crowns the Best Performance by an Actor and Best Performance by an Actress winners. The two ultimate winners will receive college scholarships, as will a number of other award winners that evening in other categories.
See the 2023 nominees perform their opening number from the rehearsal room below:
This year's nominees are Breton Sego and Nori Kai Little of Albuquerque, NM; Luke Calaway and Lily Davis of Appleton, WI; Trever Arnold and Emily Marx of Atlanta, GA; Langston Lee and Kyra Carr of Austin, TX; Qai Gerber and Payton Carter of Boise, ID; Ayden Weinstein and Tiffany Nowak of Buffalo, NY; Lance Toppin and Katie Ruttenberg of Charlotte, NC; Will Gonzalez and Payton Fraser of Chicago, IL; Savon Harris and Calista Zajac of Cleveland, OH; Christian Strong and Helena Engberg of Columbus, OH; Corbin Drew Ross and Fabiola Caraballo Quijada of Dallas, TX; Patrick Comunale and Maggie Weckesser of Dayton, OH; Connor O'Brian and Camille Nugent of Denver, CO; Croix Baker and Grace Casciato of Des Moines, IA; Noah Colvin and Lilly Pritchard of Durham, NC; Mark Bonney and Jillian Armstrong of East Lansing, MI; Nic Rhew and Makenzie Woolridge of Houston, TX; Skylar Kline and Layla Abu Saada of Kansas City, MO; Christian McCleary and Natalia Vassilian of La Mirada, CA; Riley Stannard and Zoe McCracken of Las Vegas, NV; Dylan Bradford and Sophi Keller of Logan, UT; Kaylor Toronto and Ava Broneer of Los Angeles, CA; Taigh Moran and Carly Mikula of Madison, WI; Whit Robbins and Hailey Brown of Memphis, TN; Jacob Storey and Paulina Bradley of Midland, PA; Joe Jacobson and Mia Nelson of Minneapolis, MN; Sawyer Curtis and Lainey McCarter of Nashville, TN; Jack Haroutunian and Grace Lupoli of New Haven, CT; Calvin Lindo and Lauren A. Marchand of New York, NY; Evan Hulse and Kennedy Vanover of Oklahoma City, OK; Steven Dao and Jocelyn Tisdale of Omaha, NE; Jaxon Allison and Samantha A. Nelson of Orlando, FL; Omar andre Real and Kayla Rae McCarty of Palm Springs, CA; Jackson Manning and Anna Shea Safran of Philadelphia, PA; Tyler Guinto-Brody and Kaitlyn Majewski of Pittsburgh, PA; Thomas Jaques and Callista DeFeo of Providence, RI; Evan Williams and Hope Galloway of Rochester, NY; Cameron Duggins and Hannah Jenkins of San Antonio, TX; Keegan McGowan and Tirzah Villarreal of San Diego, CA; Kavan Bhatia and Gabbie Jison of San Jose, CA; Logan Esposito and Ashley Manocchi of Schenectady, NY; Gage Williams and Anna Wright of St. Louis, MO; Charlie Lane and Annie Sardouk of Tampa, FL; Denver Dickenson Jr. and Alyse Negroni of Tempe, AZ; Korin Messina and Samia Posadas of Tucson, AZ; J.T. Loveless and Emma Perdue of Tulsa, OK; Ian Rubin and Isabella Vida Jackson of Washington, D.C.; and Lucas Brown and Maya Sharma of West Palm Beach, FL.
The evening will also honor two teachers who guided and encouraged their students pursuing the performing arts with the Inspiring Teach Award, presented by Wells Fargo.
Founded in 2006 and named for Broadway impresario James M. Nederlander, the program has been the catalyst for more than $6 million in educational scholarships. The Broadway League conducts the program through its philanthropic division The Broadway League Foundation Inc.
Visit JimmyAwards.com.
Take a look at the 2019 Jimmy Awards, hosted by Ben Platt:
