Nyack High School will receive The Roger Rees Awards' first PLAYBILLder Award for Marketing, presented to a school in the Greater New York region that has published a PLAYBILLder program for a licensed production of a musical during the academic year.
The Rockland County school is recognized for the creativity and design of their digital and print program for their 2018 production of Smile, produced under the direction of Club Advisor Lisa Demarest. See the program cover below. The award includes a $500 gift to the theatre department and free licensing for a future program.
The award will be presented at the 2018 Roger Rees Awards for Excellence in Student Performance, to be held May 19. Laura DiSimone, a junior and Drama Club member, will accept the award on behalf of the school.
During the ceremony, performers from 27 high schools from Brooklyn, the Bronx, Manhattan, Queens, Staten Island, Long Island, Orange and Rockland Counties, and Westchester will showcase roles that earned them acclaim in their communities. Two performers—one male and one female—will go on to take part in the National High School Musical Theatre Awards (also known as the Jimmy Awards) June 25.
Read: NOMINEES ANNOUNCED FOR 2018 ROGER REES AWARDS
"The Nyack High School Drama Club is excited to be the recipient of the PLAYBILLder Awards for Marketing at the Roger Rees Awards,” Demarest said in a statement. “In Nyack, we feel that theatre in schools is an important part of the educational process. It teaches skills that are not part of the everyday curriculum and builds confidence that benefits students in all areas of life. Congratulations to all the participants of these awards.”
“Playbill is an industry leader in their support of theatre arts education nationally,” says Susan Lee, spokesperson for the Broadway Education Alliance, which produces the Roger Rees Awards. “The introduction of this award for marketing is further evidence of how theatre is becoming an ever more important component of a school curriculum. We are proud to partner with Playbill to recognize excellence on the business side of the art.”
Launched in 2013, PLAYBILLder is now offered in all 50 states by over 55,000 unique users that include schools, community centers, as well as amateur, community and regional theatres companies who distribute over one million Playbills annually. For more information, visit PLAYBILLder.com.
