The winners of the 11th annual National High School Musical Theatre Awards—known more commonly as the Jimmy Awards—were revealed at the conclusion of the June 24 ceremony at the Minskoff Theatre.
Top prizes went to Ethan Kelso, winning Best Performance by an Actor for his work as Will Bloom in Big Fish at Salt Lake School for the Performing Arts in Logan, Utah, and Ekele Ukegbu, who won Best Performance by an Actress, having played Aida in Aida at Elmont Memorial Junior-Senior High School in Nassau County, New York. Both were awarded $25,000 scholarships.
The remaining six finalists—Jessi Kirtley, Casey Likes, Lexi Love, Colin Miller, Marisa Moehno, and Christian Spaay—each received a $5,000 scholarship. Special Recognition Scholarships ($2,000) were also awarded to Jack D'Angelo, William Dusek, Jeremy Fuentes, Michael Iskander, Mia Hall, Abby Linderman, Chloe Elmer, and Sophia Wilson.
PHOTOS: Inside the 2019 Jimmy Awards, Hosted by Ben Platt
The 2019 Spirit of the Jimmys Award was awarded to Adam Kral, with Best Dancing going to Anna Gassett, Rising Star to Jacob Simon, and Best Performance in an Ensemble to Senna Prasatthong-osoth.
Dear Evan Hansen Tony Award winner Ben Platt emceed the event, returning to the ceremony after hosting in 2017. The competition saw a record 86 students vying for the awards, each of whom previously won one of 43 regional competitions around the country. The group arrived in New York City last week, participating in a series of workshops, master classes, and rehearsals with such mentors and coaches as Telly Leung, Randy Graff, Maryann Hu, Adam Kantor, Michael McElroy, Jenni Barber, and Eliseo Roman.
The Jimmy Awards, named for the late theatre owner and producer James M. Nederlander, were founded in 2009 by Nederlander Alliances, Pittsburgh CLO, and the Broadway Education Alliance and are presented through the Broadway League.Watch the full stream of the ceremony below.
