Black Rock Theater Announces 2024 Sondheim Award Nominees

Black Rock Theater (BRT) in association with the Shubert Theatre of New Haven is proud to announce the nominees for the seventh annual Stephen Sondheim Awards. The black-tie gala will take place on May 18 at 7:30 pm at the Shubert Theatre in New Haven, CT.  The program's mission is to recognize excellence in high school musical theater. 

“We are thrilled to return to the Shubert Theatre for another fantastic ceremony, celebrating the best that high school musical theater has to offer,” said Deane. “We are looking forward to bringing some of Broadway's brightest talents to share this special night with the next generation of musical theater performers.” Over the next two weeks BRT will utilize their social media channels to announce the Broadway presenters and host. 

Over the past eight months, a panel of judges from the industry attended performances by the following twenty-eight high schools:

Amity High School

Bethel High School

Billerica Memorial High School

Brien McMahon High School

Brookfield High School

Cheshire High School

Conard High School

Cooperative Arts and Humanities High School

Darien High School

East Lyme High School

Glastonbury High School

Hall High School

Lyme - Old Lyme High School

Masuk High School

New Britain High School

New Milford High School

North Reading High School

Old Saybrook Senior High School

Ridgefield High School

Shelton High School

South Windsor High School

St. Paul Catholic High School

Stamford High School

Stonington High School

Suffield Academy

Valley Regional High School

West Haven High School

Wilbur Cross High School

The panel of judges was comprised of performing arts educators, entertainment professionals and Broadway performers & designers. On April 27th, these judges met for a final discussion and a review of highlights from each high school performance to subsequently create nominations. 

The nominees for the 2024 Stephen Sondheim Awards:

 

Costume Design:

Sabrina Arastu & Alba Alcantara - Footloose (Brien McMahon High School) 

Dillon Durante - Anything Goes (Shelton High School)

Piper Kerwin - The Spongebob Musical (North Reading High School)

Leah Machinski & Ella Wertz - War Paint (Stonington High School)

Elizabeth Rogers - Little Women (Ridgefield High School) 

Karma Rose - Newsies (West Haven High School)

Sarah Rose & Emma Thornton - Shrek the Musical (St. Paul Catholic High School)

Layla Schroeder, Inara Chickles, Savanna Buys & Andrea Vasquez - Hello, Dolly! (Darien High School)

Scenic Design:

Mr. Carlone and Mrs.  Evans' Stagecraft Class - The Little Mermaid (Old Saybrook High School)

The Company - Little Women (Ridgefield High School) 

James Dillon, Marshall Murray, Matt Capalbo, Adriana Gonzales, Piper Kirwin, Stevie Schomp, Sofia Naulivou, Daniela Voisinet, & Danika Reid - The Spongebob Musical (North Reading High School)

Connor Hackett - Anything Goes (Shelton High School) 

Alex Rediker - Shrek the Musical (St. Paul Catholic High School)

Soraima Roman - The Little Mermaid (Wilbur Cross High School)

Paloma Vasquez - The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (East Lyme High School)  

Eve Videll - Nice Work If You Can Get It (Lyme-Old Lyme High School)

Lighting Design:

Claire Bray - Anything Goes (Bethel High School)

John Cummings & Miriam Wulff - Anything Goes (Shelton High School) 

Quinn Dwyer - The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (East Lyme High School) 

William Hulse & Tyler Geer - Newsies (West Haven High School) 

Yeshi Tsering - The Little Mermaid (Old Saybrook High School) 

Daniela Voisinet - The Spongebob Musical (North Reading High School) 

Sound Design: 

Alex Cavalo - Newsies (West Haven High School)

Miles DeSantis - Mamma Mia! (Stamford High School) 

Quinn Dwyer - The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (East Lyme High School)

Zamir Edwards, Saby Vasquez, Diana Jimenez, Jeeonna White, Salem Jones - The Little Mermaid (Wilbur Cross High School)

Sofia Naulivou - The Spongebob Musical (North Reading High School) 

Max Schaum - The Little Mermaid (Old Saybrook High School) 

Isaac Schmidt - Chicago (Billerica Memorial High School)

Nick Warren - Mean Girls (Suffield Academy)

Best Supporting Actor:

Devont'e Campbell - Race (Newsies - West Haven High School) 

Dominic Clark - Cookie McGee (Nice Work If You Can Get It - Lyme-Old Lyme High School)

Ethan Fonck - Chuck Cranston (Footloose - Masuk High School) 

Caed Nourie - Wolf/Florinda (Into the Woods - South Windsor High School) 

Connor Poole-Scott - Tommy Lewis (War Paint - Stonington High School) 

Adrian Solocio - Addaperle (The Wiz - Cooperative Arts & Humanities High School)

Best Supporting Actress:

Maile Booth - Ethel McCormick (Footloose - Masuk High School) 

Claire Correale - Jack's Mother (Into the Woods - South Windsor High School)

Sophie Donavan - Karen the Computer (The Spongebob Musical - North Reading High School)

Lily Parady - Ms. Norbury/Mrs. George (Mean Girls - Amity High School) 

LeeLee Sammis - Karen (Mean Girls - Suffield Academy)

Kajsia Wright - Miss Almira Gulch/West Witch (The Wizard of Oz - Valley Regional High School) 

Best Actor:

Tiernan Cabot - Baker (Into the Woods - South Windsor High School)

Brian Conlon - Patrick Star (The Spongebob Musical - North Reading High School) 

Griffin Keating - Billy Flynn (Chicago - Hall High School)

Dylan Mills - Spongebob (The Spongebob Musical - North Reading High School)

Christian Roach - Shrek (Shrek the Musical - St. Paul Catholic High School) 

Daniel Sai Velez - Jack Kelly (Newsies - West Haven High School) 

Aaron Steed - Tinman (The Wiz - Cooperative Arts & Humanities High School)

James Thibault - Javert (Les Miserables - Conard High School) 

Best Actress:

Evan Anderson - Helena Rubenstein (War Paint - Stonington High School)

Lynn Boyaji - Reno Sweeney (Anything Goes - Glastonbury High School)

Ainsley Dziura - Janis (Mean Girls - Cheshire High School)

Audrey Lesko - Rusty (Footloose - Masuk High School)

Jack Maloney - Ursula (The Little Mermaid - New Milford High School) 

Kate Morton - Donna Sheridan (Mamma Mia - Stamford High School)

Alivia Rowe - Sandy Cheeks (The Spongebob Musical - North Reading High School) 

Kasey Smith - Regina (Mean Girls - Amity High School) 

Achievement by a Student Orchestra:

Amity High School - Mean Girls 

Bethel High School - Anything Goes 

Brookfield High School - Mamma Mia 

Conard High School - Les Miserables

Cooperative Arts and Humanities High School - The Wiz

Darien High School - Hello, Dolly! 

Glastonbury High School - Anything Goes

New Milford High School - The Little Mermaid 

Best Choreography:

Chrissy Bowman - The Spongebob Musical (North Reading High School)

John Carter - Mean Girls (Cheshire High School)

Jacqueline DeMaio & Annie Kane - Anything Goes (Glastonbury High School)

Andrea Kennedy - Mean Girls (Amity High School)

Christine Kershaw-Hobson - The Wiz (Cooperative Arts and Humanities High School) 

Caitlin Roberts - Mamma Mia (Stamford High School) 

Mark Simpson - Shrek the Musical (St. Paul Catholic High School) 

Erin Sousa-Stanley - War Paint (Stonington High School)

Best Direction:

Dawn Demeo - Mean Girls (Cheshire High School) 

Tommy DeSalvo - Mamma Mia (Stamford High School) 

Thomas Dugan - Mean Girls (Suffield Academy)

Allison Kane - The Spongebob Musical (North Reading High School) 

Robert & Andrea Kennedy - Mean Girls (Amity High School) 

Mark Mazzarella - Shrek the Musical (St. Paul Catholic High School) 

Hunter Parker - Les Miserables (Conard High School) 

Erin Sousa-Stanley - War Paint (Stonington High School) 

Best Ensemble:

Mean Girls - Amity High School

Mean Girls - Cheshire High School

The Spongebob Musical - North Reading High School

Anything Goes - Shelton High School

Shrek the Musical - St. Paul Catholic High School

Mamma Mia - Stamford High School

The Wizard of Oz - Valley Regional High School

Newsies - West Haven High School

Best Musical:

Mean Girls - Amity High School

Mean Girls - Cheshire High School

Les Miserables - Conard High School

The Spongebob Musical - North Reading High School

Anything Goes - Shelton High School

Mamma Mia - Stamford High School

Shrek the Musical - St. Paul Catholic High School

War Paint - Stonington High School

The Awards evening will also feature the presentation of special achievement awards. In addition to the presentation of the awards, we will be honoring all student stage managers and dance captains. Our Best Actor and Best Actresss winners will go on to compete at the The National High School Musical Theatre Awards (the Jimmy Awards) in New York City.

Tickets for the gala are $45 per person and are currently on-sale through the Shubert box office or Ticketmaster.

The gala will be music directed/arranged by Stephen Ferri and will feature choreography by Audra Bryant. 

ABOUT BLACK ROCK THEATER

As a non-profit organization, Black Rock Theater provides training for emerging artists by connecting them with Broadway professionals to fuel the future of the arts. Black Rock Theater provides professional-level training and performance opportunities for artists of all backgrounds. Within our Academy, students study singing, dancing, and acting in group classes and private lessons to further develop their craft. Our top-tier stage productions connect emerging artists with working industry professionals as we produce a full five-show season with Equity contracts. Black Rock Theater operates at the intersection of artistic collaboration and education. 

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