NYU's Tisch School Of The Arts Pledges Support For The 1st Annual Jimmy Awards

Nederlander Presentations, Inc., and Pittsburgh CLO, co-producers and founding partners of The National High School Musical Theater Awards, are pleased to announce that, as part of its sponsorship of the 2009 National High School Musical Theater Awards, the Department of Drama at NYU Tisch School of the Arts will provide the opportunity for four-year scholarship assistance to the winners and finalists of The Jimmy Award for Best Performance by an Actress and Best Performance by an Actor.*
Recipients will be chosen from a field of 32 talented high school students representing 16 regional competitions from across the country. Hosted by Tisch Drama, students participating in The National High School Musical Theater Awards will take part in five days of musical theater rehearsals, master classes, private coaching and interviews with theater professionals. The Jimmy Awards, named in honor of legendary Broadway theater owner and producer James M. Nederlander, will be presented at the live event on Monday, June 29, 2009, at the Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, New York University.

The Department of Drama at NYU Tisch School of the Arts is committed to providing a progressive first rank education in the varied disciplines of musical theater. The Department is presently re-envisioning models for contemporary training in this important area. Consistent with its commitment to supporting and celebrating the most promising emerging young artists, the Tisch School is pleased to partner with this new national initiative. Tisch will provide scholarships for finalists, housing support, access to facilities and exposure to senior professional Drama faculty to benefit The National High School Musical Awards and its participants.

"High school musical theater is often the first point of incubation for the performers of tomorrow," states Kent Gash, director of the Tisch School of the Arts' Studio on Broadway: Music Theatre and Acting. "We in musical theater here at Tisch School of the Arts are eager to celebrate the work of these talented young people and are delighted to be able to encourage arts education and the development of the nation's best and brightest young performers through supporting The Jimmys!"

Elizabeth Bradley, Chair of the Department of Drama at Tisch, adds, "The partnership between Tisch Drama and The National High School Musical Theater Awards is a significant tangible expression of our commitment to celebrating accomplishment in this discipline and to providing a concentrated, progressive and rigorous education at the Tisch School of the Arts. With the School's creation of the New Studio on Broadway: Music Theatre and Acting, we wish to provide opportunities for gifted, passionate and curious young actors to experience our faculty and approach first hand."

All students competing in the awards will have the opportunity to live and rehearse on campus at NYU Tisch School of the Arts and train with faculty from the School's highly regarded Department of Drama. Winners and finalists of The National High School Musical Award Best Performance by an Actress and Best Performance by an Actor category will be eligible to receive four-year scholarship assistance to attend the Department of Drama, contingent upon acceptance into the program.

"New York University's sponsorship of The National High School Musical Theater Awards reflects the importance and growing popularity of the amateur musical theater movement in high schools around the country," explains Van Kaplan, co-producer of NHS Musical Theater Awards. "While the primary goal of our program is to encourage theater arts education programs, The Jimmys are also an opportunity to identify and nurture promising young talent."

The NHS Musical Theater Awards is a national celebration of outstanding student achievement recognizing individual artistry in vocal, dance and acting performance by high school students. The following professional regional theaters will be represented at the competition in New York: Casa Mañana, Forth Worth, TX; Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, Atlanta, GA; FCLO Music Theatre, Fullerton, CA; Helen Hayes Youth Theatre, Nyack, NY; Hershey Theatre, Hershey, PA; Kansas City Starlight Theatre, Kansas, MO; McCoy Rigby Entertainment, La Mirada, CA; Music Theatre of Wichita, Wichita, KS; North Carolina Theatre, Raleigh, NC; North Shore Music Theatre, Beverly, MA; Paper Mill Playhouse, Millburn, NJ; Pittsburgh CLO, Pittsburgh, PA; Rochester Broadway Theatre League, Rochester, NY; The Old Globe, San Diego, CA; The Spirit of Broadway Theater, Norwich, CT; Theatre Under the Stars, Houston, TX.

Tickets to the 2009 Jimmy Awards are available at http://www.skirballcenter.nyu.edu. Tickets can be purchased by visiting the Center's Web site, by phone at (212) 352-3101, or in person at the Skirball Center's Shagan Box Office. New York University's Skirball Center for the Performing Arts is located at 566 LaGuardia Place (at Washington Square South).

For more information on this program, contact. Kiesha Lalama-White at (412) 281-2234 or klalama-white@pittsburghclo.org. Additional information is also available on The National High School Musical Theater's web site, www.nhsmta.com, which provides the most up-to-date information on this exciting program, and allows students and teachers to upload photos and videos from their high school productions.

* Scholarship recommendations will be made by the Tisch School of the Arts faculty and all recommended students must meet all of the School's admission criteria.

 

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