2017 Roger Rees Award Nominees Announced; Tim Federle to Host May Ceremony!
By: BWW News Desk Apr. 27, 2017
The Broadway Education Alliance is pleased to announce thenames of the 41 student performers who will compete for the 2016-2017 Roger Rees Awards for Excellence in Student Performance.
This year, 23 schools from the Greater New York area have nominated their students to participate in a showcase that culminates in theselection of the Best Actor and Best Actress in a local high schoolmusical. The complete list of nominees representing schools from Brooklyn, Manhattan, Staten Island and Nassau, Suffolk, Rockland and Westchester Counties follows and is also available by clicking here.
Produced by the Broadway Education Alliance, The Roger Rees Awards recognizes the importance of musical theater as part of a school curriculum. By acknowledging the talent of participating students, the award encourages young people to get involved in a creative and collaborative activity that motivates them to strive for personal excellence.
The Roger Rees Awards presentation will be held on Sunday, May 21 at 4:00 pm at the Professional Children's School hosted by writer, Tim Federle.
The event is a musical theater showcase featuring ensemble musical numbers and solos by students performing a song from his or her leading role intheir school musical for industry professionals, family and friends.
Two students will be selected by a panel of theater industry professionals to receive the Best Actress and Best Actor Awards. The two local winners will represent Greater New York at the 9th National High School Musical Theatre Awards (aka The Jimmy Awards) on June 26 at the Minskoff Theatre.
The Roger Rees Awards for Excellence in Student Performance celebrates the exceptional life and career-long artistic excellence of Broadway'sbeloved actor, Roger Rees. Roger received Olivier and Tony Awards for his performance in The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, and Tony nominations for Indiscretions and as co- director of Peter and the Starcatcher. He passed away in July 2015 after a year-long battle with braincancer. He was posthumously inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in November 2015.
The 2016-2017 Roger Rees Award Nominees are:
High School
Production
Actress
Role
Actor
Role
Brooklyn
Brooklyn Tech High School
Cinderella
Sandra Kralik
Cinderella
Poly Prep Country Day School
Pippin
Olivia Whitmer
Leading Player
Zachary Kimmel
Pippin
The Berkeley Carroll School
Blood Brothers
Gemma Siegler
Mrs. Johnstone
Graham Stodolski
Mickey
Manhattan
Hunter College High School
Little Shop of Horrors
Juliette Carbonnier
Audrey
Emmet Smith
Seymour
Professional Performing Arts
School
How to Succeed InBusiness
Without Really Trying
Madeleine Rubin
Rosemary Pillkington
J Pierpont Finch
Talent Unlimited High School
In the Heights
Gloria McDonald
Nina Rosario
Andrew Elhamalawy
Usnavi de la Vega
Nassau County
Carle Place High School
A Chorus Line
Jean-Marie Neave
Cassie
Logan Kelly
Zach
Paul D Schreiber High School
Crazy for You
Sarah DeMarino
Polly
Christian Hill
Bobby
Wantagh High School
The Little Mermaid/ Legally Blonde
Nicole Ninivaggi
Ariel
Kevin Ganzkaufer
Emmett
Staten Island
St. Joseph Hill Academy High
School
Bye, Bye Birdie
Rosalia Cioffi
Rosie Alvarez
New Dorp High School
Cabaret
Sally Bowles
Anthony Oliva
Emcee
Susan Wagner High School
Evita / Company
Olivia Jane Parisi
Evita
Joseph Gottfried
Robert
Suffolk County
Bay Shore High School
25th Annual Putnam
County SpellingBee / The AddamsFamily
Olive Ostrovsky
Christian Negron
Gomez Addams
Hauppauge High School
The Boyfriend
Evelyn Beltrani
Polly
North Babylon High School
Godspell
Jacob Lesko
Jesus
St. John the Baptist Diocesan
High School
Rodgers &
Hammerstein's Cinderella
Hannah Crews
Marie
West Babylon High School
Grease
NicoleRinaudo- Concessi
Sandy Dumbrowski
Matthew Lightsey
Danny Zuko
Rockland County
Nyack High School
Xanadu
Alyssa McDonald
Kira (Clio)
Graham Sevastian
Westchester County
Archbishop Stepinac
Hunchback of Notre Dame
Gabbie Sansone
Esmerelda
Jeremy Fuentes
Quasimodo
Ossining High School
Sister Act
Ijendu Adiele
Deloris
Colin Tobin
Eddie
Pleasantville High School
The Drowsy Chaperone
Carina Florio
Beatrice Stockwell
Michael Bloom
Aldolpho
Rye Neck High School
Legally Blonde
Rachel Wurzburger
Elle Woods
Emmett Forrest
Walter Panas High School
Monty Python's Spamalot
Lilliana Oliviero
The Lady of the Lake
Ryan Moore
Sir Robin
For more information, visit www.rogerreesawards.com.
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