Rochester Broadway Theatre League To Participate In The 10th Annual National High School Musical Theater Awards

The Rochester Broadway Theatre League (RBTL) is pleased to announce that it will join other professional theater organizations from across the country participating in the tenth annual presentation of "The Jimmy Awards", to be held in New York City on June 25th at the Minskoff Theatre on Broadway. The National High School Musical Theater Awards (NHSMTA), founded and produced by Nederlander Presentations, Inc. and Pittsburgh CLO, is a national celebration of outstanding student achievement that recognizes individual artistry in vocal, dance and acting performances by high school students. "The Jimmy Award" is named in honor of James M. Nederlander, legendary Broadway theater owner and producer.

To participate in the National High School Musical Theater Awards, professional theaters are required to be a member of 'The Broadway League', the National Alliance of Musical Theater or the Theatre Communications Group. Each organization agrees to sponsor two student representatives, namely their local winners of the "Leading Actor" and "Leading Actress" categories, in the national competition in New York City. RBTL's 20th annual Stars of Tomorrow ceremony was held on Thursday, May 10th, 2018. 34 of the students recognized for their roles competed on May 24th, 2018 at the Auditorium Theatre in a NHSMTA Local Competition (Stars of Tomorrow NYC Bound), for the chance to represent Rochester, NY in the NHSMTA National Competition in New York City.

The 34 local students were; Allison Evans (Livonia High School), Aubrey Bagley (Marcus Whitman Central School District), Avery Carlson (Williamson Senior High School), Brianna Gerhart (Wayne Central High School), Catherine Kennedy (Allendale Columbia School), Catherine Rizk (Pittsford Sutherland High School), Christian Hahn (Lyndonville & Medina Central Schools), Cora Payne (Lyndonville & Medina Central Schools), Damon Fletcher (Mynderse Academy), Dominic Lombardo (Wayne Central High School), Donald Woodard (Churchville Chili Senior High School), Emily Sylvester (Churchville Chili Senior High School), Enoch Martin (Albion High School), Evan Bala (Gates Chili High School), Jack Bausch (Pittsford Sutherland High School), Jack D'Angelo (Warsaw Middle/High School), Jacob Nemitz (Marcus Whitman Central School District), Layna Viloria (Lyndonville & Medina Central Schools), Maddy Greenly (Wayne Central High School), Madeline Jewell (Wheatland-Chili High School), Madison Scoville (Geneseo Central High School), Makenna Hughes (Avon Central High School), Mark Mitrano (Greece Athena High School), Megyn Sperry (Wayne Central High School), Natalie Leclair (Pittsford Sutherland), Nick Novellin (Aquinas Institute of Rochester), Noah Detar (Penn Yan High School), Payton Loveless (Wayne Central High School), Qasim Huzair (Lyndonville & Medina Central Schools), Reese Holahan (Marion Central School), Savannah Devlin (Eastridge High School), Seth Waldron (Livonia High School), Shelby Ennis (Churchville Chili Senior High School) and Spencer Bonawitz (Midlakes High School).

A panel of judges adjudicated the competition, including; Nicolette Hart, a Penfield native who currently tours and performs with Bette Midler, Don Kot, Resident Music Director and Affiliate Artist at Geva Theatre Center, and Christopher Gurr, who starred in last season's Broadway revival of Cats.

Each student was asked to prepare 3 vocal selections to perform in up to three rounds of cuts. At the end of the local competition, Natalie Leclair (Pittsford Sutherland High School) and Mark Mitrano (Greece Athena High School) were chosen to represent Rochester at the 2018 National High School Musical Theatre Awards. At the NHSMTA national competition in NYC, two grand-prize winners will be selected by a panel of experts following five days of musical theater rehearsals, master classes, private coaching and interviews with theater professionals. Based on their skill level and professional goals, students are eligible for college scholarships, professional internships, career coaching and opportunities for auditions. In 2011, Wayne Central's Shauni Ruetz made Rochester proud, winning the national "Jimmy Award".

For more information on the NHSMTA national program and the Jimmy Awards, including other participating theatres nationwide, visit https://www.jimmyawards.com/. For more information on the Stars of Tomorrow program or the NHSMTA Local Competition/Stars of Tomorrow NYC Bound, please contact RBTL's Director of Education, Holly Valentine at holly@rbtl.org or visit www.rbtl.org.