'Hannah Montana' Star to be Presenter at Spotlight Awards

Teen celebrity Mitchel Musso, co-star of the popular Disney Channel series Hannah Montana, has joined the list of esteemed presenters at North Shore Music Theatre's 3rd Annual Spotlight Awards on Monday, June 2, 2008.  The Tony® Award style program on the NSMT main stage is designed to honor the accomplishments of high school students and teachers as well as encourage them to achieve the highest levels of excellence in musical theater. This year's program involves 24 high schools and over 1,000 students from Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
 
A native of Texas, 16 year-old Mitchel Musso is best known for his role on Hannah Montana as Oliver Oken. His cover of "Lean on Me" is on the Radio Disney Top 30 and, on May 20th, DisneyMania 6 CD (Walt Disney Records) will be released which includes the duet with Musso and Emily Osment, "If I Didn't Have You." Musso's acting credits include Jeremy in Phineas and Ferb, Raymond Figg in the Disney Channel Original Movie, Life Is Ruff, and the voice of DJ in the Academy Award-nominated motion capture film, Monster House. This summer he will be filming the Hannah Montana feature film and tune-in this fall as Musso stars in the Disney Channel movie Hatching Pete which will also feature a brand new original song sung by him.
 
Fifteen awards will be presented during the awards ceremony on June 2, including Best Leading Actor and Actress, which Mitchel will introduce. Other award categories include Best Supporting Actor/Actress, Best Featured Performer, Best Ensemble/Chorus, Best Direction, Best Musical Direction, Best Choreography, Best Orchestra, Best Technical Crew/Execution, Best Scenic Design, Best Costume Design, Best Lighting Design, and the prestigious award for Best Overall Musical.  Comcast, in addition to providing technical support for the event, will be donating 10 show tickets to each of the 10 schools nominated for Best Musical.  Generous donations from Target and Boston Acoustics will also help make the 3rd annual NSMT Spotlight Awards a reality for everyone involved.

The ceremony will include a grand opening number featuring two students from each of the participating schools. Additionally, musical numbers from each of the 10 productions nominated for Best Musical will be performed throughout the ceremony.  Participating schools include Andover High School, Beverly High School, Bishop-Fenwick High School, Coe-Brown Northwood Academy, Danvers High School, Dracut High School, Framingham High School, Ipswich High School, Lynnfield High School, Marblehead High School, Masconomet High School, Natick High School, Newburyport High School, Pembroke High School, Pentucket Regional High School, Pope John XXIII High School, Reading Memorial High School, Salem High School (MA), Salem High School (NH), Silver Lake Regional High School, St. Thomas Aquinas High School, The Governor's Academy, Tyngsborough High School, and Westford Academy.
 
Doors open at 7pm for the 7:30pm ceremony on Monday, June 2nd. Tickets are $25 for adults and $10 for students and can be purchased by calling the NSMT Box Office at (978) 232-7200, by visiting the website at  www.nsmt.org or in person at 62 Dunham Road (Route128, exit 19), Beverly, MA.
 
North Shore Music Theatre's award-winning theatre arts and education programs and youth performances annually reach over 100,000 students.  The Theatre's Youth Performance Academy attracts thousands of students from 4 – 18 years old who are interested in exploring the world of music, theatre and dance and honing their craft.  In 2005, NSMT's Youth Performance Academy received the Junior Theater Festival's Outstanding Achievement in Musical Performance Award and the Outstanding Achievement in Choreography Award for its performance of Disney's Cinderella Kids.  With partnerships with Music Theatre International (MTI) and Disney Theatricals, NSMT has become the model for schools and organizations around the country and is one of the region's leading providers of theatre arts and education programs.

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