Musical Theatre West Awards Excellence In Musical Theatre Scholarships To Los Angeles And Orange County Teens

Musical Theatre West has recognized the outstanding musical theatre achievements of fourteen high school students from Los Angeles County and Orange County with scholarships for the upcoming 2022-2023 year. On Saturday, June 25th, each student was recognized with a $1000 USD scholarship and performed LIVE at the MTW Footlighters Luncheon outdoors in Long Beach.

"Many of our awarded students have attended premiere musical theater programs across the country and each year the talent continues to astound us," shared Musical Theatre West Executive Director and Producer Paul Garman. "It is with great pride that we reward and encourage the development of careers in the performing arts. The arts are such a critical part of a student's overall education as well as continued personal development."

Each year, the MTW Footlighters award scholarships to local high school students. Since the program's inception in 2005, over $120,000 in scholarships have been awarded to deserving students. Many scholarship recipients go on to pursue careers in the performing arts, including 2010 scholarship winner Kyle Selig. Selig went on to win Best Actor in the National High School Scholarship aka the Jimmy Awards that same year in New York, and has since starred in The Book of Mormon and Mean Girls on Broadway.

This year, MTW awarded scholarships in Technical Theatre and Dance for the first time, as well as adding two new scholarships: the Stevi Meredith Scholarship and the Jane Netherton Scholarship. MTW also grew its Mentorship Program, which connects scholarship winners from previous years with the newest awardees, fostering a community of emerging theatre artists.

In order to be eligible to receive a scholarship, students must be nominated by their performing arts teachers, followed by an audition in front of executives from MTW and other musical theater professionals. After much deliberation upon seeing all the talented students nominated this season, MTW would like to congratulate the 2022 Scholarship winners listed below:

Scarlet Bailey, Palos Verdes High School

Nick Daniel, Huntington Beach Academy for the Performing Arts

Neela David, Palos Verdes High School

Ruby Denmion, Wilson High School

Caiden Falstrup-Finney, Palos Verdes High School

Angelina Garcia, St. Anthony High School

Naomi Groleau, Orange County School of the Arts

Amanda Guevara-Blanco, Los Alamitos High School

Haven Hanson, Orange County School of the Arts

Brock Lichthardt, Huntington Beach Academy for the Performing Arts

MJ Ordinario, Bellflower High School

Jordan Spena, Orange County School for the Arts

Natalia Vassilian, Tesoro High School

Landon Wouters, Orange County School of the Arts

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