Musical Theatre West’s Footlighters Scholarship Winners Announced

Musical Theatre West's Footlighters Guild announced the winners of their annual Footlighters Scholarship competition. Each year the Musical Theatre West Footlighters present five $1,000 scholarships to high school students in the Los Angeles County and Orange County school districts. This year forty-one students representing twenty-one high schools auditioned. The participating schools were as follows: Central LA HS # 9, Cleveland High School, Huntington Beach Academy for the Performing Arts, La Habra High School, Lakewood High School, Los Alamitos High School, Los Angeles High School of the Arts, Millikan High School, Mission Viejo High School, Orange County High School of the Arts, Pacifica High School, Palos Verdes High School, Renaissance High School, Rosary High School, San Juan Hills High School, South Gate High School, South High School, Torrance High School, Valley Christian High School, Warren High School and Wilson High School.

The talent this year was amazing and it was difficult to narrow it down to just five. Winners of the Footlighters $1000 scholarship are Jessamyn Arnstein from Central LA HS #9, Elizabeth Romero and Jacob Gonzalez from Huntington Beach Academy for the Performing Arts, Landon Zwick from Orange County High School of the Performing Arts, and Bren Johnson from San Juan Hills High School. The Footlighters will host an awards ceremony for these students on June 18, 2011.

Two of the five winners were selected to represent Musical Theatre West and participate in the National High School Musical Theater Awards (NHSMTA and also known as the Jimmy^TM Awards) held in New York City on June 27th at the Marquis Theatre on Broadway. Elizabeth Romero will represent Best Actress for her role as Millie in THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE and Jacob Gonzalez will represent Best Actor for his role as Jean Valjean in LES MISERABLES. Both played these roles at their high school this year, Huntington Beach Academy for the Performing Arts. Last year, Footlighters scholarship winner, Kyle Selig from Huntington Beach High School Academy of Performing Arts participated in the Jimmy^TM Awards and won Best Performance by an Actor from amongst forty-four students from across the nation.

Musical Theatre West is one of 25 theatre companies in the country to send students to participate. Sari Rose Poll, MTW's Education/Outreach Coordinator stated, "We are thrilled to send two very talented up and coming performers to the Jimmy^TM Awards. We are so proud they will be representing Musical Theatre West."

The National High School Musical Theater Awards (NHSMTA) is a celebration of outstanding student achievement in high school musical theater. The program recognizes individual artistry in vocal, dance and acting performance, and honors teachers and their schools' commitment to excellence in performing arts education.

The third annual National High School Musical Theater Awards will be held on Monday, June 27, 2011, at the Marquis Theatre on Broadway. Activities will commence on Wednesday, June 22, with rehearsals, master classes, private coaching and interviews with theater professionals leading up to the live awards show where the Jimmy^TM Award for Best Performance by an Actor and Best Performance by an Actress will be presented. The program will conclude on Tuesday, June 28, 2011.

Prizes and scholarships will vary by year and have not yet been announced for 2011. Scholarships will include the opportunity for merit and need-based assistance to attend NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, New Studio on Broadway: Acting and Music Theatre contingent upon acceptance into the New Studio and New York University.

About James M. Nederlander
The Jimmy^TM Award is named for legendary Broadway theater owner and producer James M. Nederlander, or "Jimmy" as he is known on Broadway. Mr. Nederlander is the Chairman of the Nederlander Producing Company of America Inc., the owner/operator of a vast chain of theatres, including nine Broadway houses, and a producer of distinguished entertainment for more than 70 years. Jimmy and his son, James L. Nederlander, also present Broadway shows in Chicago, Los Angeles, San Diego, Riverside, San Jose, Tucson, Durham and London. The Broadway League recently presented Jimmy with the Schoenfeld Vision for Arts Education Award for establishing The National High School Musical Theater Awards.

This is MTW's second year of participation in this event as part of its ongoing mission to further the education of the American art form of musical theatre to the youth in the communities it serves.

More information about the National High School Musical Theatre Awards can be obtained by visiting their website at www.nhsmta.com

 

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