Registration is being accepted until Tuesday, January 31, 2023.
The Broadway Education Alliance has announced that registration to participate in The 2023 Roger Rees Awards for Excellence in Student Performance is being accepted until Tuesday, January 31, 2023. To be eligible for their students to compete for the Outstanding Performer, high schools must present an officially licensed production of a Broadway musical during the 2022-2023 academic year and be located in a Greater New York county that includes: the Bronx, Kings (Brooklyn), Nassau, New York (Manhattan), Orange, Putman, Queens, Richmond (Staten Island), Rockland, Suffolk, and Westchester. To register, visit at www.rogerreesawards.com.
The 2023 Roger Rees Awards ceremony will be held at the Professional Performing Arts School (PPAS) on Sunday, May 21, 2023. Located at 328 West 48th Street, PPAS is headed by Keith Ryan, Principal. "Given our location in the heart of the Broadway district and our close relationships with the New York City performing arts community, we are delighted to host the Roger Rees Awards, an important and exciting event for young performers and our school programs," said Ryan. This year, PPAS is presenting Rent, under the direction of Kyle Pleasant, with musical direction by Arri Simon, and produced by Jeff Statile and Evolution Arts.
Students who perform qualifying roles in their high school musical produced by participating schools will be adjudicated by teams of professional performers and/or educators who attend each high school production. The top 50 students (25 men and 25 women) who receive the highest scores overall will be chosen to participate in a 2-day long performance training and talent showcase to compete for the title of Outstanding Performer in the Greater New York region. Winners of the Roger Rees Award will represent Greater New York at The Broadway League Foundation's Jimmy Awards (also known as the National High School Musical Theatre Awards) on June 26, 2023 at the Minskoff Theatre.
Previous Roger Rees Award Outstanding Performers who have won top honors at the national program include Roger Rees Awards Best Actress 2019, Ekele Ukegbu (2019 Best Actress), Andrew Barth Feldman (2018 Best Actor) and Marla Louissaint (2015 Best Actress).
The Roger Rees Awards for Excellence in Student Performance is presented by the Broadway Education Alliance Inc., a New York-based 501(c)3 organization, whose mission is to provide artists and audiences greater access to the theater. The RRA is made possible with the generous support of many industry leaders most notably Disney Theatrical Group, Nancy Nagel Gibbs, Rick Elice, Musical Theatre International, Theatrical Rights Worldwide, and others.
The Roger Rees Awards recognizes the importance of theatre arts education and celebrate the exceptional life and career-long artistic excellence of Broadway's beloved actor/director, Roger Rees. Rees received the 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. Throughout his life, he was a committed educator and generous mentor to young artists. Playwright Rick Elice, Rees' partner of over 30 years, and author of "Finding Roger," said, "Rog would have liked this chance to educate and inspire young actors, to offer a guiding hand as so many were offered to him when he too was a kid with a dream."
For more information about the Outstanding Performer Award and a list of other recognition categories, visit www.RogerReesAwards.com.
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