Broadway's future stars ready for the 15th annual Jimmy Awards on Monday

Joelle Garguilo Image
Friday, June 21, 2024 10:21PM
Broadway's future starts gearing up for Jimmy Awards
Joelle Garguilo gets a behind the scenes look at rehearsals for the Jimmy Awards on Monday.

NEW YORK (WABC) -- High school students nationwide are getting their last rehearsals in before the 15th annual Jimmy Awards on Monday.

The coast-to-coast musical ceremony celebrates outstanding student achievement - recognizing talent in vocal, dance and acting performance.

"The Jimmy Awards are the TONY awards for high school musical theater lovers," Van Kaplan, Director of the Jimmy Awards said.

For these students, the Jimmy Awards can be life-changing.

Some of the past winners include Renée Rapp, known for her role as Regina George in Mean Girls on Broadway, and Dear Evan Hansen's Andrew Barth Feldman. Rapp and Feldman were 2018 Jimmy Awards Finalists.

The first round includes the regional competitions in which the winners go on to New York for a 10-day theater intensive that includes coaching sessions, training, and rehearsals led by some of Broadway's most accomplished professionals.

At the end of the 10-day training, a talent showcase is performed in front of a live audience on Broadway.

A panel of industry professionals will attend the showcase to scout for Broadway's next generation of talent.

"We have judges in the audience. They're all professionals, casting directors,producers and representatives of the industry," Kaplan said.

Two official winners will be named out of the 102 high school stars.

At media day, Joelle spoke to students about the overall experience.

"What are you walking away with?" Eyewitness' Garguilo asked students.

"A ton of new friends..101 new best friends and just the experience of getting to work like professionals in the industry," one of the students said.

This year's show will be hosted by Emmy, Tony and Grammy-nominated singer and actor Josh Groban.

The show will be streamed live on the Jimmy Awards website beginning at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, June 24.