Editor’s note: The following announcement was provided by the Overture Center for the Arts.
The 2021/22 Jerry Awards program will culminate in a show honoring student and school achievements, including performances by the Outstanding Award recipients, in Overture Hall on Sunday, June 12, 2022 at 6:30 p.m. Two outstanding performers will be selected to represent the program at The National High School Musical Theatre Awards® (Jimmy Awards®) competition in New York City.
The following Whitewater High School students will be honored:
– Alex Sullivan (Urleen) – Outstanding Supporting Performer, Footloose
– Brooke Mason (Wendy Jo) – Outstanding Supporting Performer, Footloose
– Madison Strickler – Spirit Award alternate, Footloose (Kayla Mikos, Spirit winner for Footloose, is unable to participate in the ceremony)
Participation statistics for the 2021/22 season:
- 85 productions
- 79 schools/community theater organizations
- 48 schools are represented in the 81 Outstanding Lead Performance Award recipients
- 23 counties
- 40 reviewers (three reviewers attended each production)
- 450+ students performing in annual awards shows in Overture Hall
- 8,500 people involved in the Jerry Awards through engagement with their local high school musical
The complete list of recipients may be found here.
The Jerry Awards is a high school musical awards program that encourages, recognizes and honors excellence in high school musical theater. The program began in the 2009/10 school year with 23 productions within 45 miles of Madison and has since expanded across the state through partnerships with Marcus Center for the Performing Arts, The Grand Theater and Viterbo Fine Arts Center. Educators and industry professionals review productions at Wisconsin high schools and/or community theater organizations and provide valuable feedback to students. In its first decade, the Jerry Awards engaged more than 700,000 students, teachers, theater professionals and community members.
To be eligible for the Jerry Awards, high schools apply in the fall or spring to have their musical reviewed by the program. Three adjudicators (industry professionals and educators) are assigned to see the show and write a critique evaluating it in various categories such as performance, design and direction. Critiques are compiled and sent to each school with nominations. In addition to the critique and being recognized at the awards show, participating students are eligible to audition for the Jerry Ensemble, become a student critic and receive special ticket offers to performances at Overture Center, Marcus Performing Arts Center, The Grand Theater and Viterbo University Fine Arts Center.
Overture’s Jerry Awards are sponsored by Old National Bank with additional funding provided by American Girl’s Fund for Children, Katie Dowling-Marcus and Ben Marcus and contributions to Overture Center.
The Jimmy Awards®/The National High School Musical Theatre Awards® (NHSMTA®) program impacts more than 140,000 students who participate in 46 regional high school musical theatre competitions sponsored by presenters of touring Broadway productions throughout the United States. Named for Broadway impresario James M. Nederlander, the program has been the catalyst for more than $5,000,000 in educational scholarships. Presented by The Broadway League Foundation, the NHSMTA invites one Best Actress and one Best Actor nominee from each local regional ceremony to New York City for a week-long theatre intensive that includes coaching, training, and rehearsing led by some of Broadway’s most accomplished professionals. Nominees will spend one week in New York City from Monday, June 20, 2022, through Tuesday, June 28, 2022, and their combined efforts throughout the week will lead to one extraordinary talent showcase performed live in front of an audience on a Broadway stage. The thirteenth annual Jimmy Awards will take place on Monday, June 27, 2022, at the Minskoff Theatre. For more information, please visit www.JimmyAwards.com.
