Ninth Annual Jimmy Awards Announces Its Victors

The winners of the ninth annual National High School Musical Theatre Awards — better known as the Jimmy Awards, after late Broadway producer James M. Nederlander — were announced at the Minskoff Theatre last night in a ceremony hosted by Dear Evan Hansen star Ben Platt. Seventy-four finalists, who earned top honors at their respective regional competitions, performed to vie for the Best Actor and Actress titles.

This year, Sofia Deler and Tony Moreno — both representing the Applause Awards in Orlando, Florida — won Best Performance by an Actress and Best Performance by an Actor honors, respectively. Both winners were presented with a check for $10,000 to further their education. They will also be eligible for a four-year merit and a need-based scholarship to attend the New Studio on Broadway at N.Y.U. Tisch School of the Arts Department of Drama, contingent upon acceptance into the program.

Six finalists received a $2,500 scholarship from the Barry and Fran Weissler Foundation: Antonio Cipriano (East Lansing, Michigan), Maggie Gidden (La Mirada, California), Nathan Keffer (Nashville, Tennessee), Hatty King (also from Nashville, Tennessee), Sam Primack (Tempe, Arizona), and Jasmine Rogers (Houston).

The production was directed by Van Kaplan and choreographed by Kiesha Lalama, with musical direction and arrangements by Michael Moricz. Director, choreographer, and producer Kenny Ortega also made a special appearance at the ceremony and presented the week-in-review video. Winners were selected by a panel of theater professionals including Kent Gash, Montego Glover, Rachel Hoffman, Kevin McCollum, Alecia Parker, Tara Rubin, Bernard Telsey, and Charlotte Wilcox.

For a full list of Jimmy Award winners, click here.