Nominees Announced for the Sixth Annual Illinois High School Musical Theatre Awards

Nominees Announced for the Sixth Annual Illinois High School Musical Theatre Awards

Pictured: The Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place

Broadway In Chicago has announced the twenty-four students nominated for Best Actor and Best Actress, and nominees for Best Production, Best Direction and the Grosh Award for Best Scenic Design in the sixth annual Illinois High School Musical Theatre Awards.

The nominees, selected after evaluating 74 productions across the state of Illinois, have been invited to participate in the Awards program, which will be held at the Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place on Monday, June 5.

As part of the awards program, Broadway In Chicago has crafted a workshop for the students that will feature married couple Adam and Kelly Jacobs. Adam, who originated the title role in Aladdin on Broadway, can currently be seen in the North American tour at the Cadillac Palace, and Kelly was previously in Chicago with the Mary Poppins North American tour. The workshop for these twenty-four nominees will culminate in a performance on stage at the Broadway Playhouse.

Nominees will also audition for a panel of casting agents and theater professionals who will choose the recipients of performance awards. A Best Actress and Best Actor winner from Illinois will be sent to New York City on an all-expense paid trip for a week-long theater intensive of coaching and rehearsals with industry professionals in preparation for a one-night-only showcase on Broadway, where a panel of judges crowns the nation’s top performers.
 

LIST OF NOMINEES AND HIGH SCHOOLS (from the press release):

NAME HOMETOWN HIGH SCHOOL
Jordan Radis Lincolnshire Adlai E. Stevenson High School
Meaghan Rivera Hoffman Estates Barrington High School
Justin Smusz Bolingbrook Benet Academy
Frank Gomulka Lemont Benet Academy
Madeleine Barbeau Bolingbrook Benet Academy
Nicholas Orth Orland Park Carl Sandburg High School
Sara Toth Orland Park Carl Sandburg High School
Corey Barlow Cary Cary-Grove High School
Haley Gustafson Cary Cary-Grove High School
Natalie Doppelt Riverwoods Deerfield High School
Brax Melvin West Frankfort Frankfort Community High School
Carly Meyer Northbrook Glenbrook North High School
Darian Goulding Hampshire Hampshire High School
Jack Hradecky Rockton Hononegah Community High School
Edith “Gracie” Stockton Lake Forest Lake Forest High School
Zachary Pearson Libertyville Libertyville High School
Lindsey Doody Frankfort Lincoln-Way East High School
Benjamin Dow Shorewood Minooka Community High School
Dominic Cappuccilli Mundelein Mundelein High School
Maddie Mazzella Chicago Saint Ignatius College Prep
Annie Yamamoto Hoffman Estates William Fremd High School
Erik Martenson Elmhurst York Community High School
Tatum Langley Elmhurst York Community High School
Carina Kanzler Elmhurst York Community High School


NOMINEES FOR BEST PRODUCTION

Benet Academy’s production of All Shook Up

Carl Sandburg High School’s production of Jekyll and Hyde

Cary Grove High School’s production of Evita

Libertyville High School’s production of In the Heights

York Community High School’s production of West Side Story

NOMINEES FOR THE GROSH AWARD FOR BEST SCENIC DESIGN
Cary- Grove High School’s production of Evita

Coal City High School’s production of The Little Mermaid

Hinsdale South High School’s production of Hairspray

Lake Forest High School’s production of Urinetown

Libertyville High School’s production of In the Heights

NOMINEES FOR BEST DIRECTION

Cynthia Burrows, Adlai E. Stevenson High School- Big Fish

Lauren Condon & Brian Wand, Benet Academy- All Shook Up

Rob Boncosky, Cary-Grove High School- Evita
Andy Robinson, Chicago Academy For the Performing Arts – A Little Night Music

Kelly MacBlane & John Wanninger, Lake Forest High School- Urinetown

The Illinois High School Musical Theatre Awards are sponsored by Disney’s Aladdin and Grosh Backdrops & Drapery. The Illinois chapter of the National High School Musical Theatre Awards serves as an annual national celebration of outstanding achievement in musical theater performance by high school students. For more information, visit BroadwayInChicago.com.

 

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PerformInk is Chicago's entertainment industry trade publication.