The Stephen Sondheim Awards Gala Held at The Shubert Theater New Haven

By Connecticut Critics Circle member and Naugatuck Patch neighbor Nancy Sasso Janis

The Stephen Sondheim Awards were presented on Saturday evening at the Shubert Theatre in New Haven. The ninth annual awards gala, which was presented to a completely sold out audience, was hosted by Broadway legend Norm Lewis, who also performed "Being Alive" from the musical "Company." This year, 41 high schools participated in the Sondheim Awards.

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Black Rock Theater in Fairfield sponsors the annual awards in association with the Shubert Theatre and Institute for American Musical Theatre. These are Connecticut and Massachusetts High School Musical Theater awards presented in association with the Jimmy Awards/National High School Musical Theatre Awards.

The evening began with a large group of student representatives from the participating high school programs, wearing their show t-shirts, performing a high energy opening number and closed with another group of students performing in their gala finery.

The presenters for the evening were a mix of Broadway professionals and members of the Black Rock Theater staff and faculty. They included 2024 Best Actress winner Lynn Boyaji, Black Rock Theater General Manager Natalie Biebel, Cady Huffman, Michael Minarik, Alex DeLeo, Brenna Donahue, choreographer Kate Boka, Eric Santagata, “Dora the Explorer” voice actor Sam Stein, Broadway music director/composer Todd Ellison, and the two student reporters. Fred Hulley and Judy Primavera of the Jamie Hulley Arts Foundation presented two scholarships.

The award for Scenic Design went to St. Paul Catholic for “Into the Woods;” in total the St. Paul Catholic production earned nine nominations. Rylee Walters was presented with the Achievement in Sound Design award for Westhill High School’s production of “Seussical.” Thomas Kelly took home the Best Supporting Actor award for his role as Ambrose in “Hello, Dolly” at Lyme-Old Lyme High School. Best Supporting Actress was presented to Vivian Smith for her role as Higgin’s housekeeper Mrs. Pearce in Amity High School’s “My Fair Lady.” Smith is a junior from New Haven who attends both Amity and ECA. In total, Amity received eight Sondheim nominations.

Isabella Rom was awarded the Achievement in Lighting Design award for “Water for Elephants” at North Reading High School. The award for Achievement in Stage Management went to Valley Regional High School for “Anastasia.” The Achievement in Costume Design went to Choate Rosemary Hall for “The Old Man and the Old Moon.” Achievement by a Student Orchestra was awarded to the orchestra for "Anything Goes” at Conard High School.

Best Music Direction was awarded to the team of Keith and Laura Traver for Valley Regional High School’s “Anastasia.” Best Choreography went to Christine Kershaw-Hobson for “Chicago Teen Edition” at Cooperative Arts and Humanities High School. Best Direction was awarded to the team of Andrea and Robert Kennedy for the Amity Regional High School production of “My Fair Lady.”

Best Ensemble was awarded to the hard-working team of students in “Water for Elephants” at North Reading High School.

Best Actor was awarded to Darrash Hallinan for his work in “The Lightning Thief” at Darien High School. I was seated in the same aisle as the Darien students, so I got to witness firsthand the excitement that Hallinan’s classmates exhibited when he was announced as the winner. The Theatre 308 website indicates that the Season Finale will be “Tick Tick Boom!,” student directed by Darragh Hallinan​.

Best Actress was presented to Delia Canarie who played the role of Reno Sweeney in Conard High School’s “Anything Goes.”

Winners of the Best Actress and Best Actor Awards category will now attend the National High School Musical Theatre Awards® (The Jimmy Awards®) in New York City.

Special Awards went to Noah Fischer from Branford High, Nathan Quinn from Medford High, and Ellie Brower from Wooster School. These awards are determined by recommendations from the teachers.

Connor Deane, the executive director and founder of Black Rock Theater, was the evening’s executive producer with Brenna Donahue keeping the respected program running smoothly in the role of Sondheim Awards Program Director. Donahue is the director of acting and social media director at Black Rock. The production stage manager was Blake Kile, with easy-to-read and most helpful projection design by Evan Frank. The beautiful lighting was designed by Curtis Shields, with great sound design by Daniel Bria.

The Sondheim Orchestra was conducted by Music Director Stephen Ferri. The twelve musicians, with Alex Gutierrez on Keys 1, sat in the traditional Shubert Theatre pit. Ferri and Michael Mastroianni were in charge of arrangements and orchestrations for the evening, playing the musical numbers performed by the schools nominated for the Best Musical Award, the medleys that showcase the nominees for Best Actress and Best Actor, and a section of music from the musical that had been earned each award. Choreographer Alex DeLeo taught the students the moves that they had learned during the rehearsal “boot camp.” There was also a large group of teens that worked on the student tech crew.

The nominees for Best Musical all performed a number from the show that they had produced this school year and each one performed in full costume. Framingham High School shared the comedic “Fixer Upper” from “Frozen” complete with a large group of trolls. Valley Regional High School performed the second act “Quartet at the Ballet” from their musical “Anastasia.” Darien High School shared “Bring on the Monsters” from their show, “The Lightning Thief.”

Amity Regional High School chose to show off the dancing in “Get Me to the Church” from their spring musical, “My Fair Lady.” Suffield Academy performed a selection from “Be More Chill.” North Reading High School performed ”The Road Don’t Make You Young” from “Water for Elephants” complete with impressive tumbling. St. Paul Catholic High School performed a number from their production of “Into the Woods.” The final school to perform was Conard High School tapping their way through the title song of “Anything Goes.”

The final award of the evening for Best Musical went to Amity for their production of “My Fair Lady.”

A sincere thank you to Connor Deane for the invitation to attend the VIP reception and a seat in the Shubert Theater to experience the excitement of the awards gala. Congratulations to each and every one of the Sondheim nominees and the adults who work with them, and of course, to all of the winners. It was a pleasure to watch you show off your talents.