No Jimmy Awards For Freddy Winners But Plenty Of Memories

Parkland and Pius X high school graduates won't be coming home with Jimmy Awards from the third annual National High School Musical Theater Awards, held Monday night in New York.

But the two, from the State Theatre in Easton, will take home memories and new skills honed from performing on Broadway, working with theater professionals, and meeting fellow high school thespians from across the country. Today, participants were to visit Nickelodeon offices and meet with casting agents at the Bernard Telsey Casting Agency.

"Both of them grew so much as performers," said State Theatre House Manager and Freddy Coordinator Frank Kutch, who is chaperoning Mays and Klingel in New York. "They learned so much in performance and life skills.

"It's pretty intense for these six days," Kutch said. "They were great ambassadors, and they did the Freddys proud."

Family and friends travelled from the Lehigh Valley to New York on Monday to watch the live awards show. And while the night might not have turned out as hoped, that doesn’t mean the evening was dull -- not by a long shot.

The performance by 50 high school actors and actresses who had spent a week in coaching sessions, master classes and rehearsals almost didn’t come off when a suspicious box brought activity in the uptown Manhattan area of the Minskoff Theater to a grinding halt. City police closed off streets and ushered patrons dining in theater district restaurants out of the eateries until a bomb squad could examine the package and declare the area safe.

But, as they say in the theater business, “the show must go on.” And it did.

The Minskoff Theater didn’t open its doors until just a few minutes before show time, but the crowd waiting to cheer on their favorite student thespians quickly filed into the theater and took their seats.

The evening began with a production number by the entire cast showcasing music from current Broadway musicals.

“Billy Elliot” Tony Award-winner Gregory Jbara was the show's host. Dressed in casual wear, he gave the audience a chuckle when he received a call on his cell phone. “OK, Officer. Yes sir, I’ll pay the fine,” he said, then to the audience, “I left my tuxedo in a suitcase out on the street,” an off-handed reference to the suspicious package from earlier in the evening.

Executive Director Susan Lee, executive director of the theater awards group, commented on the beginnings and growth of the awards program. Since its inception, she noted, a survey has indicated a marked increase in student participation in high school theater.  

After welcoming comments, performers were split into six ensembles –three mens’ groups and three womens’—who performed a medley of tunes from the plays that had earned them the privilege of competing. All had been named best actor or best actress during 25 regional competitions, including the State Theatre's Freddys, earlier this year.

Mays, of Fogelsville, reprised his role as Freddy Benson in by performing from “Great Big Stuff” in the first ensemble number. Klingel performed from her school's production of "The King and I."  

At the annual Freddy Awards last month at the State Theatre, Mays was named in a Leading Role for his portrayal of the scoundrel Benson. Klingel was named Best Actress in a Leading Role for her performance as Anna Leonowens in “The King and I.” Those wins were their ticket to the Jimmys.

At Monday's nights show, after all ensembles performed, judges narrowed the field to six finalists who then gave solo performances. One male and one female were declared winners. Jimmy Awards went to Ryan McCartan from Minnetonka High School, Minneapolis, Minn., and Shauni Reutz of Wayne Central High School, Rochester, N.Y.

McCarten thanked friends, teachers, mentors and his parents, “for making me” and said, “This is the only place I want to be.”

Reutz of Wayne Central High School, Rochester, N.Y., also thanked her family and them stumbled through a few other words until finally conceding, “I’m speechless.”

Each received a check for $10,000 and chances at scholarships to the Tisch School for the Arts at New York University. The four runners-up each received $2,500 checks.

Special awards were presented to Kevin Crowley from North Babylon High School, New York, N.Y. (Most Improved); Maya Maniar, Castilleja High School, San Jose, Calif. (Best Ensemble Performer) and Mis Gerachis, Episcopal High School, Houston, Texas (Spirit of the Jimmys).

A reception was held after the show for performers, families and friends. 

As usual, all Broadway theaters in New York were dark Monday night, except for the Minskoff. The ceremony was a culmination of the week-long experience that included the workshops with professionals; the one-on-one coaching sessions with faculty from the Tisch School of Art at New York University; a Broadway play, The Addams Family, an after-performance talk session with one of the actors, and the meeting of Tony Award nominees.

Mays and Klingel had traveled to New York last Wednesday with chaperone Kutch. They were separated into groups and immediately began working toward learning lines, music, choreography and staging for last night’s performance.

On Sunday, each of the participants performed a solo for a panel of industry judges who included Scott Ellis of Roundabout Theatre Company; Kent Gash of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts; Tony Award nominee Montego Oliver; Rachel Hoffman and Bernard Telsey, both of Telsey + Company casting agency; Alecia Parker of the National Artists Management Company , and Nick Scandalios of the Nederlander Organization.

Presenters included Tony Award winners Tommy Tune, Harvey Feirstein, Nikki M James (“Book of Mormon”) and Aaron Tveit (“Catch Me If You Can”).

The Jimmy Award is named for Broadway theater owner/producer Jimmy Nederlander, who established the National High School Music Theater Awards.

The organization's President Van Kaplan announced something new for next year:  the National High School Musical Theater Awards, WGPH in Pittsburgh and Public Television formed a partnership to broadcast the show on public television.