Two Boca Raton students will be representing Palm Beach County today in the National High School Musical Theatre Awards (the Jimmy Awards) in New York City.
Maya Sharma from Saint Andrew’s School and Lucas Brown from West Boca Raton Community High School were the top winners in the fourth annual Kravis Center Dream Awards, competing with 135 other students from 15 Palm Beach County high schools.
Sharma, who won for her performance as Ellie in Freaky Friday, and Brown, who was honored for his performance at Frank Abagnale Jr. in Catch Me If You Can, have been in New York for a weeklong field study in advance of their performances today on the stage of the Minskoff Theatre.
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“We take immense pride in Maya, Lucas and the other students who took part in the yearlong adjudication program, earning them the chance to showcase their talents at the Dream Awards,” says Tracy C. Butler, director of education at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts.
The Dream Awards were launched by the Kravis Center for high school students during the 2017-2018 school year. Judges at this year’s Dream Awards included two-time Tony Award nominee Crista Moore, choreographer and Fosse dancer Lloyd Culbreath, and Kevin Covert, Broadway actor and chair of musical theater at Shenandoah Conservatory in Winchester, Va.
Other Kravis winners included McKayla Martin, outstanding lead actress alternate, and Celia Mason, outstanding supporting actress, both of King’s Academy; Antonio Saladin, outstanding lead actor alternate, Alejandro Quinones, outstanding supporting actor, and Stephanie Nixdorf, inspiring theater educator award, all from Boca Raton High School; and Marni Gass, outstanding ensemble actress, and Aiden Zeitchick, outstanding ensemble actor, both of West Boca High.
The Dreyfoos School of the Arts in West Palm Beach received the Outstanding Musical Award for its production of Stephen Schwartz’s Pippin, and five of its students also received awards: Devyn Humble for outstanding stage management; Leah Harrison for outstanding lighting design; Ryaan Peel for outstanding costume design; Capri Bold, outstanding featured female dancer; and Austin Bailly, outstanding featured male dancer.
The Jimmy Awards, hosted by Corbin Bleu, will be streamed live at 7:30 p.m. on YouTube and Facebook. The awards were founded in 2009 by the Nederlander theater organization, and are named after the late James Nederlander.