Gregory Jbara to Host Jimmy Awards; Harvey Fierstein, Nikki M. James, Aaron Tveit Are Presenters

By Andrew Gans
22 Jun 2011

Gregory Jbara
Gregory Jbara
Photo by Bill Kiefer

Billy Elliot Tony Award winner Gregory Jbara will host the 3rd annual National High School Musical Theater Awards - "The Jimmy Awards" - June 27 at 7:30 PM at the Minskoff Theatre.

Presenters will include Tony Award winners Tommy Tune, Harvey Fierstein and Nikki M. James (Book of Mormon) as well as Catch Me If You Can's Aaron Tveit. The awards showcase will feature performances by 50 students representing 25 professional theatres across America.   

The National High School Musical Theater Awards (NHSMTA), according to press notes, is a "national celebration of outstanding student achievement recognizing individual artistry in vocal, dance and acting performance." NHSMTA is produced by Pittsburgh CLO, Nederlander Alliances LLC and The Broadway Education Alliance to "invigorate and support in-school theatre arts programs."

Nearly 1,000 high schools and 50,000 teenagers nationwide participated in the 2010-2011 program. The complete list of 2011 nominees and participating regional theatres is available at www.nhsmta.com.

The Jimmy Award, named in honor of James M. Nederlander, the Broadway theatre owner and producer, will be presented live onstage to select students following five days of interviews and private coaching supervised by faculty at New York University Tisch School of the Arts’ New Studio on Broadway. Students also participate in master classes and rehearsals at NYU.

Winners are chosen by a panel of industry experts including Scott Ellis (Roundabout Theatre Company); Kent Gash (NYU Tisch School of the Arts/New Studio on Broadway); Tony Award nominee Montego Glover (Memphis); Rachel Hoffman (Telsey + Company); Alecia Parker (NAMCO); Nick Scandalios (Nederlander Organization); and Bernie Telsey (Telsey + Company and MCC Theater).

Tickets to the performance ceremony are available at Ticketmaster.com.