Now in its seventh year, the event sees more than 50,000 students from over 1,000 high schools throughout the country compete for a chance to travel to Manhattan, where they are housed in the NYU dorms and given the opportunity to rehearse with theatre professionals in the lead up to the finals. The coaches that the students work with are all adjuncts or taught through the tutelage of Tony nominee Michael McElroy, head of Vocal Performance at New Studio on Broadway.

Read about their experiences on Playbill.com through student bloggers Audrey McKee and Alec Michael.

NHSMTA finalists have prepared for their Broadway debut during a five-day professional training intensive with NYU Tisch School of the Arts' New Studio on Broadway faculty members among other theatre professionals.

Winners will be selected by a panel of judges composed of notable theatre professionals including Kent Gash fromNew Studio on Broadway and NYU Tisch School of the Arts Department of Drama.

The event, which is now being overseen by the Broadway League Foundation for the first time, aims to raise the profile of musical theatre in schools, recognize dedicated teachers and inspire the next generation of performers and enthusiasts. Student performers qualify to compete in the national program by winning top honors at regional high school musical theatre awards competitions. "We look forward to our connection with the thousands of young adults who are competing and keeping them in the Broadway family," the Broadway League's president Charlotte St. Martin told Playbill.com earlier in the year. "Whether they become lifelong Broadway theatregoers or industry professionals, they will preserve and enhance the future of musical theater."

Visit NHSMTA for more information about the National High School Musical Theatre Awards.

The full list of 2015 nominees is below: