New York, NY – June 17, 2021 – The Jimmy Awards^® is pleased to announce this year’s 72 nominees from 36 regions around the US. The national student showcase will be streamed on Thursday, July 15th at 7:30 PM. The show will feature dynamic ensemble and solo performances and will culminate with two students presented with a Best Performance by an Actress and Best Performance by an Actor award with a total of 20 awards and scholarships available to participants.

The 2021 Jimmys will also welcome eight student reporters from Regional Awards Programs around the country. During the Jimmy Awards production week, these junior journalists will sit in on many of the online sessions and rehearsals attended by the performer nominees. Each student reporter will submit a series of videos providing “on the ground” reporting on the nominee experience and how the production is being put together. In addition, the student reporters will meet with industry professionals who can provide first-hand experience and advice on the digital and press landscape surrounding the Broadway industry.

In 2021, all coaching, rehearsals, and activities will take place online for the nominees. The program has been the catalyst for more than $4,000,000 in educational scholarships to date, and several previous student participants have been cast in Broadway, Touring and West End productions.

Student performers qualify to compete in the national program by winning top honors at regional high school musical theatre awards competitions presented by Broadway League member performing arts centers. Each year, more than 100,000 students participate in these annual events. For more information about this and the National High School Musical Theatre Awards, please visit www.JimmyAwards.com. Follow the Jimmy Awards on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter & YouTube!

Additionally, the INSPIRING TEACHER AWARD presented by WELLS FARGO will be given to Katelin Ruzzamenti Knight, Salt Lake School for the Performing Arts, Salt Lake City, Utah and Benjamin Pesenti, Elmont Memorial High School, Elmont, NY. These teachers will be honored for the encouragement and inspiration that led their students to win the coveted Jimmy Award for Best Performance by an Actress and Best Performance by an Actor at the most recent past Jimmy Awards ceremony, in 2019.

Founded in 2009 by Nederlander Alliances LLC, Pittsburgh CLO, and Broadway Education Alliance (BEA), the mission of the National High School Musical Theatre Awards® (NHSMTA®) is to raise the profile of musical theatre in schools, recognize dedicated teachers, and inspire the next generation of performers and enthusiasts. The Jimmy Awards are presented by the Broadway League Foundation and Pittsburgh CLO in honor of legendary Broadway producer/theatre owner James M. Nederlander, and are supported by many leading theatre industry organizations.

Apples and Oranges Arts is the streaming and video production partner. The official media partner is WABC-TV.

The Broadway League conducts the program through The Broadway League Foundation, which acts as its philanthropic arm. Part of the Foundation’s mission is to enlighten and increase the public's knowledge, appreciation and awareness of the theatrical arts, and since its founding in 1993, has supported several projects to help preserve Broadway's heritage and expose new audiences to Broadway theatre. The Foundation is a corporation organized under the Not-for-Profit Corporation Law of the State of New York, the purposes of which are exclusively charitable as defined in Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. Donations to support the program can be made at JimmyAwards.com.

The 2021 Jimmy Awards

Participating Theatre Organizations and their Nominees:

2021 Nominees | The National High School Musical Theatre Awards (jimmyawards.com)

2021 Student Reporters

#  #  #

WELLS FARGO & COMPANY (NYSE: WFC) is a diversified, community-based financial services company with $2.0 trillion in assets. Wells Fargo’s vision is to satisfy our customers’ financial needs and help them succeed financially. Founded in 1852 and headquartered in San Francisco, Wells Fargo provides banking, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance through more than 8,300 locations, 13,000 ATMs, the internet (wellsfargo.com) and mobile banking, and has offices in 42 countries and territories to support customers who conduct business in the global economy. With approximately 263,000 team members, Wells Fargo serves one in three households in the United States. Wells Fargo & Company was ranked No. 25 on Fortune’s 2017 rankings of America’s largest corporations.

APPLES AND ORANGES ARTS - “Taking the Starving out of Artist” Through the convergence of creativity and technology, Apples and Oranges Arts shatters the forgone myth of “starving artist” by providing education, infrastructure and tools that link the artist and audience. www.nycoc.org