Tickets for the eighth annual NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL THEATRE AWARDS (NHSMTA)/JIMMY™ AWARDS will go on sale Tuesday, April 26, 2016 at 10:00AM. Tickets can be purchased by visiting NHSMTA.COM or TICKETMASTER.COM and range from $39 to $89. Premium seats are $250. The awards ceremony will take place on Monday, June 27^th at 7:30PM at the Minskoff Theatre, 200 West 45th Street in Manhattan.

High school students from across America will compete for the coveted Jimmy™ Award for Best Performance by an Actor and Best Performance by an Actress at the eighth annual presentation. The talent showcase will feature dynamic ensemble and solo performances.

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. Over 1,000 high schools and 50,000 students participate in these annual events. Since its inception in 2009, the NHSMTA has enabled over $1,000,000 in university and conservatory scholarships to be awarded to talented students at the national and local level-several of whom have already been cast in Broadway, Touring and West End productions.

NHSMTA finalists will prepare for their Broadway debut during a ten-day professional training intensive with NYU Tisch School of the Arts' New Studio on Broadway faculty members plus other theatre professionals. Winners will be selected by a panel of industry experts.

"We are thrilled to be able to enhance the National High School Musical Theatre Awards this year. The expanded program will allow us to include more educational opportunities and to accommodate more regional programs," said Charlotte St. Martin, President of the Broadway League. "We can't wait for the audience to see the show we are planning, and to experience the excitement and enthusiasm of the event with this year's talented group of performers!"

The 2016 National High School Musical Theatre Awards will debut new formatting for the program in order to accommodate more regional awards programs and provide opportunities for more students to experience Broadway and New York City. This year there will be 64 students representing 32 programs, compared to last year's 52 students representing 26 programs. The program will now take place over ten days.

The students will audition before a panel of judges early in the week, singing two prepared songs and participating in a dance call. Based on the audition results, the students will then be split into two tracks: The Medley Group and The Production Group, leading up to when all students will perform together in the opening and closing numbers on the Minskoff stage on Monday, June 27th. The groups will continue to work together throughout the week and receive the same amount of coaching.

Founded in 2009 by Nederlander Alliances LLC, Pittsburgh CLO, and Broadway Educational Alliance (BEA), NHSMTA's mission is to raise the profile of musical theatre in schools, recognize dedicated teachers and inspire the next generation of performers and enthusiasts. Also known as The Jimmy™ Awards, in honor of legendary Broadway producer/theatre owner James M. Nederlander, the NHSMTA is supported by many leading theatre industry organizations. More information about the National High School Musical Theatre Awards can be found at nhsmta.com.

The Broadway League will conduct 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 a number of projects to help preserve Broadway's heritage and introduce 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.