New York, July 01: Fresh off his victory in the first-ever National High School Musical Theater Awards, Stephen Mark was ready to lace up his dancing shoes.
“This has been the most incredible, exciting night of my life,” said Stephen, 17, of Ridgefield, Conn., from backstage at the Skirball Center for the Performing Arts at New York University on Monday, still sweaty after performing a show-closing dance routine for a crowd of more than 800 theater enthusiasts.
“Now I’m ready for the after-party,” he added. “I hope people are going to dance.”
Luckily, he was among what might have been the least dance-averse crowd of teenagers in Manhattan: 31 fellow performers from high schools as far away as Yorba Linda, Calif., who came to N.Y.U. on Thursday to compete alongside Stephen for one of two Jimmy Awards, named in honor of the theater producer James M. Nederlander. Winners of the award get a four-year scholarship worth $100,000 to the university’s Tisch School of the Arts, contingent upon their acceptance to N.Y.U.
Each teenager was selected to participate in the awards program after being named best actor or best actress by one of 16 regional theater programs around the country, based on performances in musical productions during the 2008-9 school year.
At the prompting of Van Kaplan, executive producer of the Pittsburgh C.L.O., a regional theater and co-sponsor of the event with Nederlander Alliances L.L.C., the individual theater programs joined forces for the first time this year to crown one best actor — Stephen, whose performance as Jimmy Smith in Ridgefield High School’s production of “Thoroughly Modern Millie” earned him a spot under the Skirball Center spotlight — and one best actress, Jenny Wine, 18, whose portrayal of Julia in “The Wedding Singer” at Wichita East High School in Kansas landed her in the competition.
The opening remarks of Monday’s host, Kathie Lee Gifford, drew a burst of applause from theater luminaries including the performer Tommy Tune and Mr. Nederlander, 87, who remained seated next to his wife, Charlene, during an emotional video tribute to his long career on Broadway and, later, a standing ovation.
“Why didn’t we think of doing this a long time ago?” Ms. Gifford said.
Behind the scenes, organizers came up with plenty of reasons. According to Mr. Kaplan, whose theater has been presenting the Gene Kelly Awards to Pittsburgh-area high school students since 1991, a lack of emphasis on school arts programs has made staging a national event difficult, and the weakened economy has complicated matters.
But the recent rise to prominence of several actors recognized by regional theaters for their high school-era performances is lending regional theaters credibility. Anne Hathaway and Laura Benanti, a Tony Award winner, were recognized with Rising Star Awards by the Paper Mill Playhouse in New Jersey during their high school years, for example, and the “Star Trek” actor Zachary Quinto got help early in his career from the Pittsburgh C.L.O.
The rise of television shows like “So You Think You Can Dance” and “American Idol” have also directed attention to young people in the performing arts. “The link between the amateur world of high school students and the professional theater world is getting stronger,” said Mr. Kaplan, 52. “Those shows are bringing it to the forefront. And obviously we’re grateful for anything that advances the arts.”
For the first batch of Jimmy Award contenders, the days leading up to the ceremony amounted to a cram session on the pressure-cooker life of a Broadway performer. Between a group viewing of “West Side Story” on Friday — the first real Broadway experience for several of the students — and pep talks by visiting performers including Constantine Maroulis, the former “American Idol” heartthrob nominated for a Tony Award this year for his starring role in “Rock of Ages,” the teenagers were put through their paces by a team of N.Y.U. faculty members and regional theater professionals.
At the ceremony, the 32 would-be stars sang selections from the roles they performed on their high school stages. Those numbers allowed five judges — including Scott Ellis, associate artistic director of the Roundabout Theater Company, and the Broadway casting agent Bernard Telsey — to winnow the group to four finalists. Then, after an intermission, came solos of their choice: Stephen’s performance of “Run Away With Me” earned him his Jimmy, and Jenny’s rendition of “I Dreamed a Dream” secured hers. For one judge, Kent Gash, director of the Tisch School of the Arts’ Studio, the night was a culmination of a hectic week. “I’ve seen these kids preparing on campus,” he said before the performances. “I expect to be blown away. I expect to have my soul fed tonight.”
There could be little doubt that the soul of Mr. Nederlander, who said during the ceremony that he intended to “keep punching and never quit” life on Broadway, had been nourished.
“All these kids are terrific, fantastic,” he said after the awards. “I consider this a great honor.”
