2016 Popejoy Awards Winners Are Announced!

Popejoy Hall is pleased to announce the winners of the inaugural Popejoy Awards, held at Popejoy Hall on Sunday, May 8. The Popejoy Awards celebrates the best of high school musical theater productions and performances throughout New Mexico. Affiliated with the National High School Musical Theater Awards, this event awards state high school drama programs. Production awards were determined solely by adjudicated scores. Acting awards were determined by a combination of adjudicated scores and live judging at the Awards show performance.

Congratulations to the following production award winners:

Best Production: Albuquerque Academy (Bye Bye Birdie)

Best Ensemble: Cibola High School (LES MISERABLES)

Best Direction: David Daniel, Los Alamos High School (Spamalot)

We are also pleased to announce the winners for Best Actress and Best Actor:

Best Actress: Joliana Davidson, Cibola High School

Best Actor: Devon McCleskey, Los Alamos High School

Davidson and McCleskey will travel to New York in June to participate in the National High School Musical Theater Awards, known as the Jimmy Awards, a program run by the not-for-profit Broadway League. There, they will train with Broadway coaches and performers before competing on the national awards show stage at the Minskoff Theater, current home of Disney's The Lion King. The pair will represent New Mexico in competition against winners from 31 similar regional competitions from across the country.

The Popejoy Awards recognizes and rewards outstanding musical theater talent in our schools. It also showcases the importance of musical theater education and the enrichment theater brings to the lives of young people. Popejoy Hall would like to thank everyone who participated in making the show a great success, including all our participants, their teachers, families, and our audience. We look forward to seeing you all next year.
Popejoy Hall is the premier performing arts center in New Mexico. Seating up to 1985 patrons, Popejoy is the largest multi-purpose venue in the state. Following a major renovation in 1996, Popejoy hosts touring Broadway shows, symphony concerts. musical solosits and artists of international caliber, world-re