Kathie Lee Gifford Hosts National High School Musical Theater Awards at NYU's Skirball Center 6/29

Pittsburgh CLO and Nederlander Alliances, LLC. will present The National High School Musical Theater Awards, celebrating excellence in high school musical theater programs nationally, at Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, NYU (566 LaGuardia Place at Washington Square South) on Monday, June 29 at 7:30 p.m. Television and theater personality Kathie Lee Gifford ("Today") will host the event and multiple Tony Award winner Tommy Tune (The Will Rogers Follies, Grand Hotel) will serve as a presenter.

The evening will include the first annual presentation of The Jimmy Award, named in honor of theatrical impresario James M. Nederlander, to two talented high school students representing regional competitions from around the country. The recipients will also receive the opportunity for four-year scholarship assistance provided by the Department of Drama at NYU Tisch School of the Arts.

Following a week of auditions, interviews and rehearsals, the winners of The Jimmy Award will be selected by a panel of industry experts including Scott Ellis (Roundabout Theater Company); Kent Gash (Tisch School of the Arts); Montego Glover (Memphis, The Color Purple); Alecia Parker (NAMCO); Nick Scandalios (Nederlander Organization) and Bernie Telsey (MCC Theater and Telsey + Company).

Tickets to the 2009 Jimmy Awards are available at www.skirballcenter.nyu.edu. Tickets can be purchased by visiting the Center's Web site, by phone at 212.352.3101, or in person at the Skirball Center's Shagan Box Office. New York University's Skirball Center for the Performing Arts is located at 566 LaGuardia Place (at Washington Square South).

The 2009 National High School Musical Theater Award nominees are:
Elizabeth Bailey (Pittsburgh CAPA - Pittsburgh, PA); Erin Borain (Alpharetta High School - Atlanta, Georgia); Alec Brashear (Lower Dauphin High School - Hershey, PA); Rebecca Brinkley (Cedar Ridge High School - Raleigh, NC); David Broyles (Newton South High School - Beverly, MA); Anthony Bruno (Bergen County Academies - Millburn, NJ); Stephanie Cooksey (Stratford High School - Houston, TX); Alejandro Fallick (Stratford High School - Houston, TX); Sarah Franklin (Lutheran High School of OC - Yorba Linda, CA); Grace Hardin (Ridgefield High School - Norwich, CT); Emily Higgins (Danvers High School - Beverly, MA); Seth Johnson (Cary Academy - Raleigh, NC); Julia Knitel (Fair Lawn High School - Millburn, NJ); Krystal Lawton (The School of the Arts - Rochester, NY); Sam Leake (Sterling High School - Wichita, KS); Stephen Mark (Ridgefield High School - Norwich, CT); Chauncey Matthews (San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts - San Diego, CA); Kian McCollum (Chartiers Valley High School - Pittsburgh, PA); Ryan Morton (Orange County School of the Arts - Yorba Linda, CA); Mallory Moser (Trinity Valley School - Fort Worth, TX); Adrien Pellerin (Atlanta International School - Atlanta, GA); Joe Pudetti (Penfield High School - Rochester, NY); Keegan Rice (Shawnee Mission West - Kansas City, MO); Michelle Rubich (Briarcliff High School - NY, NY); Aaron Sauer (Don Bosco Prep High School - NY, NY); Taryn Sprenkle (East Pennsboro High School - Hershey, PA); Samantha Steinmetz (Blue Valley High School - Kansas City, MO); Emma Stratton (Canyon Crest Academy - San Diego, CA); Alex Syiek (Huntington Beach High School - Fullerton, CA); PatRick Thomas (Colleyville Heritage High School - Forth Worth, TX); Gina Velez (La Habra High School - Fullerton, CA) and Jenny Wine (Wichita East High School - Wichita, KS).

The NHS Musical Theater Awards will focus national attention on the importance of theater arts education and heighten the profile of communities and school districts around the United States that provide musical theater study in their curriculum and offer student productions as part of their school activities programming. It will also recognize the regional professional theaters participating in this national awards presentation including Pennsylvania's Hershey Theatre; Casa Manana Theater of Forth Worth; Kansas City Starlight Theatre; The Spirit of Broadway Theater of Norwich, CT; The Old Globe of San Diego, CA; Music Theatre of Wichita; FCLO Music Theatre of Fullerton, CA; McCoy Rigby Entertainment of Yorba Linda, CA; Helen Hayes Youth Theatre of New City, NY; North Carolina Theatre; New Jersey's Paper Mill Playhouse; Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre of Atlanta, GA; North Shore Music Theatre of Beverly, MA; Rochester Broadway Theatre League; Theatre Under the Stars of Houston, TX and Pittsburgh CLO.