Nominations Announced for the 15th Annual 5th Avenue Awards Honoring High School Musical Theater

The 5th Avenue Theatre is thrilled to announce the nominees for the 15th annual 5th Avenue Awards Honoring High School Musical Theater, the highly anticipated award show proudly sponsored by Wells Fargo with additional support from The Boeing Company and Alaska Airlines.

The 5th Avenue Awards allow musical theater students from across Washington State to meet, celebrate and honor the exceptional musical theater productions presented during the 2016/17 school year. This Tony Award-style annual ceremony was created by 5th Avenue Theatre Producing Artistic Director Bill Berry in 2003 to offer theater students the kind of support and recognition that accomplished high school athletes have received for decades.

Each year, high schools from across Washington State submit their musicals for consideration by The 5th Avenue Awards Committee. A panel of acclaimed theater professionals selected by the committee visits high school productions across the state from urban districts to rural communities, as far away as Spokane, Sequim, Clarkston and Vancouver. Evaluators return in May to deliberate the nominations before the live ceremony on June 12, 2017.

In 15 years, the program has grown in size and scope from 24 productions and 3,100 students to a record high this year of 122 productions at 100 schools, with more than 12,000 students participating. This eagerly awaited event features performances from the most talented students in the region. Celebrity guests and business leaders from the Seattle arts community will present awards to recipients throughout the evening. This year, an estimated 2,300 high school students are expected to attend the ceremony, with nominated students and schools performing excerpts from their shows. These talented students will truly get a taste of what it's like to perform in front of a packed house.

For the 2016/17 high school musical theater season, 189 nominations and 167 honorable mentions were given in various categories. The 21 categories include awards for "Outstanding Actor" and "Outstanding Actress" and a variety of creative, design and offstage awards. Special honors are awarded for extraordinary student achievements and schools whose productions create an educational impact beyond the stage. The 5th also continues the tradition of honoring outstanding educators with special recognition. And as in years past, the recipients of the award for "Outstanding Actor" and "Outstanding Actress" will go on to represent Washington State at the national level for the National High School Musical Theater Awards (known as the "Jimmy" Awards) in New York City.

The mission of The 5th Avenue Awards is to celebrate the work, talent and commitment that students, parents and faculty devote to their high school's annual musical productions. Over the years, multiple schools have reported back to The 5th Avenue that their involvement in this awards program has significantly helped their individual efforts to secure funding, improve curriculum, and increase student participation.

The 5th could not maintain and continue a program as extensive as this one without the generous support of Wells Fargo, the long-standing sponsor of The 5th Avenue Awards for the past 12 years. In 2016, Wells Fargo invested $4 million in hundreds of nonprofits and schools across Washington. In addition, Washington team members personally donated $1.2 million and volunteered 26,000 hours of community service. Wells Fargo has 3,500 team members in Washington who serve customers through a network of 224 banking, mortgage and investment offices, and 241 ATMs, in 83 communities across the state.

The 5th would also like to thank Alaska Airlines, whose support makes it possible to send the recipients of the "Outstanding Actor" and "Outstanding Actress" awards to New York to participate in the National High School Musical Theater Awards following the awards ceremony at Benaroya Hall.

"Supporting our youth in our hometown is truly a delight and honor for us to engage in," said Ann Ardizzone, VP of Supply Chain Management at Alaska Airlines and 5th Avenue Board Member. "We wish them the very best of luck in New York and know they will do great."

Alaska Airlines, together with Virgin America and its regional partners, flies 40 million customers a year to 118 destinations with an average of 1,200 daily flights across the United States and to Mexico, Canada, Costa Rica and Cuba. With Alaska and Alaska Global Partners, customers can earn and redeem miles on flights to more than 900 destinations worldwide. Alaska Airlines recently received the J.D. Power Award for Customer Satisfaction for the 10th consecutive year. In 2016, the airline donated $13.5 million to non-profits and community organizations.

For a full list of our nominees, visit The 5th Avenue Theatre blog at www.5thavenuetheatre.org/blog.

The 5th Avenue Awards Ceremony will be broadcast in its entirety as a live webcast on Facebook. Please visit https://www.facebook.com/5thave/ to watch.

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