2020-2021 Roger Rees Awards for Excellence in Student Performers Winners Announced

The Broadway Education Alliance, Disney Theatrical Group and Camp Broadway LLC has announced that $87,975 in educational scholarships have been awarded to students participating in the 11th annual Roger Rees Awards for Excellence in Student Performance, a celebration of high school musical programs in the Greater New York area. Top honorees were selected by a panel of Broadway professionals that includes Caley Beretta (Manager of Creative Development, Disney Theatrical Group), Frank DiLella (Host, NY1 On Stage), Jason Grossman (Broadway and Off-Broadway producer), T. Oliver Reid (award-winning Broadway actor and a professor of Musical Theatre at Rider University), Merri Sugarman (Casting Director at Tara Rubin Casting ), and Ebony Vine (artist, writer, producer).

The Roger Rees Awards for Excellence in Student Performance winners are...

Best Actress is Katriana Koppe, 18, Wantagh High School (Nassau) for her performance as Cinderella in Cinderella. Best Actor is Mateo Lizcano, 17, Frank Sinatra School of the Arts (Queens) for his role as Man 1 in Songs for a New World. In addition to receiving a tuition waiver to Marymount Manhattan College Musical Theatre Pre-College Summer Intensive, Katriana and Mateo will represent the Greater New York area Roger Rees Awards at The National High School Musical Theatre Awards (aka The Jimmy Awards®) which will be presented by the Broadway League Foundation on July 15 at www.JimmyAwards.com.

For the second year, Cassidy Baltazar, General Douglas MacArthur High School (Nassau) was recognized as the Up and Coming Actress for her role as Anna in Frozen Jr. Aidan Kelly, Farmingdale High School (Nassau), was named Up and Coming Actor for his role as The Beast in Disney's Beauty and The Beast.

To provide training and career opportunities to more students, The Roger Rees Awards also introduced a new initiative to recognize students who demonstrate excellence in solo performance. Selected by a panel of Broadway professionals that includes Erin Burris (Talent Manager, Whole Artist Management), Danny Loftus George (Norwalk Conservatory for the Arts), Stephanie Klapper (Casting Director, Stephanie Klapper Casting), Shereen Pimeltel (Maria, West Side Story, Broadway), Jullian Saccente (Director of Marketing, Audience Rewards) and Merri Sugarman (Casting Director, Tara Rubin Casting).

The 1ST Annual Roger Rees Award NEW FACES 2021 Excellence in Solo Performance Roster features:

Sam Baum, Riverdale Country Day School Sarah Biernacki, Huntington High School

Kylie Butler*, West Babylon High School Colin Dowd, Holy Trinity Diocesan High School

Jacqueline Evangelista, James I. O'Neill HS Gabriella Felice*, North Babylon High School

Elijah Frechtman*, LaGuardia High School Olivia Jones*, Holy Trinity Diocesan High School

Kamila Kudela*, Hunter College High School Ryan Lewis, West Babylon High School

Sophia Maiello, St. Joseph Hill Academy HS Majella Maltempi*, Pearl River High School

Lauren Marchand*, Jericho High School Emma Markey*, Xaverian High School

Mallory Morton, Bay Shore Senior High School Victoria O'Shea*, Wellington C. Mepham HS

Evan Ozer, LaGuardia High School Claudia Paolucci*, Holy Trinity Diocesan High School

Andrea Rodriguez*, LaGuardia High School James Rossomangno, West Babylon High School

Sabina Sadiq, Hunter College High School Ashley Schlusselberg, Great Neck North HS

Amanda Swickle, Jericho High School Maverick Williams, Great Neck North High School

Select students (*) will receive private coaching, auditions for professional opportunities and scholarships from Norwalk Conservatory for the Arts, Rider University, Broadway Plus and other educational institutions.

For a complete list of participating schools and award finalists, visit www.RogerReesAwards.com.

The 1st annual Harmony Helper® Mosaic Award for Group Performance Excellence goes to Great Neck North High Choir from Great Neck High School under the leadership of Director, Dr. Pamela Levy .

The Roger Rees Awards recognizes the importance of theatre arts education and celebrate the exceptional life and career-long artistic excellence of Broadway's beloved actor/director, Roger Rees. Playwright Rick Elice, Rees' partner of over 30 years, and author of "Finding Roger," said, "Rog would have liked this chance to educate and inspire young actors, to offer a guiding hand as so many were offered to him when he too was a kid with a dream."

Participation in the Roger Rees Awards is open to all high schools located in the Greater New York area. It serves as the regional award program of the National High School Musical Theatre Awards® (aka The Jimmy Awards®). Roger Rees Awards Best Actress 2019, Ekele Ukegbu, currently holds the title of The Jimmy Award® Best Actress. She is a sophomore at NYU Tisch School of Drama in New York City. Two other students representing the program have won the national award: Andrew Barth Feldman (2018 Best Actor) and Marla Louissaint (2015 Best Actress).

For more information, visit www.BeAlliance.org.