North Shore Music Theatre Set To Participate In The Jimmy Awards 6/29 In NYC

North Shore Music Theatre is pleased to announce that it will join 15 other professional theater organizations from 11 states participating in the first annual presentation of The Jimmy Awards, to be held in New York City on Monday, June 29 at the Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, New York University. The National High School Musical Theater Awards, founded and produced by Nederlander Presentations, Inc. and Pittsburgh CLO, is a national celebration of outstanding student achievement that recognizes individual artistry in vocal, dance and acting performances by high school students. "The Jimmy Award" is named in honor of James M. Nederlander, legendary Broadway theater owner and producer.

To participate in the National High School Musical Theater Awards, professional theaters are required to be a member of The Broadway League, the National Alliance of Musical Theater or the Theatre Communications Group. Each organization agrees to sponsor two student representatives, namely their local winners of the "Best Performance by an Actress" and "Best Performance by an Actor" category, in the national competition in New York City. North Shore Music Theatre's 4th annual Spotlight Awards will be held on Tuesday, June 2nd.

"The response from the professional theater community and high school educators everywhere to this national award for student performers has been overwhelmingly positive," says Van Kaplan, Pittsburgh CLO Executive Producer and the event's producer. "We are delighted that all the major theaters are participating in this inaugural event. This recognition of amateur talent by the professional theater industry has already inspired many other theaters to implement a local awards program. We are confident that this program will grow every year."

Two grand-prize winners will be selected by a panel of experts following five days of musical theater rehearsals, master classes, private coaching and interviews with theater professionals. Based on their skill level and professional goals, students are eligible for college scholarships, professional internships, career coaching and opportunities for auditions. The panel of judges and a complete list of prizes will be announced in the coming weeks.

The following theater organizations will be featured in the 2009 national celebration in New York. They are listed in order of their local awards ceremony performance date.

Organization City, State Awards Program Date

Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre Atlanta, GA Shuler Hensley Award for Excellence April 14

Theatre Under The Stars Houston, TX Tommy Tune Awards April 21

The Old Globe San Diego, CA Globe Honors April 25

McCoy Rigby La Mirada, CA MACY Awards May 17

Hershey Theatre Hershey, PA Apollo Awards May 18

North Carolina Theatre Raleigh, NC North Carolina Theatre Capital Awards May 18

Casa Manana Fort Worth, TX Betty Buckley Awards May 21

Kansas City Starlight Theatre Kansas City, MO Blue Star Awards May 21

Musical Theatre of Wichita Wichita, KS The Jester Awards May 21

Rochester Broadway Theatre League Rochester, NY Stars of Tomorrow Awards May 21

The Spirit of Broadway Theater Norwich, CT The Connecticut High School

Music Theater Awards May 21

Pittsburgh CLO Pittsburgh, PA Gene Kelly Awards May 24

FCLO Music Theatre Fullerton, CA John Raitt Awards For Youth May 31

North Shore Music Theatre Beverly, MA North Shore Music Theatre

Spotlight Awards June 2

Helen Hayes Youth Theatre Nyack, NY The Metropolitan Awards June 8

Paper Mill Playhouse Millburn, NJ Rising Star Awards June 16

The National High School Musical Theater Awards are based on Pittsburgh CLO's annual "Gene Kelly Awards for Excellence in High School Musical Theater." This program has served as a model for dozens of theater companies across the country to create their own local awards program. In 2007, over 54,000 students at 900 high schools in 30 communities across the United States participated in these programs.

For more information on this program, visit www.nhsmta.com or contact Kiesha Lalama-White at (412) 281-2234 or klalama-white@pittsburghclo.org.

Who's Who in the National High School Musical Theater Awards

Pittsburgh CLO has been a driving force behind the preservation, creation and promotion of live musical theater since 1946. As one of the largest regional musical theater organizations in the United States, Pittsburgh CLO appreciates the support of nearly 200,000 patrons each year. In addition to producing fresh new productions of Broadway classics, the not-for-profit's mission is to develop new works and showcase new talent. The organization's dedication to the musical theater art form extends beyond its main-stage season with the CLO Cabaret Theater, the Pittsburgh CLO Academy of Musical Theater, the Construction Center for the Arts, and the acclaimed Gene Kelly Awards for Excellence in High School Musical Theater, a19 year-old program and the first of its kind in the country. For more information please visit www.pittsburghCLO.org.

Nederlander Presentations, Inc. is a producing arm of a family company prominent for three generations in management and operation of theatres and productions of distinguished entertainment. The Nederlander Organization owns and/or operates nine Broadway theatres and runs a notable chain of legitimate theatres around the world. The company is currently represented on Broadway by Walt Disney's The Lion King; Guys and Dolls and West Side Story. Broadway productions include: Legally Blonde, Hairspray, Rent, Wicked, The Drowsy Chaperone, Walt Disney's The Little Mermaid, Movin' Out, Copenhagen, The Will Rogers Follies, Me and My Girl, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Breaking the Code, La Cage aux Folles, Benefactors, Annie, Noises Off, Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music, My Fat Friend, Seesaw, Applause, Whose Life Is It Anyway?, The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, The Dresser, Nine, Woman of the Year and many revivals including Sweet Charity, Hello, Dolly!, Porgy and Bess and Peter Pan.

THE Jack H. Skirball CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS AT NYU

The Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, New York University, is the premier venue for the presentation of cultural and performing arts events at NYU and lower Manhattan. Located at 566 LaGuardia Place (at Washington Square South), it provides a large-scale performance space for university events and live professional performances from around the world. The 860-seat theater opened in October 2003 and hosts the only major university-based professional multi-arts presenting program in Manhattan. As a result, one natural and continuing mission of the Skirball Center is to build young audiences for live performance through a broad range of compelling performance events at affordable ticket prices. For more information and a current schedule of events, visit www.skirballcenter.nyu.edu.

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