Photos: Inside the 2026 Roger Rees Awards Ceremony

As BroadwayWorld previously reported, Emersyn Hunt (New York, NY) and Jacob Solomon (Hauppauge, NY) were named Outstanding Performers at the 16th Annual Roger Rees Awards for Excellence in Student Performance. The event took place at Symphony Space in Manhattan with honors bestowed by author, Rick Elice, and hosted by award-winning actor/writer Andrew Keenan-Bolger.

Hunt won for her performance of Beverley Bass in Come From Away at Professional Performing Arts School, Solomon, for his performance of Nick Bottom in Something Rotten at Hauppauge High School. Hunt and Solomon will represent the Greater New York region at The Broadway League Foundation’s The Jimmy Awards (the National High School Musical Theatre Awards) on Monday, June 22, 2026 at the Minskoff Theatre.  

Named this year’s Emerging Artists were Gloria Manning (St. Albans, NY) for her portrayal of Hannah in Come From Away at Professional Performing Arts School, and William Herbert (Farmingdale, NY) for his performance as SpongeBob SquarePants in The SpongeBob Musical at Farmingdale High School.

This year’s panel of Broadway judges included Kiara Brown-Clark (Director/Educator, Disney Theatrical Group); Jenny Gersten (New York City Center VP and Artistic Director of Musical Theater); J. Harrison Ghee (Grammy and Tony Award-winner for their role as Daphne/Jerry in Some Like It Hot), Andrew Lippa (award-winning composer lyricist for The Addams Family, Big Fish, and The Farnsworth Invention), Michael Shulman (Tony Award-winning producer and founder of Sand & Snow Entertainment),  Merri Sugarman (casting director, The TRC Company), and Rachel Webb (& Juliet).

The Roger Rees Award showcase was directed and choreographed by Broadway Education Alliance’s Artistic Director, Theo Lencicki. The showcase opened with an original medley arranged and conducted by Rick Hip-Flores (Bad Cinderella, Ain’t Too Proud), played by the 2026 New York City Youth Orchestra. It also featured a special performance by Brooklyn High School of the Arts Select Choir, under the direction of Kristina Allocco, winner of the Outstanding Choral Performance Award presented by the Goren Family Foundation. The event culminated with an ensemble musical performance from the Broadway hit, & Juliet, the official show sponsor of the 2026 Roger Rees Awards.

Other Roger Rees Awards winners included:

Nominee Dominick Stern from Dobbs Ferry High School was presented with the Starcatcher Award selected by the Roger Rees Awards creative team. 

Lisa Levenberg from General Douglas MacArthur High School, received the Broadway Education Alliance Award for Excellence in Innovative Theater Arts Education. 

Val He from Rye Country Day School, Seungran Eselle Lim from Saint Francis Prep High School, and Stella Storic from Wantagh High School received the New York City Center Designer Showcase Award for Excellence in Costume Design.  

Gabriel Jaffe from Paul D. Schreiber High School was selected as the 2026 Roger Rees Awards Student Reporter. 

Liliana Leand from Rye Country Day School, Henry Quinn from Regis High School, and Nash Vickers from Scarsdale High School were selected as the 2026 Roger Rees Awards Stage Management Fellows. 

2026 NEW FACES Honors for Excellence in Solo Performance. Click Here for the complete list of honorees. Click Here for highlights. 

2026 Theater Fans' Choice Awards - Live Stats

Best Orchestrations - Top 3

1. Ethan Popp, The Rescues - The Lost Boys

24.7% of votes

2. Anders Eljas, Brian Usifer - Chess

13% of votes

3. William David Brohn - Ragtime

12.7% of votes

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