Twenty-four high schools from Massachusetts and New Hampshire have been selected to participate in the 3rd annual North Shore Music Theatre Spotlight Awards. The Tony Award style program is designed to honor the accomplishments of high school students and teachers as well as encourage them to achieve the highest levels of excellence in musical theater. This year's program will feature over 1000 students representing 24 high schools and will culminate with the 3rd annual North Shore Music Theatre Spotlight Awards ceremony on June 2, 2008 which will take place on the North Shore Music Theatre (NSMT) main stage. The Spotlight Awards are sponsored by Target.
Each participating school's production is viewed and evaluated by a panel of three judges who award points according to specific guidelines assessing both technical and performance achievement. The evaluations are tabulated and the highest scores determine the nominees and winners in each category. The award recipients will be announced the evening of the awards ceremony.
Fifteen awards will be presented during the black-tie awards ceremony on June 2, 2008 – including Best Leading Actor/Actress, Best Supporting Actor/Actress, Best Featured Performer, Best Chorus/Ensemble, Best Direction, Best Music Direction, Best Choreography, Best Orchestra, Best Technical Crew/Execution, Best Scenic Design, Best Costume Design, Best Lighting Design, and the prestigious award for Best Overall Musical. Additionally, musical numbers from each of the 10 productions nominated for Best Musical will be presented throughout the ceremony and the finale number will include two students from each of the 24 high schools taking part in this year's program.
Over 40 high schools throughout Massachusetts and New Hampshire applied to participate in the 2007-2008 NSMT Spotlight Awards program and through a lottery, NSMT accepted 24 of those schools to participate in this year's program. The following schools and productions will be vying for this year's awards:
Andover
High School - Titanic
Beverly
High School - Funny Girl
Bishop-Fenwick
High School – Disney's Beauty and the Beast
Coe-Brown
Northwood Academy
- Disney's Beauty and the Beast
Danvers
High School - All Shook Up
Dracut High School - Les Misérables
School Edition
Framingham
High School - The Sound of Music
Ipswich
High School - Babes in Toyland
Lynnfield High School -
Anything Goes Beaumont
Edition
Marblehead
High School - Cabaret
Masconomet
High School - The Sound of Music
Natick
High School - The Music Man
Newburyport
High School - The Pajama Game
Pembroke High School - Once
on This Island
Pentucket
Regional High
School - Into
the Woods
Pope
John XXIII
High School - Seussical the Musical
Reading
Memorial High
School - Disney's Beauty and the Beast
Salem
High School (NH) - Disney's Beauty and the Beast
Salem
High School (MA) - Crazy for You
Silver Lake Regional
High School - The Secret
Garden
St. Thomas
Aquinas High
School – Anything
Goes
The Governor's Academy - Chicago
Tyngsborough
High School - Jesus Christ Superstar
Westford
Academy – Into the Woods
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