Wharton Center Will Host 2026 SUTTON FOSTER AWARDS Showcase Honoring 170 Michigan Students
The 13th annual showcase takes the stage at Cobb Great Hall in East Lansing
Wharton Center for Performing Arts will host the 13th annual Sutton Foster Awards, where the spotlight will shine on the brightest stars of high school musical theatre from across the state of Michigan. Tickets are available now at the Wharton Center Ticket Office, online, or by calling 517.432.2000 or 1.800.WHARTON.
The Sutton Foster Awards are a celebration of high school musical theatre across the State of Michigan. A program of Wharton Center for Performing Arts, the Sutton Foster Awards is open to all high schools in the state, regardless of location, budget, or school size. This year, 170 students from 85 high schools across Michigan have been nominated to participate in the year-end Awards Showcase.
“The Sutton Foster Awards Showcase is one of my favorite performances of the season,” said Wharton Center's Executive Director Eric Olmscheid. “It is the culmination of a year of work and dedication. Watching students from across the state step into the spotlight and be recognized for their outstanding work is a reminder of how transformative the arts can be, and why creating these opportunities matters so deeply.”
Leading up to the showcase, three theatre professionals serving as adjudicators attended each school's full musical production. They provided feedback directly to the schools and nominated students in order to promote the program and performers' growth.
Two students will be selected and announced at the showcase to represent Michigan at The National High School Musical Theatre Awards (NHSMTA), otherwise known as The Jimmy Awards.
Participating Schools and Productions
Chelsea High School - White Christmas
Portage Central High School - Alice By Heart
Imlay City High School - Annie
Winston Churchill High School - Hadestown: Teen Edition
Pioneer High School - The SpongeBob Musical
Coopersville High School - Hadestown: Teen Edition
Heritage High School - Beetlejuice Jr
Chippewa Valley High School - Tuck Everlasting
Cranbrook High School - Wizard of Oz
Interlochen Arts Academy - Alice by Heart
Allen Park High School - The Lightning Thief
Grand Rapids Christian HS - Once Upon A Mattress
Royal Oak High School - Matilda
Bloomfield Hills High School - The Hello Girls
Holt High School - Mean Girls
Interlochen Arts Academy - 9 to 5
Traverse City Central - Urinetown
Marquette Senior High School - Hadestown
Maple Valley Jr-Sr High School - Little Shop of Horrors
Portage Northern High School - Young Frankenstein, The Musical
Berrien Springs High School - The Music Man
Bay City Academy - Farragut - Once Upon A Mattress
Rochester High School - Irving Berlin's White Christmas
John Glenn High School - Cinderella
Saint Joseph High School - Grease
Grosse Pointe North High School - Little Women the Musical
Grand Ledge High School - Footloose
Milford High School - Between the Lines
Regina High School - Oklahoma!
Loy Norrix High School - Shrek
Lake Shore Senior High School - Rock of Ages Teen Edition
Dakota High School - Catch Me If You Can: The Musical
Huron High School - Into the Woods
Fenton High School - Mamma Mia
Clawson High School - Freaky Friday
Portage Central High School - Newsies
Winston Churchill High School - SpongeBob The Musical
Oxford High School - Frozen
Eisenhower - Chicago Teen Edition
Imlay City High School - Chicago
University Liggett Schools - Oliver
Allendale High School - Annie
Dundee High School - The Addams Family
Seaholm High School - Mamma Mia!
Manistee High School - Disney's The Little Mermaid
Zeeland High School - The Addams Family School Edition
Portland High School - Les Miserables
Lakeview High School - Anything Goes
Mount Pleasant High School - Shrek the Musical
Divine Child High School - Footloose
Mercy High School - Once Upon a Mattress
Rockford Senior High School - Les Misérables, Student Edition
Rochester Adams High School - TBD
Brighton High School - Disney's Frozen (MTI)
Vicksburg Community HS - 42nd Street
Harper Creek High School - Drowsy Chaperone
Holly High School - The Wizard of Oz
Shepherd High School - The Olympians: An Epic Muse-ical
Plainwell High School - Hadestown: Teen Edition
Romeo High School - Anything Goes
H.H. Dow High School - Mary Poppins
Adrian High School - Hadestown: Teen Edition
Howell High School - Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Troy High School - Les Misérables
Lakeland High School - TBD
University Of Detroit Jesuit - Les Misérables School Edition
Jackson High School - Anastasia: The Musical
Henry Ford II High School - Legally Blonde - The Musical
Detroit School of Arts - Once On This Island
Northville High School - Into the Woods
South Lyon East High School - Disney's High School Musical
Stoney Creek High School - Footloose
John Glenn High School - Footloose
Lake Orion High School - Something Rotten
Swartz Creek High School - Big Fish The Musical
Skyline High School - Cinderella
Bay City Central High School - Little Shop of Horrors
Utica High School - 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Grosse Pointe South High School - Les Miserables, School Edition
Okemos High School - The Addams Family
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