The FREDDY Awards Program Launches Fundraising Campaign

The FREDDY Awards Program has announced a fundraising campaign, 2021 FREDDY Fund, to help sustain the popular and life changing program for local High School Musical programs in the region. The goal is $25,000 to help sustain the program.

"The FREDDY Awards program has been enriching the lives of musical theater students all over our region for 19 years. It's been truly life-changing for many of them," comments Denise Smith, State Theatre's Vice President of Development. "The opportunity to meet other students that share their passion, and to work together to learn, develop skills and be part of a unique and memorable experience, is priceless. Even as we've had to modify again this year, we are dedicated to the celebrating these incredible students, and we thank those in our community that support the program, because they truly make it possible."

Donations from local businesses and community members will go directly to the FREDDY Awards program. Donations of $100 or more will receive a Thank You posted on the State Theatre Marquee. Donations can be made at https://freddyawards.org/donate or mail to

The FREDDY program is continue to offer scholarships from local and national institutions with theatre/dance/stage crew programs. This year $200,000 worth of scholarships have been made available. For a full list visit http://freddyawards.org/scholarships-awards.

Many participating High Schools have performed or will be producing shows this spring. A full list of upcoming shows can be found at https://freddyawards.org/schools.

The FREDDY Awards live TV shows have been on hiatus since 2019. A 2020 FREDDY Celebration Special was produced by WFMZ last May. The 2021 Celebration is in production and will be aired May 27 at 7 PM.