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Beach Blanket Babylon Scholarship for the Arts Finalists Announced

By:

Jo Schuman Silver, producer of Steve Silver's Beach Blanket Babylon, announced today the selection of nine Bay Area finalists for the Steve Silver Foundation and Beach Blanket Babylon "Scholarship for the Arts." One winner in each category will be presented with a check for $10,000 towards their college education. The nine high school seniors who will perform live on Monday, June 6th are:

ACTING
JESSICA CHANLIAU - Marin School of the Arts at Novato High School, Novato
TAYLOR EDELHART - Lowell High School, San Francisco
ANYA RICHKIND - Lick-Wilmerding High School, San Francisco

DANCING
MADELINE BAGBY - Castilleja School, Palo Alto
DARIUS DROOH - Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts, San Francisco
ALEX LYASHEVYCH - Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts, San Francisco

SINGING
JILLIan Butler - Liberty High School, Brentwood
ZACHARY PISER - Piedmont High School, Piedmont
CARA WODKA - Fremont Christian High School, Fremont

"Every year I'm impressed by the talent and caliber of the entries we receive, and this year was no exception," said Schuman Silver. "Narrowing the field down to just nine finalists was not an easy task."

Master of Ceremonies for the evening is Star 101.3's Don Bleu. The celebrity panel of judges scheduled to appear include: San Francisco Ballet's Principal Character Dancer & Choreographer Val Caniparoli, singer and actor Franc D'Ambrosio, KGO Radio's Jerry Friedman, Composer Gordon Getty, San Francisco Opera's General Director David Gockley, KMEL's Chuy Gomez, California Shakespeare Theater's Artistic Director Jonathan Moscone, American Conservatory Theater's Artistic Director Carey Perloff, ABC7's Don Sanchez and KRON4/KCBS Radio's Jan Wahl.

Theater Fans' Choice Awards
2026 Theater Fans' Choice Awards - Live Stats
Best Lead Performer in a Musical - Top 3
1. LJ Benet - The Lost Boys, A New Musical
20.4% of votes
2. Joshua Henry - Ragtime
15.7% of votes
3. Sam Tutty - Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)
9.7% of votes

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