5th Avenue Award Nominees Announced; Ceremony Set for June 8

The 5th Avenue Theatre is pleased to announce the nominees for its 13th annual 5th Avenue Awards: Honoring High School Musical Theater, the acclaimed program proudly sponsored by Wells Fargo with additional support from Alaska Airlines. Scroll down for the full list!

A version of the Tony Awards for high school theater programs, The 5th Avenue Awards allow musical theater students from across Washington state to meet, celebrate, and honor the exceptional musical theater productions presented during the 2014/15 school year. These awards are designed to shine the spotlight on high school musical theater programs, offering performing arts students the kind of support and recognition that accomplished high school athletes have received for decades.

The 5th Avenue Awards will be held at 7:00 PM, Monday, June 8, at The 5th Avenue Theatre.

"The power of the arts is profound and has a lasting impact on young participants," said 5th Avenue Producing Director Bill Berry. "Whether they go on to careers as doctors and lawyers, or actors and dancers, these students carry their experiences on the stage with them their whole lives. We at The 5th are proud to honor and celebrate these experiences."

The program, which Berry created in 2003, has grown in size and scope from 24 productions and 3,100 students to 104 productions at 89 schools, with more than 10,000 students participating this year. For the 2014/15 high school theater season, 197 nominations and 163 honorable mentions were given in various categories. An estimated 2,100 high school students are expected to attend the ceremony, with nominated students and schools performing excerpts from their shows. These talented students will truly get a taste of what it's like to perform in front of a packed house.

Each year, schools from across Washington State submit their musicals for consideration by The 5th Avenue Awards Committee. A variety of local theater professionals are selected by The 5th as evaluators to travel to cities as far away as Spokane, Lynden, Sequim and Vancouver, seeking the best actors, actresses, directors and designers to represent their schools in this hotly anticipated annual event. The evaluators gather at the end of the season and make nominations in 21 categories, from "Lobby Display" to "Overall Musical Production." The recipients of the award for "Outstanding Actor" and "Outstanding Actress" will go on to represent Washington State at the national level at the National High School Musical Theater Awards (known as the "Jimmy" Awards in New York City.

Since the program's creation, evaluators visit schools of all types across Washington State, from large schools in urban districts to those in smaller rural communities. The mission is always the same: to honor the work, talent and commitment that students, parents and faculty devote to their school's yearly musical productions. Over the years, many schools have reported back to The 5th Avenue that their involvement in this awards program has significantly helped their individual efforts to secure funding, improve curriculum, and increase student participation.

Many 5th Avenue Award participants have gone on to have fruitful careers both on stage and behind the scenes. Numerous past participants of the 5th Avenue Awards have notable careers as actors, directors, designers and theater administrators. Several participants have had careers outside of Seattle and have enjoyed national acclaim. Stefano Langone was a Top 10 contestant on the hit television show American Idol; Ryah Nixon appeared in the national tour of 9 to 5: The Musical; Diana Huey received a Helen Hayes Award; and Brandon Ivie has a blossoming Broadway career. Additional past participants have included Seattle stars and 5th Avenue favorites Jared Michael Brown, Gabe Corey, Sarah Rose Davis, Kirsten DeLohr Helland, and Cayman Ilika, among many others.

The 5th Avenue Theatre could not maintain a program as extensive as this one without the generous support of Wells Fargo, a long-standing sponsor of The 5th Avenue Awards. The organization also sincerely thanks Alaska Airlines, whose support makes it possible to send the recipients of the Leading Actor and Leading Actress awards to New York to compete in the National High School Musical Theater Awards following the awards ceremony at The 5th.

For a full list of nominees, scroll down, or visit the 2015 5th Avenue Awards Nominees page at www.facebook.com/5thAvenueEdu.

The 5th Avenue Awards ceremony will be broadcast in its entirety as a live webcast on Facebook. Visit www.facebook.com/5thAvenueEdu to watch.

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