One small step for BTL, One giant leap for Theatre Kids!

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Broadway Theatre League has officially been accepted… as a member… of The Broadway League in New York City! We are extremely excited about this opportunity because it will be opening doors for us (one in particular) that we have only dreamed about until now:

Broadway Theatre League of Huntsville will be hosting Alabama’s first and only High School Musical Regional Awards Program during the 2025-26 school year! Not only will the awards program be a wonderful celebration of all the incredible productions our high school theatre programs present, BUT it will finally give us a place at the table at The Jimmy Awards which take place every summer in New York City since 2009. If you’re not familiar with The Jimmy Awards, here is a blurb best explained by The Broadway League Foundation, Inc:

The National High School Musical Theatre Awards, better known as The Jimmy Awards, invites two nominees from each local regional ceremony to New York City for a 10-day theatre intensive that includes coaching sessions, training, and rehearsals led by some of Broadway’s most accomplished professionals. All their combined efforts will lead to one extraordinary talent showcase performed live in front of an audience on a Broadway stage.

This past 2024 Jimmy Awards welcomed 102 student nominees, from over 50 regional awards programs in 27 states, to perform onstage at Broadway’s Minskoff Theatre (home to The Lion King). During this exhilarating talent showcase each year, a panel of judges select two students to receive the coveted awards of Best Performance by an Actor and Best Performance by an Actress. The Jimmy Awards has been the catalyst for more than $6,000,000 in educational scholarships.

The mission of The Jimmy Awards is to raise the profile of musical theatre in high schools, honor dedicated teachers, and inspire the next generation of performers and enthusiasts. As of this past Spring, 67 Jimmys alumni have performed on Broadway or on Tour.

Last year Tennessee had four different regional awards programs across the state, culminating in sending eight Tennessee high school students to compete in The Jimmy Awards. Alabama has never had a regional awards program, so we haven’t been given the opportunity to represent the talent of our state at The Jimmy Awards… UNTIL NOW! We cannot wait to present our inaugural regional awards program in the Spring of 2026 and then send our two winners to compete in NYC that June at the 2026 Jimmy Awards.

We will be using the current 2024-25 Season to research, prepare, plan and galvanize our arts community so we can finally have a presence on this incredible national platform. We will need to get our finances, volunteers and support systems in place to make this happen. Because we must come out strong and successful with our inaugural awards program and to ensure we will be able to continue presenting this event each year, the 2025-26 Season will include high schools in Madison County. Our goal is to cast a wider net with each year, including more counties and schools, within Northern Alabama.

Although we are very excited that we will be able to participate in The Jimmy Awards soon, that isn’t the most important part of all of this. The Regional Awards Program will be all about celebrating the success of each and every high school in our community. We plan on having performances from different schools and handing out awards not only for Performance but also for the Technical successes within these productions. There are so many future career paths available for talented young theatre students who are interested and involved in stage management, lighting, sound, costuming, etc. This yearly event will be a celebration for all of you whether you are onstage or backstage perfecting your art.

High school theatre kid KIP, who graduated from Grissom in 1987, would have loved this opportunity back in the day. But now adult Kip gets to work on this project to help make it happen for our theatre kids here now. And that makes it all profoundly worthwhile.

Stay tuned for lots more details as we continue on this journey together, and for those of you that prefer taking a deeper dive into the world of The Jimmy Awards, here’s a great place to start:


https://www.youtube.com/@JimmyAwards





 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You might have seen me as Enjolras in Les Misérables, Munkustrap in Cats or Prince Charming in Cinderella. I used to perform in many Broadway Tours all across the country. Now I report on them and give you an insider's view into this unique little world. So, let's talk about all things Broadway!

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