‘It’s such a dream’: Top high school performers step out on Broadway

For more than 100 high school theater stars, tonight is shaping up to be the biggest night of their young lives.

The performers are in New York City for the National High School Musical Theatre Awards, better known as the Jimmy Awards. Each year, the event brings the nominees to Broadway to put on a show – in just 10 days.

“It’s hard,” says Hayden Poe, nominated for his performance as Hermes in Dalton (Ga.) High School’s production of Hadestown: Teen Edition. “We work our voices and we work our bodies, but the kindness and the love and the friendship gets us through.”

The competition starts with about 150,000 students from schools across the nation. After regional competitions, a select few make it to New York to perform in the awards show at the Minskoff Theatre.

The top two awards of the night – best actor and best actress in a musical – are named after Broadway legend Jimmy Nederlander. For the past 16 years students have competed for the chance to bring home a Jimmy of their own.

For a little over a week, the students rehearse at The Juilliard School in preparation. Jayden Vega, a rising senior from Tampa, Fla., nominated for his leading role in Urinetown, says the schedule is grueling.

“We have breakfast at 7:30, our first rehearsal starts at 8:30 and we end at 8:30 [p.m.], and from then we meet with our pods – like our little family for this week,” he says. “We’re working long days, but it’s so worth it.”

On Tuesday, the students gathered in Times Square. As they climbed the red steps in the center of the square, the nominees rushed to a giant billboard, where a carousel of their head shots was on a loop.

“It’s such a dream,” said Vega, getting emotional. “I’m so happy to experience it with the people around me.”

He and the other nominees waited to have their picture taken when their image appeared on the billboard, handing their phones off to a newfound friend while they struck a pose in front of the huge screen, accompanied by squeals and celebrations.

For some students, it was all a bit overwhelming.

“Seeing myself up there is unlike anything else in the world,” said Natalie Sierk, of Des Moines, Iowa. “How can I possibly be a part of something so huge? It’s such an honor.”

Sierk was nominated for her high school’s production of 9 to 5, and said she still could not believe the company she found herself in.

Several shows on Broadway right now have at least one former Jimmy nominee in the cast. Jasmine Amy Rogers and Julia Knitel, both former nominees, were up for Tony Awards this year. Two-time Tony nominee Eva Noblezada is starring in Cabaret. Singer Renee Rapp is another distinguished alum.

Watching what the students do after their time at the Jimmys is the best part of her job, says Rachel Reiner, the program’s executive director: “It is such an honor to be a part of their journey and to see them grow and develop in the week that they’re with us, and then launch their careers.”

Josh Groban will host this year’s ceremony Monday at 7:30pm. The awards will be livestreamed on the Jimmy Awards website.