The 5th Avenue Theatre announced this week the nominees for its eleventh annual 5th Avenue Awards Honoring High School Musical Theater. Modeled after the Tony Awards, the local awards event allows musical theater students from across Washington to meet, celebrate, and honor the exceptional musical theater productions presented during the school year. The 5th Avenue Awards will be held at 7:00 PM, Tuesday, June 11, 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.”
Created by Berry in 2003, the awards show has grown from 24 productions and 3,100 students to 105 productions at 88 schools, with more than 10,000 students participating this year.
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. For the 2012/13 high school theater season, 184 nominations and 127 honorable mentions were given in various categories.
An estimated 2,100 high school students are expected to attend the awards, 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.
Those being recognized from Bellevue are: The International School(Honorable Mention, Outstanding Choreography, “Meet Me in St.Louis”), Kristen Ronhoude as Esther (Honorable Mention, Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role, The International School, “Meet Me in St Louis”), Mike Klinge as Cinderella’s Prince (Nominee, Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role, Newport High School, “Into the Woods”).
For a full list of nominees, visit the 2013 5th Avenue Awards Nominees page at www.facebook.com/5thAvenueEdu.
