The 5th Avenue Awards Honoring High School Musical Theatre celebrates its tenth anniversary this year, bringing previous recipients back to the stage to present the next generation of musical theater stars with awards and accolades. This year’s ceremony will be held at 7:00 PM, Monday, June 4, at The 5th Avenue Theatre.

The acclaimed program, sponsored by Wells Fargo, allows theater students from high schools across Washington to meet, celebrate, and honor the exceptional musical theater productions presented during the 2011-12 school year. Each year, schools from across Washington State apply their musicals for consideration by The 5th Avenue Awards Committee.  Evaluators travel across the state to cities as far away as Vancouver, seeking the best actors and actresses, directors and designers to represent their schools in the annual event.

During the past school year, The 5th Avenue Theatre sent teams of theater professionals to evaluate each school’s production across 21 categories, ranging from best lobby display to best overall musical production. For the 2011-12 high school theater season, 191 nominations and 99 honorable mentions were given to the 93 productions.

This year, an estimated 2,100 high school students are expected to attend, along with their families and friends. Among them are student nominees from the Bellevue school district: Jack Holmes of the International School (Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role, Jack in “Into The Woods); Debbie Roberts, of the International School (Outstanding Performance by an Actor or Actress in a Non-Singing Role, Honorable Mention, Steward in “Into the Woods”); Ben Kadie, of Interlake High School (Special Honors: Student Achievement); and Rohan Waghani, of Interlake High School (Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Featured Ensemble Role, Mitch in “The 25th Annual Putman County Spelling Bee”).

*This story has been updated since it’s original publication in the May 18, 2012 issue of the Bellevue Reporter