Broadway at The National is delighted to announce the local finalists for the third annual Brandon Victor Dixon Awards for Excellence in High School Musical Theatre. Winners will be selected during a ceremony on Saturday, May 25, 2024, at 7:30pm at The National Theatre hosted by NBC4’s Jummy Olabanji.
The Brandon Victor Dixon Awards highlights excellence in high school musical theater and is a proud Regional Awards Program of the National High School Musical Theatre Awards (NHSMTA), also known as The Jimmy Awards. The regional awards program is named in honor of Brandon Victor Dixon, a Tony, Emmy, and Grammy Award nominee originally from Gaithersburg, Maryland.
FINALISTS
BEST MUSICAL
Fairfax Academy for Communication and the Arts, Cry-Baby: The Musical; Gonzaga College High School, Mary Poppins; Oakton High School, Pippin; Our Lady of Good Counsel High School, Tuck Everlasting; South County High School, Singin’ In the Rain; South Lakes High School, Big Fish: School Edition; Washington-Liberty High School, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
BEST ACTRESS
Meera Ayyar, Oakton High School’s Pippin; Shiri Cohen, Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School’s Into the Woods; Celeste Collins, Washington-Liberty High School’s Sweeney Todd; Itsuko Scoville, South Lakes High School’s Big Fish: School Edition; Kaylee William, Fairfax High School’s Anastasia: The Musical
BEST ACTOR
Colt Craddock, Oakton High School’s Pippin; August Rivers, South Lakes High School’s Big Fish: School Edition; Ryan Robbins, Walt Whitman High School’s Cabaret; Nate Smith, Fairfax High School’s Anastasia: The Musical; Jonah Uffelman, Fairfax Academy for Communication and the Arts’ Cry-Baby: The Musical
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN TECHNICAL THEATER
Andrew Beasley, Crew Coordinator, South County High School; Cecilia Cantarilho and Taylor Kim, Costumes, Our Lady of Good Counsel High School; Jamie Chung, Stage Management, Our Lady of Good Counsel High School; Sarah Finke, Lighting, Winston Churchill High School; Colin Frankel, Sound, Walt Whitman High School; Henry Green, Scenic, W.T. Woodson High School; Noah Kennedy, Anna Leo, and August Rivers, Choreography, South Lakes High School; Leah Lewis, Tech Crew, South County High School; Hayden Palmer, Scenic, The Field School; Anisa Sanders, Technical Direction, Walt Whitman High School; Erika Sjetnan-Day, Props, Washington-Liberty High School
ABOUT JUMMY OLABANJI
Jummy Olabanji co-anchors News4 Today, the #1 morning news in Washington, DC.
A native of Fairfax County, Olabanji has spent most of her life in Virginia, graduating from Westfield High School in Chantilly and Virginia Tech. She earned a Master’s degree in Communication and Leadership Studies from Gonzaga University. Olabanji started her journalism career as an intern for NBC4. She has also worked for stations in Charlottesville, Norfolk, and New York City. She has been honored for her work with two national Edward R. Murrow Awards for breaking news anchor coverage, two Virginia Associated Press Awards and eight EMMY Awards.
Olabanji is an advocate for organ donation and sits on the Board of Directors of the National Kidney Foundation. She is also a member of the National Association of Black Journalists, The Links, Incorporated, and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.
Along with her husband, Olabanji lives in Washington, DC.
ABOUT THE BRANDON VICTOR DIXON AWARDS
As an official Regional Awards Program, The National Theatre’s Brandon Victor Dixon Awards feeds directly into the national NHSMTA celebration, the Jimmy Awards. The top two winners from the 2023-2024 BVD Awards season will be invited to compete at the 2024 Jimmy Awards in New York City. The national awards are a celebration of outstanding student achievement, recognizing individual artistry in vocal, dance, and acting performance and elevating the importance of theater arts education in schools.
Best Actor & Best Actress Finalists were selected through a second-round judging process of nominated students. Best Actor Nominees included the listed Finalists and JP Howard, Rigley Mostafavi, Seger Ott-Rudolph, Jack Porter, and Devyn Scott. Best Actress Nominees included the listed Finalists and Natalie Beasley, Sammy Leigh Hayes, Ana Jankovic, Audrey Link, Scarlett Spano, and Ellie Whitfield.
2023-2024 BVD Awards participating schools include Albert Einstein High School, Bishop McNamara High School, Bishop O’Connell High School, Charles E Smith Jewish Day School, Episcopal High School, Fairfax Academy for Communications and the Arts, Fairfax High School, Falls Church High School, Flint Hill School, George C. Marshall High School, Gonzaga College High School, H-B Woodlawn Secondary Program, Hayfield Secondary School, KIPP: DC College Preparatory, Langley High School, McLean High School, Mount Vernon High School, Oakton High School, Our Lady of Good Counsel High School, Robinson Secondary School, Rockville High School, South County High School, South Lakes High School, St. Stephen’s and St. Agnes School, The Field School, Thomas A. Edison High School, W.T. Woodson High School, Walt Whitman High School, Washington – Liberty High School, Washington Latin Public Charter School, West Potomac High School, Winston Churchill High School.
SCHEDULE INFORMATION
The Brandon Victor Dixon Awards ceremony is Saturday, May 25 at 7:30pm at The National Theatre.
LOCATION
The National Theatre is located at 1321 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in downtown Washington, DC. Nearby metro stops include Metro Center and Federal Triangle. For parking information and further directions, please visit BroadwayAtTheNational.com.
ABOUT THE JIMMY AWARDS
The Jimmy Awards/The National High School Musical Theatre Awards (NHSMTA) program impacts approximately 130,000 students who participate in 51 regional high school musical theater competitions sponsored by presenters of touring Broadway productions throughout the United States. Named for Broadway impresario James M. Nederlander, the program has been the catalyst for more than $6,000,000 in educational scholarships since its launch in 2009. Presented by The Broadway League Foundation, Inc., the NHSMTA invites two nominees from each local regional ceremony to New York City for a rigorous theater intensive that includes coaching sessions, training, and rehearsals led by some of Broadway’s most accomplished professionals. Nominees will spend ten days in New York City from Friday, June 14, 2024, through Tuesday, June 25, 2024, and their efforts throughout the week will lead to one extraordinary talent showcase performed live in front of an audience on a Broadway stage. The fifteenth annual Jimmy Awards will take place on Monday, June 24, 2024, at the Minskoff Theatre. For more information, please visit www.JimmyAwards.com.
ABOUT THE NATIONAL THEATRE
Located on Pennsylvania Avenue near the White House, The National Theatre opened in 1835 and is the nation’s oldest venue still presenting touring Broadway. Nederlander manages and programs the theater, including the Broadway at The National series.
