Broadway at The National has announced the winners of the fourth annual Brandon Victor Dixon Awards for Excellence in High School Musical Theatre. Winners were selected during a ceremony on Saturday, May 17, 2025 at The National Theatre hosted by NBC4 Washington’s Eun Yang.
The Brandon Victor Dixon Awards highlights excellence in high school musical theatre 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.
The 2025 Best Actor and Best Actress winners will represent the DC region in New York City at the 16th annual Jimmy Awards Monday, June 23, 2025 at 7:30pm at Broadway’s Minskoff Theatre.
WINNERS
BEST MUSICAL
Oakton High School, Into the Woods
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN TECHNICAL THEATRE
Sara Moezie, South Lakes High School
BEST ACTRESS
Meera Ayyar, Oakton High School’s Into the Woods
BEST ACTOR
Seger Ott-Rudolph, Albert Einstein High School’s The Secret Garden
The ceremony began with a group performance featuring the season’s 24 student semi-finalists followed by solo performances from five Best Actor finalists, five Best Actress finalists, and five Best Musical finalists. Ceremony Judges adjudicated the finalists’ performances in real time and awards were then presented based on the evening’s results.
To learn more about the Brandon Victor Dixon Awards, please visit BrandonVictorDixonAwards.com.
ABOUT THE JIMMY AWARDS
The Jimmy Awards/The National High School Musical Theatre Awards (NHSMTA) program impacts approximately 150,000 students who participate in 55 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 13, 2025, through Tuesday, June 24, 2025, and their experience will culminate in an extraordinary talent showcase performed live in front of an audience on a Broadway stage. The sixteenth annual Jimmy Awards will take place on Monday, June 23, 2025, at the Minskoff Theatre. For more information, please visit www.JimmyAwards.com.
ABOUT EUN YANG
Eun Yang anchors News4 at 4 and News4 at 6, the #1 rated evening newscast in the Washington area, for NBC4.
Since joining NBC4, Yang has covered big stories including the inaugurations of presidents, visits by two popes, Opening Day at Nationals Park and the Olympics in South Korea and Tokyo. Yang spent more than 10 years anchoring News4 Today, for which she won several EMMY awards. In that role, she was the first to tell Washington-area viewers about breaking overnight news, severe weather and major Washington stories.
In addition to her role as a news anchor, Yang files compelling community stories about people and organizations important to the Washington area. She anchored the station’s “Inequality in America: Tackling the Rise in Anti-Asian Hate” special, for which she won an Emmy and a regional Edward R. Murrow award. She also won an Emmy for hosting a local restaurant show called “Foodies: DC” for several years. Before joining News4, Yang worked at the National Geographic Channel in Washington and WUSA-TV.
Yang received the Television Broadcast Journalist Award from the Multicultural Media Correspondents Association, a community leadership award from AALEAD, Heroes of Our Time Award from the Council of Korean Americans and a Student Role Model award from the Korean American Scholarship Foundation, among other recognitions.
Born in Seoul, Korea, Yang moved to the Washington area before she was 3. She grew up in Prince George’s County and Montgomery County, attended Paint Branch High School and graduated with a journalism degree from the University of Maryland. She and her husband are raising their three kids 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 2024-2025 BVD Awards season will be invited to compete at the 2025 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 theatre arts education in schools.
Best Actor & Best Actress Semi-Finalists were selected through a judging process of nominated students. Best Actor & Best Actress Finalists were selected live on stage during the Brandon Victor Dixon Awards Ceremony on May 17.
2024-2025 BVD Awards participating schools include Albert Einstein High School, Bishop Ireton High School, Bishop O’Connell High School, Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School, Episcopal High School, Fairfax Academy for Communication and the Arts, Falls Church High School, George C. Marshall High School, Gonzaga College High School, James Madison High School, Lake Braddock Secondary School, Langley High School, Northwood High School, Oakton High School, Our Lady of Good Counsel High School, Quince Orchard High School, South County High School, South Lakes High School, The Field School, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, Walt Whitman High School, Washington Latin Public Charter School, Washington-Liberty High School, Wheaton High School, and Woodson High School.
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. The name “Nederlander” has been synonymous with great entertainment since 1912. Led by James L. Nederlander, President, Nederlander continues the tradition of operating historic theatres, as well as producing and presenting the best in theatrical entertainment and concert events.
SEE ALSO:
Broadway at the National announces school finalists and acting semifinalists for fourth annual Brandon Victor Dixon Awards (news story, May 13, 2025)