Broadway at The National is delighted to announce the school finalists and acting semi-finalists for the fourth annual Brandon Victor Dixon Awards for Excellence in High School Musical Theatre. Winners will be selected during a ceremony on Saturday, May 17, 2025 at 7:00pm at The National Theatre.
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, Once Upon a One More Time; Oakton High School, Into the Woods; Our Lady of Good Counsel High School, Urinetown; South Lakes High School, Once Upon a Mattress; Washington-Liberty High School, Hadestown: Teen Edition
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN TECHNICAL THEATRE
Eliot Hettler, Oakton High School; JP LaSalle, The Field School; Sara Moezie, South Lakes High School; Bella Molino, Lake Braddock High School; William Waugh, South County High School
SEMI-FINALISTS (ACTING)
BEST ACTRESS
Giovana Abdo, Oakton High School’s Into the Woods; Lea Ahrens, South County High School’s A Chorus Line: Teen Edition; Meera Ayyar, Oakton High School’s Into the Woods; Celeste Collins, Washington-Liberty High School’s Hadestown: Teen Edition; Saniya Desai, George C. Marshall High School’s Anything Goes; Elsa Harlor, Our Lady of Good Counsel High School’s Urinetown; Clara Neag, South Lakes High School’s Once Upon a Mattress; Allison Payne, Our Lady of Good Counsel High School’s Urinetown; Grace Rodstrom, James Madison High School’s Mean Girls: High School Edition; Kamryn Sauri, Washington-Liberty High School’s Hadestown: Teen Edition; Itsuko Scoville, Fairfax Academy for Communication and the Arts’s Once Upon a One More Time; Sitina Tochterman, South Lakes High School’s Once Upon a Mattress
BEST ACTOR
Colt Armstrong, Falls Church High School’s The Addams Family: School Edition; Nate Borrowman, James Madison High School’s Mean Girls: High School Edition; Charles Cobb, Our Lady of Good Counsel High School’s Urinetown; Noah Crombie, Washington-Liberty High School’s Hadestown: Teen Edition; Jake Deering, Oakton High School’s Into the Woods; Isaac Garcia, South Lakes High School’s Once Upon a Mattress; Ethan Hardy, Fairfax Academy for Communication and the Arts’s Once Upon a One More Time; Connor Hobbs, The Field School’s The Lightning Thief, John Poncy, Oakton High School’s Into the Woods; Jack Potter, Washington-Liberty High School’s Hadestown: Teen Edition; Seger Ott-Rudolph, Albert Einstein High School’s The Secret Garden; Ryan Robbins, Walt Whitman High School’s Pippin
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 theater arts education in schools.
Best Actor & Best Actress Semi-Finalists were selected through a judging process of nominated students. Best Actor & Best Actress Finalists will be announced 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.
TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets are no-cost and can be reserved in advance at BrandonVictorDixonAwards.com.
SCHEDULE INFORMATION
The Brandon Victor Dixon Awards ceremony is Saturday, May 17 at 7:00pm 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 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 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 theaters, as well as producing and presenting the best in theatrical entertainment and concert events.
