New York City: Texas, Michigan teens win big at 15th annual high school theater competition

New York City

Jimmy Awards: Texas, Michigan teens win big at 15th annual high school theater competition

This year’s big winners were Damson Chola Jr., who won Best Performance by an Actor, and Gretchen Shope, who won Best for Performance by an Actress.

NEW YORK CITY – High School’s brightest musical stars took center stage for the 15th annual Jimmy Awards ceremony at Broadway’s Minskoff Theatre on Monday, with a pair of teens, one from Michigan and the other from Texas, taking home the night’s biggest awards. The ceremony is a coast-to-coast celebration of outstanding student achievement – recognizing talent in vocal, dance, and acting performance.

This year’s big winners were Damson Chola Jr. of Dallas, Texas, who won Best Performance by an Actor, and Gretchen Shope of East Lansing, Michigan, who won Best for Performance by an Actress. Sam Champion spoke with both of them on ABC’s Good Morning America.

Sam Champion speaks with the 2024 Jimmy Awards Best Performance winners.

This year’s show was hosted by Emmy, Tony and Grammy-nominated singer and actor Josh Groban, and featured performances by 102 student participants. In addition to the top awards, nominees competed for monetary prizes as well. The Jimmy Awards have been the catalyst for more than $6,000,000 in educational scholarships.

The nominees

Eyewitness News entertainment reporter Joelle Garguillo hosted a preview of the show, introducing some of the 102 student participants in the special, “On The Red Carpet at the Jimmy Awards National High School Musical Theater Awards.”

Inspiring Teacher Award recipients

The Jimmy Awards congratulated the recipients of the 2024 Inspiring Teacher Award, which is given to teachers nominated by their students and chosen by a committee in recognition of their roles in guiding their students who excelled during the previous year’s ceremony. This year’s recipients were Jacqueline McLean of Le Roy Jr. Sr. High School in Rochester, New York, and Paul Fillingim of Ronald Reagan High School in San Antonio, Texas.

Jimmy Awards student reporters

The Jimmy Awards welcomed two student reporters to New York City: Nicole Scimeca from Broadway In Chicago Illinois High School Musical Theatre Awards in Chicago, and Richard “Ricky” Ragazzo from the Tommy Tune Awards in Houston, Texas. The two are aspiring journalists who were selected following a nationwide submissions process and covered The Jimmy Awards on social media. WABC-TV is the official media partner of the Jimmy Awards.