Jerry Awards Ceremony

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Martin Jenich

Supporting and Dance Performer award recipients at the 2019 Jerry Awards performance.

media release: After a jam-packed 2024/25 season with a record breaking 116 musicals reviewed from high-schools across Wisconsin, the season will end with recognition of student and school achievements at the 2025 Jerry Awards. The three-hour awards show includes live performances by the Outstanding Award recipients in Overture Hall on Sunday, June 8 at 6:30 p.m.  

Tickets ($35) for the 2025 Jerry Awards go on sale Friday, May 23 at 11 a.m. at overture.org. Tickets sell out quickly! A livestream option is available for those who can't be in person. Livestream tickets are Pay What You Wish ($10 minimum). 

Two outstanding lead performers will be selected on Monday, May 26 to represent the program at The National High School Musical Theatre Awards® (Jimmy Awards®) competition in New York City.  

This year, the program features 500-plus award recipients from 116 productions in 100 communities across the state. These productions were at schools of varying sizes with varying budgets.  

Participation statistics for the 2024/25 season:  

·         116 productions  

·         100 schools/community theater organizations  

·         43 schools are represented in the 56 Outstanding Lead Performance Award recipients  

·         31 counties  

·         65 reviewers (three reviewers attended each production)  

·         300+ Awards presented  

·         111,000 people involved in the Jerry Awards through engagement with their local high school musical  

Click here to view the complete list of recipients. 

THE JERRY AWARDS is a high school musical awards program that encourages, recognizes and honors excellence in high school musical theater. The program began in the 2009/10 school year with 23 productions within 45 miles of Madison and has since expanded across the state through partnerships with Marcus Performing Arts Center, The Grand Theater and Viterbo University Fine Arts Center. Educators and industry professionals review productions at Wisconsin high schools and/or community theater organizations and provide valuable feedback to students. In its first decade, the Jerry Awards engaged more than 700,000 students, teachers, theater professionals and community members and has grown into a nationally recognized showcase of the brightest stars in Wisconsin high school musical theater. 

To be eligible for the Jerry Awards, high schools apply in the fall or spring to have their musical reviewed by the program. Three adjudicators (industry professionals and educators) are assigned to see the show and write a critique evaluating it in various categories such as performance, design and direction. Critiques are compiled and sent to each school with nominations. In addition to the critique and being recognized at the awards show, participating students are eligible to audition for the Jerry Ensemble, become a student social influencer and receive special ticket offers to performances at Overture Center, Marcus Performing Arts Center and The Grand Theater.  

Overture Center is pleased to partner with the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts and The Grand Theater, expanding the reach of the Jerry Awards to Milwaukee, Wausau and LaCrosse area schools. Overture’s Jerry Awards are sponsored by American Girl’s Fund for Children, Katie Dowling-Marcus and Ben Marcus, and contributions to Overture Center.  

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 theatre 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 theatre 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. 

MARCUS PERFORMING ARTS CENTER in Milwaukee, is a premier performing arts community gathering space offering high-quality cultural and community programming. Marcus Performing Arts Center is home to the Milwaukee Ballet, Florentine Opera and First Stage, plus a variety of other important community and family events throughout the year. The touring Broadway series, sponsored by Johnson Financial Group, is recognized as bringing the best of Broadway entertainment to Milwaukee for the past 20 years.  

THE GRAND THEATER in Wausau, Wis., has brought the best of the performing arts to North Central Wisconsin since 1927. With a mission to entertain, educate and enrich the community, The Grand works to develop a lifelong appreciation for the arts and enhance the quality of life in the region. 

Celebrating 20 years in Madison, Wis., OVERTURE CENTER FOR THE ARTS is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit arts organization that features seven state-of-the-art performance spaces and four galleries where national and international touring artists, nine resident companies and hundreds of local artists engage people in nearly 500,000 educational and artistic experiences each year. Overture’s mission is to support and elevate our community’s creative culture, economy and quality of life through the arts. overture.org