ONLINE: Jerry Awards Ceremony

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Martin Jenich

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

Following a most atypical school year, the Overture Center's Jerry Awards is taking a different approach to recognize the state's high school musical theater performers. Rather than highlighting productions, this year's event features 20 individual performers selected from workshop series participants who submitted video auditions. All will perform a solo song for a livestream audience and review panel; the panel will select semifinalists and eventually two representatives to participate in the national Jimmy Awards in July. Find the livestream at overture.org/jerrys-live.  

media release: Overture Center’s annual Jerry Awards show will take place on Saturday, May 22, at 7:30 p.m. in Promenade Hall. Rather than focusing on high school productions, many which did not occur or were virtual this year due to COVID-19 restrictions, this year’s event will showcase 20 individual student performers. Click here to view the livestreamed event on May 22: overture.org/jerrys-live.

“We heard from schools around the state, and their situations are so varied that we felt it best if we took a year away from our ‘normal’ program and tried something new,” said Karra Beach, programming and community engagement manager.

The Jerry Company was started in January and open to all high school students in Wisconsin. About 40 students participated in the Jerry Company through a series of virtual workshops geared to improve their performance skills with a focus on preparing for auditions. At the end of the sessions, students interested in representing the Jerry Awards program at the Jimmy Awards, the national high school musical theater awards in New York City, submitted a video audition.

A panel of reviewers selected 20 students who will be featured in the 2021 Jerry Awards show. The show will serve as the final audition for the Jimmy Awards. Students will perform one solo song for a panel of reviewers and a livestreamed audience. The reviewer panel will select finalists who will sing an additional solo, and then one actor and one actress* will be selected as the two representatives to attend the virtual Jimmy Awards. The event is hosted by Tim Sauers, vice president of programming and community engagement, and Karra Beach. Student social influencer Will Karls, a senior at McFarland High School, will provide special coverage of the show and performers.

Jerry Awards: Overture Center’s Jerry Awards, one of Wisconsin’s high school musical awards programs, encourages, recognizes and honors excellence in high school musical theater. The program began in the 2009/10 school year as the Tommy Awards and was renamed in 2017/18 season to the Jerry Awards after philanthropist and arts supporter W. Jerome Frautschi. Educators and industry professionals review productions at more than 85 high schools in 30 counties around the state providing valuable feedback. The program elevates the importance of musical theater within high schools.

The Jerry Awards are sponsored by Old National Bank, Madison Gas & Electric Foundation and American Girl’s

Fund for Children with additional support by Katie Dowling-Marcus & Ben Marcus and contributions to Overture Center.

2021 Jimmy Awards: The Broadway League is pleased to announce that the 12th Jimmy Awards will be presented on Thursday, July 15, 2021. Due to the ongoing health concerns with COVID-19, this year’s program will be completely virtual. All coaching, rehearsals and activities will take place online for the 72 nominees from 36 regional awards programs around the US from June 20 through July 1. This will culminate with two talented students presented with a Best Performance by an Actress and Best Performance by an Actor award. A total of 20 awards and scholarships will be available to participants. The program has been the catalyst for more than $4,000,000 in educational scholarships to date, and several student participants have already been cast in Broadway, Touring and West End productions. Apples and Oranges Arts is the livestream and video production partner. The official media partner is WABC-TV. Additional details on how to watch will be available soon at JimmyAwards.com.

*Actor/Actress designation is determined by the gender of the characters in the student’s selected songs.