The 2024 Jimmy Awards

More of a recap than a musing, but I can do whatever I want here. (Thanks for reading).

Jun 28, 2024

I had the pleasure of attending the Jimmy Awards earlier this week with one of my absolute favorite humans in the entire world (Hi, Mel!) — who happens to work at the Smith Center for the Performing Arts in Las Vegas, and thus managed to secure us these incredible tickets. If you’re not familiar with the event, it is essentially the high school Tony Awards. There are currently 51 participating regional awards programs that hold auditions and sponsor the two winning representatives, who are then flown out to NYC for a full week of professional coaching and workshops leading up to the award ceremony.

For some of the students, it was the first time they had ever been on an airplane, for many it was their first time in NYC, and for even more, it was their first chance to see a Broadway show (MJ the Musical was one of the sponsors). But for all of them, it was the first time they worked with professional coaches, the first time they attended the Tony Awards rehearsal, the first time they (surprise!) attended the actual Tony Awards, the first time they saw their headshots and names on a billboard in Times Square, and, most importantly, the first time they performed on Broadway (at the Minskoff Theater, home of The Lion King). I say the first, because it certainly won’t be the last for the vast majority of them.

Needless to say, it was an experience of a lifetime for every single one of those talented students. And I would argue that it was an experience of a lifetime for each audience member as well.

About the Jimmys

The Jimmy Awards begins with an opening number performed by all nominees, followed by Character Medleys and a Feature Medley (all composed and workshopped in the week leading up to the award ceremony). After a brief intermission, scholarship winners are announced along with the eight finalists. Those eight finalists then perform solos for a panel of judges, which consisted of an impressive cast of theatrical celebrities, to determine the official Jimmy Award winners. Lastly, there’s a closing number. You can read more about the spectacle here.

A Night at the Minskoff

I’m not an expert in this industry, but I’ve performed in and seen a lot of theater and many award shows in my lifetime. Yet, I have never been so thoroughly impressed and entertained as I was at the Jimmys. The joy radiating from each of the nominees as they performed was infectious, and Josh Groban was a fabulous host: he was warm, funny, and incredibly relatable — the man cried when we cried, and his pride in watching the students perform was palpable throughout the theater.

The performances were spectacular, but the most remarkable and moving feature of the event was the camaraderie and support all of those students showed to each other throughout the night. They screamed and cried and hugged and celebrated each others’ wins, and I don’t think there was a single dry eye in the audience for most of the evening. Here’s a clip of Josh Groban announcing the winner of a very special award (pay close attention to all of those students’ reactions):

And, my god could those kids sing! You can watch clips of each portion of the event on YouTube, but here are the solos performed by the two winners: Damson Chola Jr. and Gretchen Shope.

My Favorite Speeches

Groban kept the audience laughing throughout the evening, and he shared many tidbits of theater performance wisdom along the way. For example, he remarked about feeling disappointed as a teenager when he was cast as a member of the ensemble in Sweeney Todd, and how it taught him that he had something to aspire to, something to work toward (he was cast as the titular Sweeney Todd on Broadway in the revival that closed May 5th). He also normalized so many of the typical trials and tribulations theater kids often experience. He spoke with genuine humility and adoration:

I also thoroughly enjoyed the acceptance speeches (see below); here are my favorite lines:

“Thank you, Preference, my little brother. Awh man, I wouldn’t get out of my shell if it wasn’t for him, let me tell you.”

“‘Sometimes,’ Alice says, ‘I believe in as many as six impossible things before breakfast.’ I didn’t believe this impossible thing was gonna happen at breakfast, or during breakfast, or after breakfast, but if this isn’t Wonderland, I don’t know what is.”

“And thank you to anyone who’s ever made me feel at home, to anyone who’s ever made me feel like I belong…to the girl on TikTok who said I look like Chappel Roan, thank you.”

The After-Party

After the show, all the students are shepherded a couple of blocks through Times Square to an after-party held at the the Hard Rock Cafe. Naturally, Mel and I had to check it out. The press were there taking photos of the nominees, and several previous Jimmy Award nominees and winners who have gone on to impressive performing careers were there to celebrate with the cast of 2024 (including Andrew Barth Feldman and Justin Cooley—I might have fan-girled for a minute). There were several buffet tables boasting chafing dishes filled with waffle fries and chicken tenders, a table of cookies and brownies, and, of course, a doughnut tower care of Krispy Kremes (can you tell this event was for kids?):

Pro tip: Fried chicken at 11:30 pm is not a smart move if you’re no longer in your 20s or younger.

Advice from the Winners

These students are wise beyond their years. The advice they’d give to younger students interested in making it to the Jimmys can also be applied universally in every pursuit, so I’ll leave you with these gems:

“Remember to have fun and make memories when doing theatre.”

“Get hungry to learn. When you are the best in the room, you are signing yourself up to stay stagnant in your talent. Ask to sit in on a competitive audition, volunteer as an usher, do anything you can to get into a room with people who know more than you. Do the things you’re bad at or make you uncomfortable! Observe and listen, and THAT’s when you take charge of your growth.”