Washington D.C. (Monday, May 15, 2023) – The National Theatre is delighted to announce the nominations for the second annual Brandon Victor Dixon Awards. The Brandon Victor Dixon Awards highlights excellence in high school musical theatre and is the Washington, D.C. area’s regional partner of the National High School Musical Theatre Awards® (NHSMTA®), also known as The Jimmy Awards®. The awards program is named in honor of Brandon Victor Dixon, a Tony, Emmy, and Grammy Award nominee originally from Gaithersburg, Maryland.
As an official Regional Awards Program, The National Theatre’s Brandon Victor Dixon Awards will feed directly into the national NHSMTA® celebration, the Jimmy Awards. The top two winners from the 2023 BVD Awards season will be invited to compete at the 2023 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 theatre arts education in schools.
The nominees have been chosen from 26 participating high schools and are as follows:
NOMINEES FOR BEST ACTOR
Jonah Uffelman, Fairfax Academy for Communication and the Arts, Legally Blonde
Logan Baker, Fairfax High School, Sister Act
J.P. Howard, Gonzaga College High School, The Addams Family
Aquilles Alius, Hayfield Secondary School, Anything Goes
Carter Elliff, Hayfield Secondary School, Anything Goes
John Poncy, Oakton High School, Mean Girls
James Williams, Our Lady of Good Counsel High School, Once on This Island
August Rivers, South Lakes High School, Bright Star
Noah Tajudeen, W.T. Woodson High School, Little Shop of Horrors
Antonio Amaral, West Potomac High School, Legally Blonde
Ian Rubin, Winston Churchill High School, Matilda the Musical
NOMINEES FOR BEST ACTRESS
Shiri Cohen, Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School, Hello Dolly
Katie Wood, Fairfax Academy for Communication and the Arts, Legally Blonde
Isabella Jackson, Fairfax High School, Sister Act
Abby Lyons, Flint Hill School, Mamma Mia
Helena Williams, Gongaza College High School, The Addams Family
Tess Jannery-Barney, Langley High School, Urinetown
Valeria Morales, Our Lady of Good Counsel, Once on This Island
Abigail Jamison, South Lakes High School, Bright Star
NOMINEES FOR OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN TECHNICAL THEATRE
Fairfax High School, Sister Act
Hayfield Secondary School, Anything Goes
Our Lady of Good Counsel High School, Once on This Island
South Lakes High School, Bright Star
W.T. Woodson High School, Little Shop of Horrors
NOMINEES FOR BEST MUSICAL
Fairfax High School, Sister Act
Flint Hill School, Mamma Mia
Our Lady of Good Counsel High School, Once on This Island
South Lakes High School, Bright Star
Winston Churchill High School, Matilda the Musical
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
SPECIAL THANKS
The Brandon Victor Dixon Awards program is made possible, in part, by the generosity of The Jacqueline Badger Mars Next Generation Fund at The National Theatre.
CEREMONY
Saturday, June 3, 2023 at 7:30pm
Please visit BrandonVictorDixonAwards.com to learn more.
LOCATION
The National Theatre is located at 1321 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in downtown Washington, D.C. Nearby metro stops include Metro Center and Federal Triangle. For parking information and further directions, please visit BroadwayAtTheNational.com.
PROGRAM
The 2022-2023 Brandon Victor Dixon Awards season began November 4, 2022 and concluded May 7, 2023. The season featured 26 participating schools within a 25-mile radius of The National Theatre, spanning Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia. Participating schools: Bishop McNamara High School, Bishop O’Connell High School, Cardozo Education Campus, Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School, Episcopal High School, Fairfax Academy for Communication and the Arts, Fairfax High School, Falls Church High School, Flint Hill School, George C. Marshall High School, Gonzaga College High School, Hayfield Secondary, KIPP DC College Preparatory, Lake Braddock Secondary School, Langley High School, McLean High School, Mount Vernon High School, Oakton High School, Our Lady of Good Counsel High School, Robinson Secondary School, South Lakes High School, St. Albans School / National Cathedral School, W. T. Woodson, Walt Whitman High School, West Potomac High School, Winston Churchill High School.
ABOUT THE JIMMY AWARDS®
The Jimmy Awards®/The National High School Musical Theatre Awards® (NHSMTA®) program impacts more than 140,000 students who participate in 48 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. Presented by The Broadway League Foundation, Inc., the NHSMTA invites one Best Actress and one Best Actor nominee from each local regional ceremony to New York City for a week-long theatre intensive that includes coaching sessions, training, and rehearsals led by some of Broadway’s most accomplished professionals. Nominees will spend one week in New York City from Sunday, June 18, 2023, through Tuesday, June 27, 2023, and their efforts throughout the week will lead to one extraordinary talent showcase performed live in front of an audience on a Broadway stage. The fourteenth annual Jimmy Awards will take place on Monday, June 26, 2023, 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 theatre, 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 theatres, as well as producing and presenting the best in theatrical entertainment and concert events. To learn more, please visit Nederlander.com. Follow Broadway at The National at Facebook.com/BroadwayAtTheNational or on Twitter and Instagram (@bwaynatdc). For Broadway at The National press, please email rbaker@broadwayatthenational.com.
The National Theatre Foundation is the 501(c)(3) non-profit entity responsible for the continued operation and preservation of The National Theatre. Gifts to the National Theatre Foundation help fund necessary capital improvements and maintenance to preserve this historic facility. Additionally, contributions support free community and educational programming, and make possible the management of a vast, content-rich archive. To make a tax-deductible contribution to The National Theatre Foundation, please visit their secure giving website; thank you!
