The Broadway League has announced the team of theater professionals, industry experts and Broadway performers who will serve as coaches, judges and presenters during the 17th annual Jimmy Awards. Hosted by Bowen Yang, the ceremony will take place on June 22 at Broadway’s Minskoff Theatre.
Twelve coaches will mentor the 116 high school students traveling to New York for the 2026 Jimmy Awards: Lisa Brescia, Janet Dacal, Colin Hanlon, MaryAnn Hu, Adam Kantor, Lily Kaufmann, Adam J. Levy, Desi Oakley, Eliseo Román, Lawrence Stallings, Steven Telsey and EJ Zimmerman.
The judging panel consists of notable theater professionals, including Tony Award-winning producers, casting directors and other industry leaders. Winners and finalists will be selected by Montego Glover, Kenny Leon, Joe Machota, Alecia Parker, Marc Platt, Tara Rubin, Thomas Schumacher, Bernard Telsey and Lia Vollack. Judges Kristian Charbonier, Stephanie Klapper, Sammy Lopez, Kevin Metzger-Timson, Dale Mott, T. Oliver Reid and Rachel Sussman adjudicated and cast nominees in the Character and Feature Groups.
Tony nominee Charlotte D’Amboise will lead nominees in a master class. During the ceremony, a group of 76 Jimmy Award nominees will perform Bob Fosse choreography to an original arrangement by “Chicago” music director John Bell in celebration of the show’s upcoming 30th anniversary on Broadway.
In addition, Samuel Nelson III — a standby in “MJ” on Broadway — and Mason Alexander Park, set to appear in this season’s Jamie Lloyd-directed revival of Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing,” will appear as guest presenters. Nelson and Park will introduce select awards, musical numbers and tributes throughout the evening.
Presented by the Broadway League, the Jimmy Awards have honored outstanding student achievement in musical theater since 2009, having awarded over $9,000,000 in educational scholarships in addition to awards for Best Performance by an Actor and Best Performance by an Actress. A full list of this year’s nominees is available here.
