The National High School Musical Theatre Awards, colloquially known as the Jimmy Awards, has revealed its slate of nominees for the 16th annual ceremony. The previously announced event, honoring achievement in high school-level theater, will take place on June 23 at Broadway’s Minskoff Theatre. Tony Award nominee Josh Groban will serve as host for the second consecutive year.
The 2025 Jimmy Awards will feature 110 nominees, a record high. The nominees are Kaydence Arora, Jazhel Arostegui, Meera Ayyar, Jackson A. Baker, Caden Barner, Sascha Bass, Nico Bennett, Alex Board, Bradley Bolden, Adam Bouchachia, Tyler Bugg, Elliot Burns, Mira Cahalane, Sabina Camblor, Fabiola Caraballo Quijada, Braeden Carlton, Collin Jones Carlton, Benjamin Cavallo-Smith, Jack Ceglie, Carson Chesnut, Haley Rose Ciaramella, Angelo Cipolla, Jason Thomas Clyde, Mekenzie Joe Combs, Isabel Coviello, Kamryn J. Dansby, Sophia DaSilva, Lynn M. Dauterman, Bruno Domínguez Martínez, Alyssa Dorsey, Carmen Sophia Dubon, Riley Eichberg, Gavin Evanson, Alex Farnsworth, Danica Feig, Eliza Fors, Tony Fritzgerald, Dawson Fullingim, Indigo Gabriel, Carlos Garza, Macy Gerkin, Levana Geshuri, Raegan Gonzales, Grayson Graham, Griffin Greear, Rebecca Gutierrez, Meadow Hall, Myles Hardt, Chloe Harris, Chris Hayes, Jonah Higgins, Reese Hollingsworth, Jamaur Houston, Jonathan Jacknow, Josiah D. Jennings, Kennedy Shae Julian, Annika Kallstrom, Reagan Kern, Natalie Kersten, JJ Korkin, Naomi Lawley, Sophia Lesia Leverett, Aidan Liston, Amelie Lock, Roman Mangino, Mariana Mangual, Gloria Manning, Zayda Martin, JJ McDonough, Eamon McElfresh, Bella McKivigan, Alyssa McNinch, Isaiah Medina, Tessa Meyers, RC Moore, Basye Mummert, Marie Muñoz, Lucy Natale, James Hart Nelson, Greta Nolte, Lauren Norrix, Suliette Iris Ortiz, Seger Ott-Rudolph, Lianelys Oviedo-Roman, Hayden Poe, Jacob Carl Price, Kayla Rae, Audrey Redwine, Jakob Bauer Robinson, Ian Royse, Ethan Savage, Hannah Schnorr, Isaac Schultz, Trip Shirah, Natalie Sierk, Eli Solomon, Kinsley Stephens, Kash Stevenson, Cardon Sullivan, Nolan Travis, Sophie Utley, Laila Christine Varner, Jayden Vega, Walker Wallace, Hadley Wilson, Kevin Wilson, Jackson Wright, Zach Young, Addie Zamora Nayback and Jade Aria Zeno-Neal.
Each nominee is one of two 2025 winners from 55 regional awards programs, each hosted by a local performing arts center. Each program sponsors the travel of its two honorees to New York City, where they will complete a 10-day theater-training intensive in New York City. The week’s events culminate in the Jimmy Awards ceremony, where they will compete for Best Performance by an Actor and Actress awards, as well as other honors.
Also newly announced are the recipients of the Inspiring Teacher Award, which honors the teachers that guide and shepherd their students along their path to the Jimmy Awards. Presented in honor of the late producer Luigi Caiola, the 2025 honorees are Elena Ferrante-Martin from Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas, Nevada, and KoKo M. Thornton from Enloe High School in Durham, North Carolina.
In partnership with Broadway News, the Jimmy Awards Student Reporter Initiative will feature live social media coverage from two aspiring journalists. Jayden Hope Fernando from the Rita Moreno Awards in San Jose, California, and Jose Antonio Morales from the Majestic Empire Foundation’s Joci Award in San Antonio, Texas, were named this year’s reporters following a nationwide submission process among the regional award programs. Fernando and Morales will cover the preparation process of the nominees, the red carpet and more. They will receive coaching from Broadway News executive editor Ruthie Fierberg. Additionally, the duo will be given behind-the-scenes access to a production of an upcoming news segment at WABC studios.
The creative team of the Jimmy Awards includes director Van Kaplan, music supervisor Geoffrey Ko, writer Jill Twiss, lighting designer Karen Spahn, sound designer Nick Borisjuk, projection designer Brad Peterson and costume coordinator Rebecca Ming. The evening will feature the work of Dan Knechtges, who will direct and choreograph the opening closing numbers, Luis Salgado, who will direct and choreograph the feature numbers, and Theo Lencicki, who will choreograph the character medleys.
The 2025 Jimmy Awards will stream for free online beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET on June 23. Streaming links and information will be available online prior to the ceremony, which will remain available online through June 26.
The Jimmy Awards are presented by the Broadway League Foundation, the philanthropic division of the Broadway League, which is the trade association for the Broadway industry. Rachel Reiner, League director of audience engagement, serves as executive director of the awards.
