Nominees have been announced for the 17th annual Jimmy Awards, honoring high school musical theater students from around the country. The 116 nominees are the winners of top performance honors from one of the 58 participating regional awards programs. During the ceremony — set to take place on June 22 at Broadway’s Minskoff Theatre — a panel of judges will grant awards and scholarships to winners, including the awards for Best Performance by an Actor and Best Performance by an Actress.
The Jimmy Awards nominees for 2026 are: Grayson Allensworth, Kiara Angline, Emma Rose Armstrong, Kaydence Arora, Logan Arroyo, Alec Avila, Isaiah Barafwala, Allie Blanchet, Andrew Briseño, Dru Brower, Destiny Brown, Zachary V. Brown, Xanti Cabrera, Delia Canarie, Collin Jones Carlton, Langston Casey, Samara Castro, Isabella Grace Cervera, Lillian Clark, Lucien Crane, Gus Crawford, Abigail Cutler, Nathan Daniels, AJ Denomme, Jersey Jaymes Diehl, Maggie Belle Dinstuhl, Elizabeth Eldar, Gabriel Emery, Cali Ferguson, Tony Fritzgerald III, Harold Garcia, Julia Gerling, Micah Giron, Griffin Greear, Ava Greenberg, Haley Joy Griffin, Jack Gunter, Rangel S. Guzman, Peyton Haacke, Addison Haines, Darragh Hallinan, McKinley Claire Harper, Abby Harrell, Tytus Hayes, Jane Hereth, Jonah Higgins, Hayden Hooper, Scarlett Horoho, Emersyn Hunt, Jake James, Gigi Lauren Jenkins, Anna Jernigan, Sydney Jordan, William Kastner, Leilani Kellerman, Amara Kennedy, Towdah Denis Kiima, Kaleomakamaeokealoha Knight, Emily R. Leonard, Téo D. Levy, Cooper Lincoln, Mia Lopez Berkson, William Madsen, Wrigley Mancha, Jacob Andrew Marckel, Brooklyn Martin, Ricardo Martinez, Nevan Maselon, Paxon Masters, Linda Raye Mathis, London Mays, Lucas Pike McMinemon, Isaiah Medina, Max J. Mittler, RC Moore, Alex Morfogen, Zeke Moses, Jack Nelson, Addison Nesbitt, Brayden Nesbitt, Jane Nuich, Joshua Park, Carter James Pflug, John Poncy, Samia Posadas, Loren Prisuta, Ronember Quintero Galeano, Mollie Reeves, Gillian Reynolds, Mia Salas, Nevaeh Salinas, Carolina Sanchez, Cady Santo, Addison Schulitz, Olivia Serrano, Megan Sheehan, Lily Sinnott, Jacob A. Solomon, Kash M. Stevenson, Benjamin Strock, Charlotte Sweet, Lillian Tang, Elijah Taylor, Rowan Thomas, Antonio M. Thompson, Caden Tubbs, Jayden Vega, Amaya Washington, Easton C. Wicks, Kolaya Michele Wilmer, Nevaeha A. Wilson, Jackson Wright, Josef Wright, Legend Young, Zane Zangwill and Annie Zimmerman.
Learn more here about these nominees, including which regional program they hail from and what role earned them recognition.
In addition, the Jimmy Awards have named the 2026 recipients of the Inspiring Teacher Award, which honors musical theater educators nominated by last year’s Jimmy Awards nominees. This year’s recipients are Kristy Kosko of Greece Arcadia High School (Stars of Tomorrow, Rochester, New York) and Peter Smeallie of Albert Einstein High School (Brandon Victor Dixon Awards, Washington, D.C.).
With the support of Broadway News, the Jimmy Awards Student Reporter Initiative has also selected two student reporters to attend and cover the Jimmy Awards: Autumn Grace Tabb from the Nevada High School Musical Theater Awards (Las Vegas, Nevada) and George McCallum from the Stephen Sondheim Awards (New Haven, Connecticut), following a national submission process.
The 2026 Jimmy Awards will begin at 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT on June 22; they will also be available via livestream. As previously announced, actor, comedian, writer and co-producer of Broadway’s “Titaníque” Bowen Yang will host the ceremony.
