Road to the Jimmys, Episode 2: The Inspiring Rising Stars of the Roger Rees Awards

If the Tony Awards speak to what’s happening on Broadway now, the Jimmy Awards provide a forecast of Broadway's future. Formally known as the National High School Musical Theatre Awards, the Jimmy Awards are an annual celebration of outstanding musical theater talent in high schools across America—from Dallas to Des Moines, San Antonio to San Diego, Memphis to Minneapolis. This year's Jimmy Awards will be held on June 24 at the Minskoff Theatre. Until then, The Broadway Show will be chronicling the Road to the Jimmys, spotlighting a few of the regional competitions that send their most talented teens to New York City each spring.

This week, Kiara Brown-Clarke offers an inside look into the Roger Rees Awards, New York City’s regional competition for the Jimmy Awards. Brown-Clarke, a coordinator for education and audience engagement at Disney Theatrical Group and a judge for the Roger Rees Awards, gets an up-close look at the flock of rising talent each year. “I feel like we’re in the presence of greatness and potential absolute stardom,” she tells The Broadway Show. “I’m just in awe of how prepared, how grounded, how well-rounded these students are, and what they bring to the table.”

Beyond their inspiring level of skill, what moves Brown-Clarke more is the students’ investment in the performing arts. “If students from around the country are coming into New York because they’ve had this exposure to the Roger Rees or the Jimmy Awards, that means that we are spreading the good word and doing the work as educators from a young age,” she says. “By the time they reach this high school age, they are already so passionate about theater, and that makes me proud.”

Watch the full segment below.