Road to the Jimmys, Episode 4: Building Camaraderie at the Stars of Tomorrow Program in Rochester, NY

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.

The fourth stop along the Road to the Jimmys brings us to the Stars of Tomorrow program in Rochester, NY. Holly Valentine, director of education at Rochester Broadway Theatre League, speaks to what makes the program so special for its students: "When you go into these—especially some of the smaller communities that are engaged with us—the sense of camaraderie and family and the energy at their level is the same as the enegery here for the Jimmy Awards."

Stars of Tomorrow culminates in May with an event Valentine characterizes as a celebration—as well as the place where the 40 students who will go on to compete for spots at the Jimmy Awards are selected. "We see at the Jimmy Awards how kids will go on and make their futures. Well, it needs to start at their high school level," says Valentine. She adds, "And what we love is that in our programs, sometimes the productions that get the most recognitions are not necessarily the schools that have the bells and whistles. It's about the storytelling. And the storytelling can happen anywhere." 

Learn more about Rochester's Stars of Tomorrow program in the full video below.