Road to the Jimmys 2025, Episode 4: The High School Musical Theatre Awards at Proctors in Schenectady

If the Tony Awards speak to what’s happening on Broadway now, the Jimmy Awards forecast 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 23 at the Minskoff Theatre. Until then, The Broadway Show is 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, we’re in Schenectady, New York for a visit to the High School Musical Theatre Awards at Proctors. “These kids are so brave,” says Kevin McGuire, a Broadway alum and the program’s director. “I don’t think people who don’t do it understand what it’s like to get out on a stage in front of people and stand there on your own two feet and sing. I mean, it’s an extraordinary thing.” While the program nurtures students with professional aspirations, it also celebrates high school theater’s universal applications. “Not everyone involved in a high school musical is going to be on Broadway. However, hiring a theater kid is the best decision anyone could make ever,” says Betsy Stambach Fuller, a local educator. “You can find a place to belong, and your skill set that you’re building, on stage or off, as a theater student is going to help get you there. I’m obsessed with that message.”

Watch the video below!