Road to the Jimmys 2025, Episode 5: The Spotlight Awards in Nashville, Tennessee

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 stopping in Nashville, Tennessee to check out the Spotlight Awards at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center. Each year, the program sends two winning students to the Jimmy Awards in New York City. But the year-round programming and performance on the TPAC stage are their own prizes for the participating young artists. "My favorite thing about Spotlight has been the absolutely incredible amount of opportunities it has provided me with," says Alyssa Freeze of Coffee County High School. "To be a part of something that has so many talented people is just so rewarding." 

"I love it so much," adds Landon Wilson of Summit High School. Speaking for every student who gets the chance to take the TPAC stage, he says, "They're definitely going to look back on it and be like, 'Wow, this is a night to remember.'"