Fabiola Caraballo Quijada and Chris Hayes Win Top Honors at the 2025 Jimmy Awards

Fabiola Caraballo Quijada of Dallas, Texas and Chris Hayes of Las Vegas, Nevada are the winners of the 2025 Jimmy Awards. They each received a $25,000 scholarship. The 16th annual ceremony was held June 23 at Broadway’s Minskoff Theatre, hosted by Josh Groban.

Caraballo Quijada, who represented the Broadway Dallas High School Musical Theatre Awards, was recognized for her portrayal of Sandra Bloom in Big Fish. As a finalist, she performed “Astonishing” from Little Women. Hayes earned his spot through the Nevada High School Musical Theater Awards and was honored for his performance as Gaston in Beauty and the Beast. He sang "She Loves Me" from She Loves Me as his solo song.

Other finalists included Adam Bouchachia, Seger Ott-Rudolph, Dawson Fullingham, Kinsley Stephens, JJ Korkin and Kayla Rae. The students worked throughout the week with a team of Broadway coaches, including Jenni Barber, Lisa Brescia, Janet Dacal, Colin Hanlon, Lily Kaufmann, Adam J. Levy, Julia Murney, Desi Oakley, Eliseo Román, Q. Smith, Steven Telsey and EJ Zimmerman.

The winners were selected by a panel of industry leaders: Montego Glover, LaChanze, Joe Machota, Alecia Parker, Marc Platt, Tara Rubin, Nick Scandalios, Bernard Telsey and Lia Vollack. Preliminary judges included Kristian Charbonier, Stephanie Klapper, Sammy Lopez, Kevin Metzger-Timson, Dale Mott, Cody Renard Richard and Rachel Sussman.

Formally known as the National High School Musical Theatre Awards, the Jimmy Awards celebrate outstanding student achievement in acting, singing and dance. The program impacts roughly 130,000 students each year and brings together more than 100 nominees from over 50 cities nationwide. Since its founding in 2009, the initiative has awarded over $6 million in scholarships and helped launch the careers of dozens of young performers.

Watch the winning performances below!