Sponsored by Broadway San Jose and Children’s Musical Theater San Jose, RITA MORENO AWARDS is a competition that recognizes outstanding achievement in high school musical theater north of Santa Barbara. The Lead Actor and Actress winners go on to the National High School Musical Theatre Awards (NHSMTA) – also known as the Jimmy™ Awards – in New York City, where they’ll perform on a Broadway stage before industry experts and compete for scholarship opportunities.
The Rita Moreno Awards is the award ceremony for the Rita Moreno California High School Musical Honors. Modeled after Broadway’s Tony Awards, this regional awards competition, hosted by Broadway San Jose and Children’s Musical Theater San Jose, recognizes outstanding achievements in California’s high school musical theatre community north of Santa Barbara County.
The Jimmy Awards is the award ceremony for The National High School Musical Theatre Awards (NHSMTA®). The program is a national celebration of outstanding student achievement recognizing individual artistry in vocal, dance, and acting performance. The program aims to create a pathway connecting promising young performers to the professional theatre industry. The program is the year-end culmination of awards programs across the country presented by dozens of professional theatre organizations. Finalists in New York were named Best Actress or Best Actor at a regional competition, representing approximately 1,800 schools. While in New York City, participants experience a week of private coaching, master classes, and rehearsals with theatre professionals. Their week’s journey concludes with a panel of industry experts selecting exceptional students for The Jimmy® for Best Performance by an Actress and Actor. Students receive opportunities for merit scholarships, professional advancement, and other prizes.
Any California public, private, parochial or charter school can participate. The school production must be on the Qualifying Show List and take place within the 2021-22 school year. Students whose school is not producing a musical this year may submit an audition video for the Lead Actor and Lead Actress category instead. Please refer to the ‘Resources’ tab on https://app.getacceptd.com/ritamorenoawards to download PDF documents outlining the requirements.
Participating in the Rita Moreno Awards is your ONLY chance to get into the Jimmy Awards. Winners from the Rita Moreno Awards are sent on an all-expenses paid trip to New York City, where they experience a week of private coaching, master classes, and rehearsals with theatre professionals. Their week’s journey concludes with a panel of industry experts selecting exceptional students for The Jimmy® for Best Performance by an Actress and Actor. Students receive opportunities for merit scholarships, professional advancement, and other prizes. Most importantly, many alums from the Jimmy Awards are cast in Broadway productions in New York City or on National Tours. Click HERE for a list of alums.
Aside from the exceptional opportunity to participate at the Jimmy Awards, participants in the Rita Moreno Awards also have the option to receive evaluation feedback from adjudicators on their school production or audition video to help improve their performances.
Registration for the 2022 Rita Moreno Awards is NOW OPEN on Acceptd.com. Please review the PDF documents in the ‘Resources’ tab before starting your registration. You do not need to complete the registration in one sitting but keep in mind that you must register by Tuesday, March 15, 2022 or 2 weeks before your production’s opening date, whichever is sooner.
Yes, the registration fee for a school production is $150. The registration fee for an individual audition is $30. The fee will be collected in the final step of your registration on Acceptd.com. It can only be paid by a credit card.
Yes, you may register the production on the school’s behalf and pay the $150 fee but please verify with your school before registering. Please indicate which roles need to be adjudicated in your registration. If you do not opt-out of adjudicating the Overall Production and other categories involving other students in the production, you will be the point-of-contact for them in the event that they are nominated.
You have two options. The first option is to register for an Individual Audition and submit an audition video. We will not be sending an adjudicator to evaluate your performance in the production if you choose this option.
If you want your performance in the production to be adjudicated, your second option is to register for the School Production yourself, on behalf of the school and pay the $150 fee. Please indicate which roles need to be adjudicated in your registration. If you do not opt-out of adjudicating the Overall Production and other categories involving other students in the production, you will be the point-of-contact for them in the event that they are nominated.
Broadway San Jose subscribers receive complimentary tickets to the awards ceremony. The general public can purchase tickets on Broadway San Jose’s website approximately one month prior to the award ceremony.
Our team of adjudicators are volunteer theatre artists and educators in the Bay Area. Our adjudicators have a degree in music, theatre, dance or a related area; or have extensive work experience in one of those disciplines on a professional or academic basis; or are professional artists or educators with a wide knowledge of American musical theatre. They have an in-dept understanding of and/or experience in mounting musical productions and are avid theatregoers.
