KANNAPOLIS — A. L. Brown High School’s production of “Godspell” will compete in the inaugural Blumenthal Performing Arts High School Musical Theater Awards presented by Wells Fargo.
Winners in 13 categories will be announced at “The Blumey Awards” May 20 in Belk Theater at Blumenthal Performing Arts Center. The awards gala will also feature live performances by the nominees for best musical, best actor and best actress.
A. L. Brown High School is one of 22 teams from the Charlotte region that will compete in the new awards program that is patterned after Broadway’s Tony Awards.
“The Blumey Awards” will recognize the achievements of the musical theater programs of high schools within the greater Charlotte area.
A. L. Brown’s production of “Godspell” will compete in the following 13 categories: best musical, best actor and actress, best supporting actor and actress, best featured performer, best ensemble/chorus, best student orchestra, best overall direction, best choreography execution, best costume creation, best set construction and best lighting execution.
Performances of Godspell, which opens today and runs through Sunday in Kannapolis Performing Arts Center, will be viewed and evaluated by a panel of three Blumey Awards judges. Each judge will anonymously attend one of the performances and will award points according to detailed guidelines.
Participating schools and students among those receiving the six highest scores for one or more of the awards categories will be finalists, with the winners announced May 20 at The Blumey Awards.
A professional director will direct the awards gala, which will feature a live performance from each of the six finalists for best musical and medleys by the finalists for best actor and best actress. A professional orchestra will accompany the students.
Blumenthal Performing Arts also applied for participation in the National High School Musical Theater Awards in New York in Summer 2012. If selected, the two students named best actor and best actress will receive an all-expenses-paid trip and weeklong stay in New York City where they will train and compete with other regional winners in a national competition known as The Jimmy Awards (named after famed Broadway producer, James M. Nederlander).
This will be the first time theater and music students in our region will have a chance to compete in “The Jimmys.” Additionally, The Doctor Family Foundation will award $10,000 annually renewable scholarships to two student participants in The Blumeys.
These winners will be chosen by a special scholarship committee.
The Blumey Awards was created by Blumenthal Performing Arts to recognize excellence in high school theater in the Charlotte Region. Charlotte joins more than 30 other cities, including Pittsburgh, Houston and Atlanta, in hosting annual high school musical theater awards programs.
“We’re proud of the remarkable creative talent in our community. The launch of the Blumey Awards in 2012 is an opportunity for us as a community to celebrate and encourage the budding talent of high school artists, as well as the faculty and staff who work behind the scenes to mount school musicals,” said Tom Gabbard, President of Blumenthal Performing Arts. “We’re thankful for the exceptional high schools who are participating in the debut of a new tradition that will encourage talented young artists to dream big dreams and to work hard to achieve them.”
Wells Fargo is the Presenting Sponsor for the inaugural Blumey Awards. The Doctor Family Foundation is providing additional support.
Rebecca Henderson, Wells Fargo Deputy General Counsel in Wells Fargo’s Law Department and Blumenthal Board member stated, “Wells Fargo is pleased to underwrite this innovative program celebrating our next generation of cultural arts performers and stars. Wells Fargo invests in arts, history and cultural education in our schools as part of our overall commitment to education, so this program is a great way to highlight the talent of students and schools throughout the Greater Charlotte region.”
For more information on The Blumeys, visit BlumenthalArts.org/ BlumeyAwards.
Godspell relays a modern day retelling of the gospel of St. Matthew through short games and parables that take place on a big city rooftop. The 12-member cast presents this collection of stories through the use of humor, dance, puppetry, and movement. Each scene leads to the emotional conclusion of a story of a modern day Jesus and his followers.