The Third Annual St. Louis High School Musical Theatre Awards winners were announced Sunday, June 2 at the Fabulous Fox Theatre.
The ceremony was hosted by KTVI Fox 2’s Mandy Murphey and directed by Tony Parise.
The winners were named in 14 categories (plus WOW! Performance Awards and Special Recognition Awards) including the Outstanding Lead Actress and the Outstanding Lead Actor who will go on to compete in the Jimmy Awards/National High School Musical Theatre Awards on Monday, June 24 at the Minskoff Theatre in New York City, presented by The Broadway League Foundation.
The pair going on to The Jimmy Awards were in Cor Jesu Academy’s “42nd Street” — Anna Gassett, who played Peggy Sawyer, and Michael Harp, who played Billy Lawlor. Anna is a recent graduate of Cor Jesu who plans to major in musical theatre at Texas State University. Michael will be a senior at Althoff Catholic High School in Belleville. He lives in Swansea.
Outstanding Lead Actress:
Gassett | Cor Jesu Academy
Outstanding Musical – Level 1
Timberland High School, The Addams Family
Outstanding Supporting Actress:
Abi Mirikitani | Lafayette High
Outstanding Musical Direction:
Cor Jesu Academy
Westminster Christian Academy
Kirkwood High School
Outstanding Technical Execution:
Cor Jesu Academy
Outstanding Lead Actor:
Michael Harp | Cor Jesu Academy
Outstanding Musical – Level 2
Westminster Christian Academy, Meet Me In St. Louis
Outstanding Supporting Actor:
Kyle Rehme | Timberland High School
Chaminade College Prep
Outstanding Scenic Design &
Central Visual and Performing Arts
Outstanding Costume Design &
Timberland High School
Special Recognition Awards and
WOW! Performance Awards for outstanding work in support of the production were
also given out.
The Extra Mile: Behind the Curtain:
Dominic High School, Les Misérables Lindbergh
High School, Legally Blonde
Christian Academy, Meet Me In St. Louis
Spirit of Theatre: Union High School, Big Fish
Awarded for an outstanding performance in a
role not eligible for a nomination.
Ethan Budge | Rockwood Summit
Brooke Hance | First Baptist Academy
Grant Morgan | Jerseyville
Community High School Hannah Wozniak | Lafayette High School
The St. Louis High School Musical Theatre Awards
The St. Louis High School Musical Theatre Awards (SLHSMTA) are produced by The Fabulous Fox, The Muny and The Fox Performing Arts Charitable Foundation. This program is designed to celebrate outstanding achievement in high school musical theatre. Participating schools will have their productions evaluated by a panel of theatre professionals.
The year-long adjudication process culminates in an awards ceremony modeled on the Tony Awards©. The winners of the Outstanding Actress and Outstanding Actor categories will travel to New York (all expenses paid) to compete in the National High School Musical Theatre Awards (Jimmy Awards©) program and to participate in a week-long professional development experience
The Jimmy Awards® / National
High School Musical Theatre Awards®
The Jimmy Awards®/The National High School Musical
Theatre Awards® (NHSMTA®) program impacts more than 100,000 students who
participate in high school musical theatre competitions sponsored by presenters
of Touring Broadway productions throughout the United States. Presented by the
Broadway League Foundation, the program sends a Best Actress and Best Actor
winner from each of these competitions to New York for a week-long theatre
intensive of coaching and rehearsals with industry professionals in preparation
for a one-night-only talent showcase on Broadway. Named for Broadway impresario
James M. Nederlander, the program has been the catalyst for more than
$2,000,000 in educational scholarships. The eleventh annual Jimmy Awards will
take place on Monday, June 24, 2019 at the Minskoff Theatre on Broadway.
Coaching and rehearsals for this one-of-a-kind event will be held Monday, June
17, 2019 through Monday, June 24, 2019 in New York City. For more information,
please visit www.JimmyAwards.com.
Thomas A. Kooyumjian Foundation
The Thomas A. Kooyumjian Foundation is a not-for-profit
corporation organized and operated exclusively for charitable purposes and in
particular to preserve Armenian Culture of Americans of Armenian descent and support
other educational and charitable organizations.
Lynn (Zipfel) Venhaus has had a continuous byline in St. Louis metro region publications since 1978. She writes features and news for Belleville News-Democrat and contributes to St. Louis magazine and other publications.
She is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic, currently reviews films for Webster-Kirkwood Times and KTRS Radio, covers entertainment for PopLifeSTL.com and co-hosts podcast PopLifeSTL.com…Presents.
She is a member of Critics Choice Association, where she serves on the women’s and marketing committees; Alliance of Women Film Journalists; and on the board of the St. Louis Film Critics Association. She is a founding and board member of the St. Louis Theater Circle.
She is retired from teaching journalism/media as an adjunct college instructor.