Henry Mancini Awards nominations announced showcasing top high school musicals

MIDLAND ― Nominees were announced for this year's Henry Mancini Awards celebrating outstanding student achievement in high school musical theater in Beaver, Butler, Lawrence and Mercer counties.

The May 19 Mancini Awards ceremony returns for a 10th year to the Lincoln Park Performing Arts Center in Midland. Showtime is 7 p.m., and the special guest speaker is Broadway star Arielle Jacobs.

All high schools in the quad-county area were invited to participate, with 16 schools joining this year. They are Ambridge Area, Beaver Area, Beaver Falls, Central Valley, Freedom Area, Freeport, Hopewell Area, Knoch, Mars Area, Mohawk, New Castle, North Catholic, Riverside, Slippery Rock, South Side and Western Beaver.

Beaver Area is new to the Mancinis this year.

Mars Area notched the most nominations with 15; Ambridge Area led among Beaver County schools with 11.

This year’s Mancini Awards again are part of the National High School Musical Theatre Awards (The Jimmy Awards). The Mancini winners for Best Actor and Best Actress will join the winners from the Pittsburgh CLO’s Gene Kelly Awards as well as winners from across the nation in New York City for a nine-day experience including private coaching, master classes and rehearsals with theater professionals. Their journey concludes with a production on stage at Broadway’s Minskoff Theater, home of Disney’s The Lion King, with a panel of industry experts selecting exceptional students for The Jimmy for Best Performance by an Actress and Actor. Jimmy nominees receive opportunities for merit scholarships, professional advancement and other prizes.

Additionally, Robert Morris University has signed on to give a $2,000 renewable scholarship to a Mancini student. The Best Actor and Actress winners receive $1,000 cash scholarship through The Phil Inman Best Actor and Actress Scholarship.

The Mancini Awards ceremony will feature performances by the schools nominated for Best Musical, students nominated for individual awards, and two representatives from each participating school in a show-stopping finale.

Tickets to the general public go on sale May 15 at lincolnparkarts.org.

Keynote speaker Jacobs starred as Princess Jasmine in the smash-hit Broadway musical "Disney’s Aladdin," She made her Broadway debut starring opposite Lin-Manuel Miranda, playing Nina Rosario in the final Broadway cast of his Tony- and Grammy-winning musical "In The Heights." She also starred on Broadway in "Wicked" and continued to wow audiences when she embodied the role of Imelda Marcos in the historic first-ever all-Filipino Broadway cast of "Here Lies Love." Jacobs originated the role of Gabriella in "Disney’s High School Musical on Stage," based on the original Disney Channel film.

2024 Henry Mancini Awards Nominees:

Best Musical Budget Level 1:

Beaver Falls, "Elf the Musical;" Freeport, "Chicago: Teen Edition;" Riverside, "The Addams Family."

Best Musical Budget Level 2:

Ambridge Area, "The Drowsy Chaperone;" Hopewell, "Disney's Newsies;" Slippery Rock, "Disney's Newsies."

Best Musical Budget Level 3:

Knoch, "Hello, Dolly!" Mars Area, "Mary Poppins;" New Castle, "Anything Goes."

Best Actor:

Meach Taylor, Beaver Falls; Ethan Burkhammer, Central Valley; Zack Kladny, Freeport; Nicholas Ferrari, Mars; Drew Haring, North Catholic; Anderson Franco, Slippery Rock.

Best Actress:

Lainee Summers, Ambridge; Bella McKivigan, Freeport; Jalise Gary, Hopewell; Ava Breese, Knoch; Lauren Karg, Mars; Peyton Rodgers, New Castle.

Best Supporting Actor:

Pietro Pucci, Ambridge; Nate Toney, Beaver Falls; Cooper Mitchell, Central Valley; Chris Denkovich, Freedom; Aidan Krepin, Mars; Khalil Johnson, New Castle.

Best Supporting Actress:

Faith Aguirre, Ambridge; Alyssa Caldwell, Beaver; LaReyne Wukawitz, Central Valley; Lauren Howard, Knoch; Jenna Smith, Mars; Brooke Dougherty, Mohawk.

Best Execution of Choreography Budget Level 1:

Freeport; Riverside; Western Beaver, "Disney's Newsies."

Best Execution of Choreography Budget Level 2:

Ambridge, Central Valley, Slippery Rock.

Best Execution of Choreography Budget Level 3:

Mars; Mohawk, "Shrek the Musical;" New Castle.

Costume Design Budget Level 1:

Freedom, Freeport, Riverside.

Costume Design Budget Level 2:

Ambridge; Slippery Rock; South Side, "Disney's The Little Mermaid."

Costume Design Budget Level 3:

Mars, Mohawk, New Castle.

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Best Crew/ Technical Execution Budget 1:

Beaver Falls, Riverside, Western Beaver.

Best Crew/ Technical Execution Budget 2:

Ambridge, Hopewell, Slippery Rock.

Best Crew/ Technical Execution Budget 3:

Mars, Mohawk, New Castle.

Best Ensemble Budget 1:

Beaver Falls, Freeport, Western Beaver.

Best Ensemble Budget 2:

Ambridge, Central Valley, Slippery Rock.

Best Ensemble Budget 3:

Knoch, Mars, Mohawk.

Best Execution of Direction Budget 1:

Beaver Falls, Freeport, Riverside.

Best Execution of Direction Budget 2:

Ambridge, Hopewell, Slippery Rock.

Best Execution of Direction Budget 3:

Knoch, Mars, New Castle.

Best Lighting Design Budget 1:

Freeport, Riverside, Western Beaver.

Best Lighting Design Budget 2:

Ambridge, Central Valley, Slippery Rock.

Best Lighting Design Budget 3:

Knoch, Mars, Mohawk.

Best Scenic Design Budget 1:

Freeport, Riverside, Western Beaver.

Best Scenic Design Budget 2:

Ambridge, Hopewell, Slippery Rock.

Best Scenic Design Budget 3:

Knoch, Mars, New Castle.

Best Student Orchestra:

Beaver, Freeport, Knoch, Mars, North Catholic.

Scott Tady is entertainment editor at The Times and easy to reach at stady@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Mancini Awards announced showcasing top local high school musicals