The Minskoff Theatre will be full of fresh faces on June 26 as the Broadway community celebrates the 14th Annual Jimmy Awards. Each year, the awards bring together high school students from 48 regional programs for a week of coaching sessions, training, and rehearsals, culminating in an evening of performance. At the end of the night, two students will be presented with awards for Best Performance by an Actress and Best Performance by an Actor. Several scholarships and additional honors will be awarded to the evening鈥檚 winners and finalists.
The Jimmy Awards, which is named after the late theatre owner James M. Nederlander and jokingly referred to as Broadway鈥檚 NFL draft, are notorious for helping young performers get discovered鈥攕tars like Rene茅 Rapp, Andrew Barth Feldman, Jai鈥橪en Josey, and Kyle Selig were all Jimmy winners before making their Broadway debut. But you don鈥檛 have to be a winner to be noticed; just performing at the Minskoff is enough. Before all 96 of the 2023 nominees take the stage, 半岛体育 caught up with Jimmy alumni Eva Noblezada and Justin Cooley, currently on Broadway as Eurydice in Hadestown and Seth in Kimberly Akimbo, respectively. Noblezada and Cooley were Jimmy Awards finalists in 2013 and 2021, which helped launch each of their careers.
For Noblezada, her performance as a finalist caught the attention of casting director Tara Rubin, who arranged for Noblezada to audition for the West End revival of Miss Saigon. At just 17, Noblezada was cast as Kim, and later brought the role to Broadway, a lauded performance that earned her her first Tony nomination. Most recently, she originated the role of Eurydice in Hadestown on Broadway, which earned her another Tony nomination.
鈥淭hat week was kind of the best blur,鈥� says Noblezada, who went to high school in North Carolina. 鈥淓xperiencing the city, and getting to walk to where we were rehearsing every day through the city and just imagining, 鈥楾his is what your life could be like, Eva, if we move to the city one day.鈥� It was really a week of the dreams that we all had being manifested.鈥� Noblezada will be a presenter at Monday鈥檚 Jimmy Awards.
Cooley鈥檚 performance was also instrumental in his path to Broadway. As a finalist in the 2021 awards ceremony, held virtually due to the pandemic, his Jimmy experience looked much different than others. Cooley filmed his portion of a musical medley, as well as his finalist performance, from Kansas. 鈥淭here was no traveling [to New York], everything was from home,鈥� he says. 鈥淏ut I traveled around my city and my area, that gave us a small chance to show off where we come from, and how all these kids are gathering in a real way from across the country.鈥�
After the awards, Cooley received calls from casting agencies, and a request to film a self-tape for Kimberly Akimbo鈥檚 Off-Broadway run. Shortly thereafter, he was cast as Seth, where his performance would earn rave reviews, and the musical鈥檚 transfer gave him his Broadway debut plus a 2023 Tony nomination.
鈥淕oing to the Jimmy Awards, you get exposure to a lot of people that are in the industry here in New York that you would never get otherwise,鈥� says Cooley. 鈥淟ike me, being from Kansas, I wasn鈥檛 sending out tapes to New York. I also didn鈥檛 really have the confidence or belief that I could do something like that. Because when you鈥檙e 17, in no world do you think that you could be booking a professional job halfway across the country.鈥�
Cooley emphasizes that the Jimmy Awards are particularly important to the theatre industry, because they open the door for young artists鈥攅specially those who grow up in areas where theatre may not be as accessible. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really bringing in an entire new set of voices and perspectives,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 opening up an entirely new palette of colors we can use to really cast kids. Because they have something to say, and there鈥檚 talent to be drawn from. To gather people from all across the country, it鈥檚 really an incredible thing.
As successful Jimmy alums, what would Noblezada and Cooley say to this year鈥檚 nominees? 鈥淭ry not to compare yourself to anyone else,鈥� Noblezada advises. 鈥淎s much as you鈥檙e going to push yourself to be incredible, and to better yourself, also show yourself the same amount of self-compassion and rest."
Adds Cooley: 鈥淚t鈥檚 OK to be intimidated. It鈥檚 OK to be frightened. It鈥檚 a big thing. It鈥檚 a special thing. Remember to just open up and take in everything you can from the other Jimmy nominees, the judges, and the mentors. There鈥檚 so much to be learned and absorbed in that environment.鈥�
Monday鈥檚 ceremony is presented by The Broadway League Foundation, and hosted by Corbin Bleu. Noblezada will make an appearance herself as a presenter, along with Wicked鈥檚 McKenzie Kurtz. Guest coaches include Jenni Barber, Max Chernin, Maryann Hu, Adam Kantor, Telly Leung, Howard McGillin, and Desi Oakley. The awards are available to stream on YouTube and Facebook, beginning at 7:30 PM EST.
To learn more about the Jimmy Awards, watch the highlights from the 2022 "Jimmys week" below.
