<p>Just thought I'd remind everyone that the three-part documentary about the Jimmy Awards will begin on Sunday night (8pm) on PBS in the New England area. We have two Massachusetts students in the show, apparently, per the Boston Globe.</p>
<p>Not sure if other areas can watch this, but PBS usually lets you watch their shows online after they air.</p>
<p>Can't wait to watch it!</p>
<p>I will watch it because I’ve actually seen the winner in a show at our state thespian festival. Although these kids are very talented, I believe it’s a stretch to call them the most talented in the U.S. There were so many factors that went into choosing them and not all schools participate. These are the best of those that competed and whose school gave them a chance to have a lead role. just sayin’</p>
<p>The reason I’m watching is I don’t know anything about the Jimmys, although I have heard about them thru this forum.</p>
<p>I just love seeing the kids sing and dance - it does take place in NYC, so I am hoping that we might get to see some professionals as well!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I know a few of the actors in the city who worked coaching these kids for the show this summer. Not sure if you’ll see them perform at all (I doubt it) but if you do, you’re in for a treat!</p>
<p>I’m excited to see my D’s friend who represented our state, but I hear what you’re saying, supportive. Since we all know how high school musical casting goes --and given the restrictions – one could say that these are talented kids but hyperbole to say the most talented in the country.</p>
<p>It would appear that there are many performers who do not have a chance at even competing. There were no opportunities for kids from the state of Hawaii (if there was it was a very well kept secret). My daughter attends school with last years recipient - a very lovely (inside and out) and talented young lady. I will definitely watch this show - it seems custom made for all of us here on the MT pages of CC!</p>
<p>I just found out that a friend was one of the coaches and I never even heard of this competition. But given our school’s interest in theatre, I’m not surprised.</p>
<p>^^I can attest that you can attend a high school that has a strong theatre program (relatively speaking) and never have heard of the Jimmies or even known there was such a thing as theatre competitions be it state, regional or national.</p>
<p>Did anyone read the brief but snarky review of the show in the NYT today? It made me want to watch it just for the brief moment described in the review where Michael Feinstein offers direction to a rehearsing student. Check the television section in the online Times. :)</p>
<p>I had not seen the review but just read it. (Thank you for pointing it out). I too will be watching for the Michael Feinstein moment and any others like it. It is instruction and feedback like that that provides so much legitimacy to why this field is truly something worth studying. (And really hard to be good at no different from other things thought to be hard like engineering etc.) I already expected to be turned off by the “young people repeating platitudes they seem to have heard on the Tony Awards” as pointed out by the review but already in evidence in the clips for the show on the PBS website but I will be happy to watch regardless.</p>
<p>halflokum - I am certain that is true, but if you live in a town with numerous Broadway stars and some of them are even involved in this competition you might think it would somehow get on the school district’s radar! Oh wait, it’s not football…</p>
<p>(Sorry, just venting.)</p>
<p>It would be nice to go to a school where the arts are as important as sports. My kid performs in a dilapidated gymatorium where we have to fight with basketball and volleyball coaches for time (we have two gyms; this one is the “practice” gym). Our curtains are falling apart. We have breakers flip during performances. To top it all off, our very seasoned MT trained teacher retired after last year. We now have a guy that knows NOTHING about putting on a show. He was also told by the principal at his interview that he did not have to do a musical if he didn’t want to. He found out very quickly that not doing a MT production wasn’t really an option when it came to the kids and parents. I will watch this show but I always get irritated that other schools have soooo much more than we do. Another HS in our district has a beautiful state of the art auditorium but no drama department and no choir… ***…</p>
<p>In the past three years, the kids who have represented Florida have all gone to a private high school that has a gorgeous, and I mean gorgeous and huge theatre that also doubles as a community theatre. The tuition there costs almost $23,000/year to attend. They have a very thriving theatre and arts department as well. However, my daughter has many friends from that school that she met at state and they are very talented and very nice kids. The ones she knows are also very humble and truly dedicated.</p>
<p>Just read a review (not the snarky one) that said 50,000 kids from 30 cities were competitors in this thing. Now, 30 cities is not a lot and while we’ve been involved in theater for many years I had also never heard of the Jimmy’s. Hyperbole is an understatement.</p>
<p>supportive - there is a performing arts school near us that is very selective, and the kids are not as gracious as those you describe in your post, unfortunately. A handful of them showed up at the auditions for our community theatre’s production of Spring Awakening, and they more or less dismissed S after they found out he went to public high school. None, however, passed the auditions, and although they were okay talent-wise, I think their attitude grossed out everyone! </p>
<p>From what I read about this documentary, there aren’t lots of diva moments, and the kids seem to get along and work collaboratively. That’s what I’m looking forward to seeing. And the other references to “teachable moments” is intriguing too!</p>
<p>amtc I don’t blame you for venting at all. It is a common theme. My daughter’s former school is getting a brand new athletic facility. This despite the fact that the football team hasn’t won a game in years. The theatre in comparison is not nearly as nice as the current athletic facility that is being torn down. However, there IS a theatre so I think that puts us ahead of the game and it would be wrong to whine about it as tempting as it is. There are also two very dedicated and wonderful drama teachers. So despite substandard facilities in comparison to the athletic facilities, the glass is truly half full. But no, never heard of the Jimmy Awards until recently.</p>
<p>I think the show is on all of the PBS schedules for this evening. While it’s an interesting premise, there is no way that these kids can be considered the “best of the best” when the majority of schools in the country do not participate in the Jimmy Award Program. It would be nice to know what percentage of schools actually do take part. but none of the schools in the upstate NY area where my kids attended 3 different high schools (and another school in that area had one of the best known music directors in the US who ran their program and their musicals) participated nor do any where I now live.
Does anyone know how schools go about joining and are the awards divided by school size and budget? It would seem terribly unequal to judge wealthy schools with large investment in the arts alongside of those who rely on parent with hammers and plywood, rented light bars. borrowed mike systems and a pit comprised of a few kids and a piano.</p>
<p>I do believe that this program just started about three years ago. The rules says that the person has to be a lead in a show. However, I do know that the representative from our state last year was not the lead in the show that was taken to state. In fact, his part was incredibly small. When my daughter was a junior, she was Amneris in Aida and the show was adjudicated and taken to state. However, Aida was the lead part for the girl and so she didn’t even have a chance. Plus, the director prefers seniors to anyone else. The following year, they did Urinetown and since they didn’t take it to state, it wasn’t adjudicated and therefore no one in the show had a chance to be nominated. That’s what I meant by there are so many factors that go into who gets to represent. You can google the award and they do have a website. Perhaps you can find more information there. With the airing of this show, I do believe there will be a strong interest in applying next year. As far as fairness- well, in this business I have learned not to expect things to be fair!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Not all. We get PBS stations from two different U.S. cities, and it isn’t on either one.</p>
<p>As for who can compete, it appears from the website that kids have all been a part of similar awards in their home city.</p>
<p>My D and I are confused… We thought there were only 1 male and 1 female per state, but why were there multiple girls from CA and PA? I know from IL, there was only 1 of each.</p>