The Jerry Herman Awards

THE JERRY HERMAN AWARDS is a local celebration dedicated to recognizing, encouraging, and rewarding achievements and excellence in high school musical theatre. It is the local award ceremony for THE NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL THEATRE AWARDS, also known as The Jimmy’s, which take place annually at the Minskoff Theatre on Broadway in New York City. Every year two students are sent to New York to represent Los Angeles at The Jimmy’s to participate in a week-long workshop and compete for the coveted Jimmy Award, named after the late James M. Nederlander.

 

2026 JERRY HERMAN AWARD WINNERS

 

BEST ACTOR 

Jackson Wright as Tony | St. Francis High School 

BEST ACTRESS

Kaleomakamaeokealoha Knight as Penelope Pennywise | Windward School 

BEST SCENIC DESIGN

Notre Dame High School | Oklahoma!

BEST LIGHTING DESIGN

Oaks Christian School | Guys and Dolls

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Calabasas High School | Seussical

BEST ORCHESTRA

Oak Park High School | Disney's The Little Mermaid

BEST TECHNICAL CREW

 St. Francis High School | West Side Story  

BEST ENSEMBLE OR CHORUS

Calabasas High School | Seussical

BEST MUSICAL STAGING OR CHOREOGRAPHY

John Burroughs High School | All Shook Up

BEST MUSICAL DIRECTION

Saugus High School | Frozen

BEST PRODUCTION

Marlborough School | Urinetown

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Jasper Jemison as Dennis | All Shook Up | John Burroughs High School 

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Catherine Laborde as Eurydice | Hadestown: Teen Edition | Culver City High School

“NO SMALL PARTS” AWARD

Micah Presser as Milky White | Into the Woods | Palos Verdes High School 

Competing in the JERRY HERMAN AWARDS

Each year, Broadway in Hollywood hosts the Jerry Herman High School Musical Theatre Awards with one goal: to constructively support local high school performing arts programs. Both public and private high schools from all over Los Angeles County submit productions for consideration across twelve performance and technical categories:

  • Scenic Design
  • Lighting Design
  • Costume Design
  • Orchestra
  • Ensemble/Chorus
  • Musical Staging/Choreography
  • Musical Direction
  • Technical Crew
  • Supporting Actor
  • Supporting Actress
  • "No Small Parts"
  • Best Production

The Hollywood Pantages sends volunteer adjudicators to all of the performances. In the spring, a team at the Pantages, determine the nominees using the adjudicators’ notes and a digital recording of the production. 

To compete for the best actor and best actress categories, each participating school sends one male and one female lead to audition in front of a panel of industry judges. For two days leading up the award show, the best actor and actress nominees are narrowed down to three male and three female finalists. The six finalists perform a solo number on the night of the awards, with a trip to New York to participate in the National High School Musical Theatre Awards (The Jimmys) awarded to the final male and female contestants.

2026 Application Information for Schools

Participation Applications for the 2026 Jerry Herman Awards are now CLOSED. If you're interested in be placed on our waitlist for the next season, please reach out to JHAWARDS@NEDERLANDER.COM.  

2026 Adjudicator Application

Adjudicator Applications are now CLOSED! If you're interested in being on the list for next season, please reach out to Jhawards@nederlander.com.

NHSMTA | Qualifying Best Actor/Actress Roles 2026

CLICK HERE to view the qualifying roles for Best Actor and Best Actress nominations. 

NHSMTA | The Jimmy Awards

CLICK HERE for information about the National High School Musical Theatre Awards (AKA: "The Jimmy Awards")

2026 Program

CLICK HERE to view the Jerry Herman Awards 2026 Program.