Denver Center Attractions Announces The Bobby G Awards; Deadline 2/1

As the Colorado members of The Broadway League, Denver Center Attractions announces The Bobby G Awards - a regional awards program intended to feed into The Jimmy Awards encouraging and rewarding outstanding achievements in the production of high school musical theatre. Public and private high schools in the seven county Denver metro may apply for this regional program now through February 1, 2013. The first 25 schools that submit verified applications are accepted this year. For more information visit BobbyGAwards.org.

The Bobby G Awards are named for the late Robert Garner, Broadway pioneer and founder of what later became Denver Center Attractions, the Broadway division of The Denver Center for the Performing Arts.

"Bob brought Broadway to Denver and this is just the kind of program he would have encouraged. We are thrilled to honor his name and encourage the next generation of Broadway stars," says Randy Weeks, Executive Director and President of Denver Center Attractions.

Inspired by similar programs around the country, The Bobby G Awards, a regional program intended to feed into The Jimmy Awards, is designed to meet the guidelines set by the National High School Musical Theatre Awards program (NHSMTA), aka The Jimmy Awards.

The Jimmy Awards, established by the Pittsburgh CLO and Nederlander Alliances LLC, is a national celebration of outstanding student achievement recognizing individual artistry in vocal, dance and acting performance. The program aims to create a pathway connecting promising young performers to the professional theater industry. The program is the year-end culmination of awards programs across the country presented by dozens of professional theater organizations. Finalists in New York were named Best Actress or Best Actor at a regional competition, representing approximately 1,000 schools. While in New York City, participants experience five days of private coaching, master classes and rehearsals with theater professionals. Their week's journey concludes with a panel of industry experts selecting exceptional students for The Jimmy for Best Performance by an Actress and Actor. Students receive opportunities for merit scholarships, professional advancement and other prizes.

For The Bobby G Awards regional program, adjudicators made up of professional Working Theatre artists attend the participating high schools' musical theatre productions. Using the standards set by The Bobby G Awards training and criteria, as well as their own professional experience, these adjudicators complete extensive evaluation forms offering detailed feedback on all of the various elements involved with staging a musical production. Participating schools receive a copy of the forms complete with each adjudicator's comments, praise, and constructive criticism designed to motivate growth and recognize success. In addition, these evaluations serve as a foundation for the nominations announced in early May 2013. The entire program culminates in a ceremony on May 30, 2013 modeled after Broadway's Tony Awards- including performances from the shows nominated for outstanding overall production - where outstanding achievements by students and educators made in the areas of performance, design, direction, choreography, technical production and overall production excellence receive their own Bobby G Award.

Interested schools may apply at BobbyGAwards.org which includes a registration fee of $200 per school. The Denver Center for the Performing Arts is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization and all registration fees go directly back into funding and growing the program.

Denver Center Attractions is seeking several qualified adjudicators for The Bobby G Awards program in 2013. Positions are seasonal from February through May. All adjudicators should hold degrees in music, theatre, dance or a related area; have extensive work experience in one of those disciplines on a professional or academic basis; or are professional artists or educators with wide knowledge of the American Musical Theatre canon. They have an understanding of and/or experience in mounting high school musicals and are avid theatergoers. They are able to effectively evaluate student performances and production values. All candidates should be outstanding writers with the ability to effectively communicate their impressions in a constructive manner. Interested individuals should email a short cover letter, resume and writing sample (critical review of a musical) as a MS Word attachment to David Cates, Program Manager at dcates@dcpa.org. Interviews take place on a rolling basis. Deadline to apply is February 1, 2013.

More Articles by This Author...