Suburban students dominate Illinois High School Musical Theatre Awards nominations

Posted May 12, 2017 1:00 am

By Scott C. Morgan

Broadway in Chicago has announced the nominees for the sixth annual Illinois High School Musical Theatre Awards, and suburban teens claimed many of the nods.

The 24 student acting nominees - plus contenders for best direction, best scenic design and best production - were drawn from 74 evaluated productions across the state. The nominees take part in a workshop with "Aladdin" star Adam Jacobs and his actress wife, Kelly Jacobs ("Mary Poppins" on tour), and perform at the awards program slated for Monday, June 5, in Chicago. All local nominees also receive tickets to see Disney's "Aladdin" at the Cadillac Palace Theatre in Chicago.

A Best Actress and Best Actor winner from Illinois will be sent to New York City for a weeklong theater program of coaching and rehearsals and to compete in the nationwide "Jimmy Awards," named for late theater impresario James M. Nederlander. Jonah Rawitz of Buffalo Grove received the Jimmy Award in 2014.

This year's acting nominees are:

• Jordan Radis, Lincolnshire, Adlai E. Stevenson High School

• Meaghan Rivera, Hoffman Estates, Barrington High School

• Justin Smusz, Bolingbrook, Benet Academy

• Frank Gomulka, Lemont, Benet Academy

• Madeleine Barbeau, Bolingbrook, Benet Academy

• Nicholas Orth, Orland Park, Carl Sandburg High School

• Sara Toth, Orland Park, Carl Sandburg High School

• Corey Barlow, Cary, Cary-Grove High School

• Haley Gustafson, Cary, Cary-Grove High School

• Natalie Doppelt, Riverwoods, Deerfield High School

• Brax Melvin, West Frankfort, Frankfort Community High School

• Carly Meyer, Northbrook, Glenbrook North High School

• Darian Goulding, Hampshire, Hampshire High School

• Jack Hradecky, Rockton, Hononegah Community High School

• Edith "Gracie" Stockton, Lake Forest, Lake Forest High School

• Zachary Pearson, Libertyville, Libertyville High School

• Lindsey Doody, Frankfort, Lincoln-Way East High School

• Benjamin Dow, Shorewood, Minooka Community High School

• Dominic Cappuccilli, Mundelein, Mundelein High School

• Maddie Mazzella, Chicago, Saint Ignatius College Prep

• Annie Yamamoto, Hoffman Estates, William Fremd High School

• Erik Martenson, Elmhurst, York Community High School

• Tatum Langley, Elmhurst, York Community High School

• Carina Kanzler, Elmhurst, York Community High School

Nominees for Best Production: "All Shook Up" at Benet Academy, "Jekyll and Hyde" at Carl Sandburg High School, "Evita" at Cary-Grove High School, "In the Heights" at Libertyville High School, "West Side Story" at York Community High School

Nominees for the Grosh Award for Best Scenic Design: "Evita" at Cary-Grove High School, "The Little Mermaid" at Coal City High School, "Hairspray" at Hinsdale South High School, "Urinetown" at Lake Forest High School, "In the Heights" at Libertyville High School

Nominees for Best Direction: Cynthia Burrows, "Big Fish" at Adlai E. Stevenson High School; Lauren Condon and Brian Wand, "All Shook Up" at Benet Academy; Rob Boncosky, "Evita" at Cary-Grove High School; Andy Robinson, "A Little Night Music" at Chicago Academy For the Performing Arts; Kelly MacBlane & John Wanninger, "Urinetown" at Lake Forest High School

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