Archbishop Stepinac High School’s production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “The Phantom of the Opera” leads the field with 15 nominations for the 14th annual Metropolitan High School Theater Awards, to be handed out June 4 at Peekskill’s Paramount Center for the Arts.
The all-boys Catholic high school in White Plains enlists actresses from across the region and has nominees in the top four acting categories: leading actor (Albert Stanaj); leading actress (Nicole Heney, above in a photo by The PhotoShoppe); supporting actor (Chris Guzman) and supporting actress (Samantha Kenny). Heney, a junior at Blind Brook high school, lives in Rye Brook; Kenny, a senior at The Ursuline School in New Rochelle, is also from Rye Brook.
Stepinac is also among three schools from Westchester and three from Bergen to contend for outstanding overall production, the top honor among the contest’s 27 categories.
THE NOMINEES: ARTISTIC | PRODUCTION | BY THE NUMBERS | RUNNING LINES VIDEOS
In addition to “Phantom,” the local nominees for overall production — announced yesterday Wednesday by producer Danielle Rudess of the sponsoring Helen Hayes Youth Theater — are Briarcliff’s “Sugar” and Pleasantville’s “Beauty and the Beast.”
Rounding out the category are three productions from Bergen County: Northern Highlands’ “The Wedding Singer”; Bergen County Academies’ “The King and I”; and Fair Lawn High School’s “Nine.”
It is the third straight overall-production nomination for three schools: Stepinac; Bergen Academies (in Hackensack, N.J.); and Northern Highlands (in Allendale, N.J.), which won last year’s top honor for its production of “Seussical.”
This year’s awards ceremony will include performances by overall-production nominees, leading-actor and leading-actress nominees. With schools shrieking for their nominees, it is the loudest, proudest night on the Lower Hudson Valley’s high-school-theater calendar.
Thirty-seven schools — five from Rockland, 20 from Westchester and 12 from Bergen — put themselves in the running for the awards, which are given in 27 artistic (performance) and production (technical) categories.
The Westchester productions are Stepinac’s “Phantom of the Opera,” Blind Brook’s “Hello Dolly!” Briarcliff’s “Sugar,” Edgemont’s “Oklahoma!” Harrison’s “42nd Street,” Hastings’ “Pippin,” Hendrick Hudson’s “The Pajama Game,” Kennedy Catholic’s “Anything Goes,” Lakeland’s “Oklahoma!” Ossining’s “Aida,” Pleasantville’s “Beauty and the Beast,” Port Chester’s “All Shook Up,” Rye’s “Pippin,” Rye Neck’s “Beauty and the Beast,” Salesian’s “Grease,” Solomon Schecter’s “The Pajama Game,” Tuckahoe’s “Annie Get Your Gun,” The Ursuline School’s “Grease,” Westlake’s “The Drowsy Chaperone,” and Woodlands’ “Once on the Island.”
The participating musicals from Rockland are Clarkstown South’s “Into the Woods,” Pearl River’s “Damn Yankees,” Rockland Country Day’s “Urinetown,” Spring Valley’s “Footloose,” and Tappan Zee’s “Sweet Charity.”
Shows from Bergen County are Academy of the Holy Angels’ “Footloose,” Bergen County Academies’ “The King and I,” Don Bosco Prep’s “Will Rogers Follies,” Emerson’s “I Love a Piano,” Fair Lawn’s “Nine,” Glen Rock’s “Grease,” Hackensack’s “Grease,” Ramsey’s “Curtains,” River Dell’s “Willy Wonka,” Northern Highlands’ “The Wedding Singer,” Saddle River Day’s “Gypsy,” and St. Joseph Regional’s “Cabaret.”
Nominees in 26 categories are decided by paid judges, whose extensive ballots are tabulated. Nominees in the 27th category, technical merit, are submitted by teachers, who send portfolios of the students’ work to be judged by a panel of technical-theater professionals who review the materials and choose a winner.
The Metros began at the now-defunct Helen Hayes Theater Company in Nyack, as a tribute to Hayes, the Nyack resident and first lady of the American stage. For years, they were nicknamed “The Helens.”
The name was changed in 2009, after the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., balked that the high-school honors caused confusion with its Helen Hayes awards.
17 Comments
Just saying—Other schools deserved way more nominations than they did. I’ve been seeing this for years and it seems that the nomination process is not fair and probably a lot of it is fixed, or it seems to be that way.
and i think its ridiculous how a school can get 15 nominations! and their a private school that can get more money funded to them! next time separate the best musical categories to be fair!
Just so people are informed correctly. Stepinac does raise money to put on there shows each year. Bake sales, Garage sale, car wash, concerts, alumni events. You name it they do it to make it possible to put on such great shows. They just don’t show up & let the school district pay for the shows? But one thing is for sure, this show deserved every nomination it obtained because of a unbelievable cast & stage crew & the incredible people who run the drama department. Congratulations to all the schools who put on productions & who were nominated. Good Luck.
By the way Stepinac will be having a night of Golden Oldies this Sat evening at 7:30pm. Kenny Vance & the Planitones will be on hand. tickets are on sale at door to benefit the Stepinac Drama Club.
Private schools get no funding, its all about fundraising! Private schools have to enlist parent volunteers and everyone works their fingers to the bone on a zero budget.
Well if you had seen the production, you would understand why it got 15 nominations.
Stepinac deserved each and every nomination they earned. Beside actually practicing for the show, juggle their classes, and trying to have social life, they have to go out and get as many ads as physically possible. If you saw the show you would have been awe-struck like the judges.
Your Obediant Servant O.G.
Dear “just saying”,
How dare you. How dare you insult the students, production staff and countless members of the production at Archbishop Stepinac High School. You should truly be ashamed of yourself for how immaturely and inaccurately criticize and discredit any production, as well as the Metro Awards program when you clearly have no idea what you are talking about. And further more, you personify the exact characteristics of the people who make this entire experience negative for these kids- kids who have spent countless hours dedicating their time, efforts and talents – not to mention chasing their dreams! YOU are exactly what is wrong with this program. Congratulations to all the nominees and to every production of this season! Best of luck to everyone!
Well deserved!! Congrats to Stepinac H.S. on a production that far exceeded “high school theatre” standards.
Dear just saying,
I am a parent of two boys who attended stepinac and both were involved in the musicals. I also work in the public school system and there is no way u can compare the $ public schools get to what parochial schools get. Parochial schools do a lot more with a lot less! Its hard work, determination, enthusiasm, and a lot of fundraising, and coming together of a lot of people and the students themselves that make all our productions a success. Our alumni also come out and get involved…that’s the type of school Stepinac is. I suggest you come out one year and see one of our plays. I think you would retract your comment. Congratulations to all the nominees and to Stepinac HS where credit was given to where credit was due!
Congradulations to Archbishop Stepinac High School. They deserve each and every one of their nominations and are going to be big winners on June 4th! Also congradulations to Jess!
Dear Just Saying
I realize people root for their own but it shouldn’t be by dismissing other people’s talent and hard work. Phantom wasn’t just another high school production it was a great production achieved by cast crew production team and everyone else that helped and most of them volunteers. Congratulations to all the other nominees…it takes hard work and passion and being nominated is a wonderful accomplishment.Good luck to all!
dear just saying,
stop being a sore loser.
-Anonymous
P.S. HEY AMELIA CAN YA MOM COME?!?!?
Congrats to all the schools involved. After seeing many of the local shows, it is clear that Stepinac is far above the rest. If they do not win best show this year I will be shocked! Their show was flawless and if they could sweep i am sure they would.
Dear just saying
I have been involved w/ Stepinac Drama Club for 12 years. I co chair drama fundraising & our budget doesn’t allow us to spend needlessly we fundraise for every aspect of our productions nothing is ever given to us. If you question our cast & crew’s talent I suggest you buy a ticket & come see our shows.
as a graduate of the stepinac alumni theater, i am truly proud and blessed to see that the club i was once a part of has been nominated for 15 awards. as with every production from every high school the amount of work which goes into these performances is something which cannot be measured. for the past 10 – 15 years i always make sure to attend a stepinac production. they are always above and beyond what a “high school” performance should be. i have also noticed that stepinac has been nominated numerous times for “best overall performance” and have yet to physically win this award. i have taken it upon myself the last few years to attend many other local high school productions to compare. while every school puts on a fantastic performance i cannot fathom how stepinac has not won best overall performance. i truly feel after the metro awards are said and done the results from all the judges should be published so everyone can see the fairness within the results.
if you wanna be all ansy… Stepinac shoulda won the year before… and the year before… and the year before…
I would just like to say congrats to everyschool nominated. Being in these shows I know how awesome it is to see ur hard work getting paid off with a nomination. However if it was Stepinac, Bergen, Preston, Peekskill, ect., or Whoever gets nominated most, u should be happy for them because we are all a family whether u like to admit it or not and I’m truly happy for all nominated! U obviously deserved it!