CAPA Announces Nominees in All 11 High School Musical Theatre Categories for the 2022 CAPA Marquee Awards Presented by American Electric Power Foundation

The Columbus Association for the Performing Arts (CAPA) today announced the nominees in all 11 categories of the 2022 CAPA Marquee Awards presented by American Electric Power Foundation. Designed to recognize and celebrate the wealth of high-caliber musical theatre talent in central Ohio, this year-long, educational program offers selected high schools the opportunity to participate in professional theatre education activities throughout the school year.

During the 2021-22 school year, each of the 18 participating central Ohio high schools also submitted a musical theatre production for review by the program’s team of professional adjudicators. The team provided educationally focused feedback and evaluated students/productions for a CAPA Marquee Award in the categories of Best Actor in a Leading Role, Best Actress in a Leading Role, Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Best Musical Production, Best Direction, Outstanding Ensemble, Outstanding Student Orchestra, and Outstanding Technical Execution. Adjudicators separately evaluated hard-copy nominations in the categories of Backstage Excellence and Outstanding Student Designer. Today, CAPA announced the nominees selected for each category.

Nominees for the 2022 CAPA Marquee Awards are:

Outstanding Student Orchestra sponsored by The DiMarco Family Fund of The Columbus Foundation

• Dublin Jerome High School, The Addams Family
• Grove City High School, Newsies
• New Albany High School, Disney’s The Little Mermaid
• Olentangy Orange High School, Hairspray
• Thomas Worthington High School, Mamma Mia!

Backstage Excellence sponsored by Liz Riley

• Costuming Guild, Bishop Watterson High School, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast
• Sound Crew, Olentangy Berlin High School, Mamma Mia!
• Set Construction & Run Crew, Olentangy Liberty High School, Disney and Cameron Mackintosh's Mary Poppins
• Lighting Crew, Olentangy Orange High School, Hairspray
• Backstage Run Crew, Thomas Worthington High School, Mamma Mia!
• Production Managers, Upper Arlington High School, 42nd Street

Outstanding Student Designer sponsored by The Pam and Jack Beeler Family Fund of The Columbus Foundation

• Jonah Dean, Worthington Christian School, Props Design, The SpongeBob Musical
• Milo Eckhardt, Westerville Central High School, Puppet Design, Shrek The Musical
• Joshua Pearson, Olentangy Berlin High School, Set Design, Mamma Mia!
• Carol Rekow, Bishop Watterson High School, Costume Design, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast
• Nora Root, Hilliard Darby High School, Costume Design, Calvin Berger

Outstanding Technical Execution sponsored by Mary Beth and Luke McCormick

• Dublin Jerome High School, The Addams Family, Stage Manager: Maya Valcourt
• New Albany High School, Disney’s The Little Mermaid, Stage Manager: Eloise Galaise
• Pickerington High School Central, Chicago (School Edition), Stage Manager: Kat Ross
• Pickerington High School North, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Stage Manager: Drake Collins
• Upper Arlington High School, 42nd Street, Stage Manager: Edith LeBlanc

Best Actress in a Supporting Role sponsored by Huntington

• Shannon Barr, Olentangy Orange High School, Penny Pingleton in Hairspray
• Zion Clifton, Olentangy Orange High School, Little Inez in Hairspray
• Avery Golowin, Upper Arlington High School, Annie Reilly in 42nd Street
• Ella Kaminski, Olentangy Orange High School, Amber Von Tussle in Hairspray
• KK Murphy, Upper Arlington High School, Maggie Jones in 42nd Street

Best Actor in a Supporting Role sponsored by Johnson Investment Counsel

• William Baumann, Westerville North High School, Chef Louis in Disney’s The Little Mermaid
• Elijah Beal, Olentangy Orange High School, Wilbur Turnblad in Hairspray
• Connor Bellair, Upper Arlington High School, Bert Barry in 42nd Street
• Jack Stevens, Bishop Watterson High School, Cogsworth in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast
• Ben Stone, Thomas Worthington High School, Bill Austin in Mamma Mia!

Outstanding Ensemble sponsored by Fifth Third Bank

• Grove City High School, Newsies
• Olentangy Liberty High School, Disney and Cameron Mackintosh's Mary Poppins
• Pickerington High School North, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
• Upper Arlington High School, 42nd Street
• Westerville South High School, Bright Star

Best Direction sponsored by Denison University

• Allen DeCarlo, Pickerington High School North, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
• Justin Nawman, Thomas Worthington High School, Mamma Mia!
• David O’Roark, Worthington Christian School, The SpongeBob Musical
• Aileen Targett, Pickerington High School Central, Chicago (School Edition)
• Greg Varner, Upper Arlington High School, 42nd Street

Best Musical Production

• Dublin Jerome High School, The Addams Family
• New Albany High School, Disney’s The Little Mermaid
• Upper Arlington High School, 42nd Street
• Westerville South High School, Bright Star
• Worthington Christian School, The SpongeBob Musical

Best Actress in a Leading Role sponsored by White Castle

• Allie Gomez, Upper Arlington High School, Peggy Sawyer in 42nd Street
• Edin Kebede, New Albany High School, Ariel in Disney’s The Little Mermaid
• Bella Price, Westerville South High School, Alice Murphy in Bright Star
• Lorelei Roeger, New Albany High School, Scuttle in Disney’s The Little Mermaid
• Avery Young, Dublin Jerome High School, Wednesday Addams in The Addams Family

Best Actor in a Leading Role sponsored by Danbert, Inc.

• Wyatt Kerns, Worthington Christian School, Squidward Q. Tentacles in The SpongeBob Musical
• Samuel O’Roark, Worthington Christian School, SpongeBob SquarePants in The SpongeBob Musical
• Grant Overmyer, Upper Arlington High School, Billy Lawlor in 42nd Street
• Christian Strong, Pickerington High School North, Mitch Mahoney/Dan Schwartz in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
• Ben Wright, Westerville Central High School, Shrek in Shrek The Musical

The CAPA Marquee Awards will culminate in a live student showcase at the Ohio Theatre on Tuesday, May 10, at 7:30 pm. The event will announce the winners of each category and include performances from the nominees for Best Musical Production, Best Actor in a Leading Role, and Best Actress in a Leading Role, as well as opening and closing numbers that incorporate nominated students from participating high schools. Tickets are $15 for students and $25 for adults and can be purchased in-person at the CAPA Ticket Center (39 E. State St.), online at www.CAPAMarqueeAwards.com, or by phone at (614) 469-0939.

Students selected as Best Actor in a Leading Role and Best Actress in a Leading Role will move on to compete at the national level as official nominees in the categories of Best Performance by an Actor and Best Performance by an Actress at The 2022 Jimmy Awards®/National High School Musical Theatre Awards® (NHSMTA®). The Jimmy Award nominees will also participate in “Jimmys Week,” a professional training intensive with theatre professionals and industry experts.

About The Jimmy Awards® /The National High School Musical Theatre Awards® (NHSMTA®)

The Jimmy Awards®/The National High School Musical Theatre Awards® (NHSMTA®) program impacts more than 140,000 students who participate in 46 regional high school musical theatre competitions sponsored by presenters of touring Broadway productions throughout the United States. Named for Broadway impresario James M. Nederlander, the program has been the catalyst for more than $5,000,000 in educational scholarships. Presented by The Broadway League Foundation, the NHSMTA invites one Best Actress and one Best Actor nominee from each local regional ceremony to New York City for a week-long theatre intensive that includes coaching, training, and rehearsing led by some of Broadway’s most accomplished professionals. Nominees will spend one week in New York City from Monday, June 20, 2022, through Tuesday, June 28, 2022, and their combined efforts throughout the week will lead to one extraordinary talent showcase performed live in front of an audience on a Broadway stage. The thirteenth annual Jimmy Awards will take place on Monday, June 27, 2022, at the Minskoff Theatre. For more information, please visit www.JimmyAwards.com.