Educators honored as Kentucky theater students vie for first time in national Jimmy Awards

Participation possible thanks to Kentucky Performing Arts' inaugural Bradley Awards

Counting down from eight, high school senior Jenna Morrison takes her place center stage at the New Albany High School Theater Arts and prompts ensemble members, posing as jurists, to wave their arms in a syncopated rhythm.

On this brisk February evening at this Southern Indiana school, the company of “Chicago: Teen Edition” buzzes with anticipation. They begin technical rehearsals in a few days and the choreography for “When Velma Takes the Stand” needs adjustments.

New Albany High School students and “Chicago” cast members Jenna Morrison and Ruby Laffin in the recent production. Image courtesy New Albany High School Theatre Arts.

Morrison is sharp and observant. She knows more than the blocking for her character, Velma Kelly, the infamous murderer on trial. She seems to know where everyone else is supposed to be as well.

“Oh!” she calls to a nearby student watching in the wings, “Can you move that water bottle?” She explains it blocks the ensemble’s entrance.

All the while, Amanda Simmons, the high school’s director of theater arts, stands to the stage’s edge watching her students with a quiet focus and a ball cap shielding her gaze. Rehearsal — scheduled to begin at 3 o’clock — technically hasn’t even begun.

The 2024-2025 school year was Simmons’ second at New Albany High School. While any new job is daunting, taking over New Albany’s theater program was an especially massive undertaking. In 2024, NAHS Theatre was the inaugural winner of the Disney on Broadway School of Excellence program. The program also earned national awards for being an outstanding high school theater from the Educational Theatre Association in 2004 and 2020. The New York Times has featured the program multiple times in its arts section and the program has performed on stage at the International Thespian Festival ten times, most recently in 2022.

Simmons' experience prepares her for the role with nearly two decades teaching high school theater and past positions in education at Actors Theatre of Louisville, Kentucky Performing Arts and StageOne Family Theatre.

Amanda Simmons, New Albany High School Director of Theater Arts, received the Bradley Award for Outstanding Arts Mentor at Kentucky Performing Arts during the June 1 ceremony. Photo credit Kristin Scott.

Morrison readily reels off Simmons’ favorite quote: “‘It's not about you. It's about the art.’ Everything is about the art.” Morrison said.

”We definitely live by that, for sure,” Morrison adds.

Then New Albany High School attained a new success and the spotlight turned to Simmons. Simmons won the Outstanding Arts Mentor Award at the inaugural Kentucky Performing Arts Bradley Awards and “Chicago: Teen Edition” received seven nominations.

This marks the first time the region’s high school theater departments have participated in The National High School Musical Theater Awards, a prominent national program created to reward excellence in student performance. In 2017, it also began recognizing excellence in theater education.

That award is the Inspiring Teacher Award. This year’s recipient, a teacher from Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas, gave a shout-out to educators like Simmons during the June 23 ceremony in New York City.

"To every theatre director, I see you. I honor your passion, resilience and your 24/7 unwavering dedication," said Elena Ferrante-Martin from the Broadway Minskoff Theatre stage.

The Bradley Awards

In May 2024, Kentucky Performing Arts launched The Bradley Awards, a regional awards program covering high schools in Kentucky and Southern Indiana. It marked a formal introduction into the National High School Musical Theater Awards (NHSMTA), nicknamed the “Jimmy Awards” after Broadway legend James Nederlander.

Bradley Award winners Kennedy Julian, Best Actress in a Leading Role, and Carson Chestnut, Best Actor in a Leading Role, were among the 110 Jimmy Award nominees from 55 participating regional programs who performed in the June 23 ceremony at Broadway’s Minskoff Theater. Photo Courtesy Kentucky Performing Arts.

This nationwide high school theater competition, which began in 2009, invites two high school actors from each participating local regional program on an all-expense-paid trip to New York City, where the students attend intensive classes led by accomplished Broadway professionals and perform in a national awards ceremony. This year’s Bradley Award winners — Kennedy Julian, Best Actress in a Leading Role, and Carson Chestnut, Best Actor in a Leading Role — were part of 110 Jimmy Award nominees from 55 participating regional programs who performed in the June 23 ceremony at the Minskoff Theater.

“It’s like All-State basketball but for musical theater,” said Kentucky Performing Arts Vice President of Education and Community Nick Covault, who helps organize the Bradley Awards.

Like other regional ceremonies within the Jimmy Awards, KPA chose a local name when coining The Bradleys. That’s after Bradley Broecker, whose work with the Louisville Theatrical Association and Kentucky Center for the Arts helped bring more touring Broadway shows to Louisville.

Kentucky Performing Arts President and CEO Kim Baker; Bradley Award winners Carson Chestnut and Kennedy Julian; and Broadway Across America Midwest and the Louisville Theatrical Association President Leslie Broecker. Broecker is Bradley Broecker’s daughter. Photo by Sarah Anne Cohen.

Kentuckiana’s participation comes at a time of increasing visibility for the region’s talent. Louisville native Nicole Scherzinger won this year’s Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance in “Sunset Boulevard.” Scherzinger attended duPont Manual High School’s Youth Performing Arts School, where the Bradley Award winner, Julian, currently attends.

Bradley Award winners Carson Chestnut and Kennedy Julian during their intensive program as Jimmy Award nominees. Photos courtesy Kentucky Performing Arts.

The Youth Performing Arts School and New Albany High School share a reputation for sending alumni on to successful theater careers. The Bradley Awards go beyond the Louisville metropolitan area to represent the entirety of Kentucky and Southern Indiana.

Theater Mentorship throughout Kentucky

While student performers are The Bradley Awards' main focus, the awards also celebrate theater mentors and educators who have sustained high school programs for decades, even those in smaller Kentucky counties.

McCracken County High School students Jack Nelson (left) and Carson Chestnut (right) in this year’s production of the musical “Big Fish.” Photo courtesy McCracken County High School.

Chestnut won the inaugural Bradley Award for his performance in the musical “Big Fish” at McCracken County High School. His theater teacher, Mary Bowden, describes watching him win as a full-circle moment.

“I had really great mentors when I was in high school, and they helped me discover who I was going to become,” Bowden said. “I really wanted to be able to do that and pay it forward in my job. I truly feel like working with high school-aged students is my calling.”

Bowden moved to Kentucky in 2013 to teach theater at McCracken County High School. She said the community support for the arts in Paducah was noticeable from the start.

“We have an extremely active arts community here in Paducah. There are so many different avenues — not only for students or young children, but also through adulthood — to get involved in things like community theater. It's incredible,” Bowden said.

Chestnut's Bradley Award win highlighted the vibrancy of Kentucky’s arts communities throughout the state. Bowden credits the Paducah arts community for developing Chestnut’s talent.

“It became a really great avenue for (Chestnut). His music teachers and community theater mentors found something that he was not only good at, but that he was passionate about. That passion was really fostered,” she said.

Covault said that The Bradleys goal is to meet programs where they are, regardless of budget or resources. This contrasts with other programs, such as the International Thespian Festival, which can cost thousands of dollars to participate.

“You don't get to choose where you grow up, so to have the opportunity where everyone can get that exposure is so amazing,” said Samantha McNichol, a senior at Elizabethtown’s John Hardin High School.

In addition to playing Donna in her school’s production of “Mamma Mia!” McNichol volunteered time outside of rehearsal to design costumes for the production. She estimated that from November to February, she dedicated at least 150 additional hours outside of rehearsal working on costumes.

Bradley Award winner Carson Chestnut (left) and McCracken County High School teacher Mary Bowden (right) at the June ceremony in Louisville. Photo courtesy Mary Bowden.

This hard work culminated in a Bradley Award nomination for Behind the Scenes Excellence.

“I probably looked crazy this past trimester,” she says. “I've been walking in and out of school with a sewing machine full of ruffles.”

McNichol cherishes all of it even though she didn’t win. (The Behind the Scenes Excellence award went to Emma Hockensmith and Reilly Ketterer of Floyd Central High School.) She credits her teacher, Phyllis Westfall, for supporting her involvement and inspiring her to take on a leadership role within the school’s theater department.

Westfall has dedicated 18 years to teaching drama, choir, piano, and guitar, in addition to heading the theater program at John Hardin High School.

She was also nominated at the Bradleys for Outstanding Arts Mentor. She said the Bradleys have been a motivating experience for her and her students.

“My attendance has been better than it's ever been this year,” she said, “We do our shows for our people here, and to be recognized out of this area is a good thing.”

Recognizing Arts Mentors

Recognizing arts mentors has received a national push in recent years. The Educational Theatre Association, which operates the annual International Thespian Festival, has awarded educators since 1991.

But in 2015, the Tony Awards introduced the Excellence in Theatre Education Award in partnership with Carnegie Mellon University. Members of the public submit candidates through the Tonys website, and are then selected by a panel of judges made up of members of The Broadway League, The American Theatre Wing, Carnegie Mellon University, and other theater industry leaders.

In 2017, the National High School Musical Theater Awards followed suit, launching the Inspiring Teacher Award to recognize the teachers of the previous years’ Best Actor and Best Actress winners.

Josh Groban, hosting this year’s Jimmy Awards, added a personal touch while introducing this award and this year's winners, Elena Ferrante-Martin and KoKo M. Thornton of Enloe High School of Durham, N.C.

“I am here because of the teachers who made me who I am,” he said.

The move to broaden recognition for theater educators sheds light on all educators, most of whom will never have the same spotlight.

New Albany High School’s Simmons describes the Bradley Awards as an ideal teaching opportunity.

“Learning how to deal with successes and disappointments is all very important,” Simmons says. “I think, as an educator, one of my biggest things is getting the students out of their comfort zone. If I can get them out into the community to see other schools and to cheer on other people, that’s truly amazing.”

While neither local high school nominee was a finalist at the Jimmy Awards, both Chestnut and Julien embodied Simmons’ ethos during their moments onstage in their performances and in filmed snippets of the week's preparations.

​​Sydney Meyer, a Louisville-based writer with an undergraduate diploma in theatre arts from Boston University, built affordable housing in Colorado with AmeriCorps before returning to her hometown last year. In addition to her work as a writer, she has freelanced as a social media manager and taught high school history. She will attend Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism and pursue a master’s degree in the fall.