Hollywood, Calif. – The Nederlander Organization and Hollywood Pantages Theatre announced today preliminary nominees for THE 4TH ANNUAL JERRY HERMAN AWARDS, a celebration of the achievement and excellence in high school musical theatre in Los Angeles. Final nominations in all production and performance categories will be announced on Tuesday, May 26th.
Photo/ http://www.jerryherman.com
The annual awards show will be hosted by KABC-7 Reporter George Pennacchio at the Hollywood Pantages on Monday, June 1, 2015 at 7pm. All tickets for this awards celebration are $25 and are now on sale to the public online at www.JerryHermanAwards.com, www.HollywoodPantages.com/JHA2015,www.Ticketmaster.com, by phone at 1–800-982-2787 or at the Hollywood Pantages Box Office (6233 Hollywood Blvd). Group tickets are available atwww.PantagesGroups.com or by calling 866-755-3075 Mon-Fri; 10am-5pm PT.
Presenters from the worlds of Broadway, film & television currently confirmed to present awards include Corbin Bleu, Roger Bart, Kevin Chamberlin, Rico Rodriguez, Raini Rodriguez, Renée Marino, Jared Gertner, Jai Rodriguez, Josh Sussman, Lisa Ann Walter & Davis Gaines. Additional celebrity presenters and other special guests are expected to be announced soon.
KABC-7 REPORTER GEORGE PENNACCHIO RETURNS AS EMCEE. 
THE 4TH ANNUAL JERRY HERMAN AWARDS is directed by John Bowab, with Musical Direction by Gerald Sternbach and Musical Staging by Patti Colombo. Director of Education and Outreach is Paul Gleason, and the event is produced by Martin Wiviott.
This year’s recipient of the Ed Lester Lifetime Achievement Award is Los Angeles Arts Educator, and L.A. Opera Legend, Suzanna Guzman, who will be receiving the award from last year’s recipient, Paul G. Gleason.
Following in the tradition of year’s past, THE JERRY HERMAN AWARDS has invited four high schools to perform musical numbers during the awards program. Palos Verdes Peninsula High School will perform “Transylvania Mania” from Young Frankenstein, Oak Park High School will perform “And the Money Kept Rolling In” fromEvita, New Community Jewish High School will perform the opening number from The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, and Chaminade College Preparatory High School will perform “Gaston” from Disney’s Beauty and the Beast.
All schools participating in THE JERRY HERMAN AWARDS are given the opportunity to send a leading man and leading lady to audition before a panel of judges, who determine the winner of the Best Actor and Best Actress categories. Winners in these two awards categories will represent Los Angeles at The National High School Musical Theatre Awards in New York City, where they will participate in a week long workshop and eventually compete for the coveted “Jimmy” Award; named after the owner of Hollywood Pantages: James M. Nederlander. This year’s panel of judges includes Kenny Ortega, Cathy Rigby, Kay Cole, Nancy Dussault & John Bowab.
Preliminary Nominations for the 4th Annual Jerry Herman Awards
During an eight month period this school year, over 32 eligible productions from 29 high schools were attended by adjudicators and scored in multiple creative, technical and performance categories, much like Broadway’s Tony® Awards. Final high school productions are currently expected to conclude by Sunday, May 24th.
For a full list of competing high schools and current breakdown of nominations, please visit www.JerryHermanAwards.com. Please Note: Final nominations in all performance and production categories will be announced on Tuesday, May 26th.
THE JERRY HERMAN AWARDS is a local celebration dedicated to recognizing, encouraging, and rewarding achievements and excellence in high school musical theatre. It is the local award ceremony for THE NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL THEATRE AWARDS, also known as The Jimmys, which take place annually at the Minskoff Theatre on Broadway in New York City. This year, the national awards show will take place on Monday, June 29th.
THE JERRY HERMAN AWARDS has a run time of 2 Hours and 45 Minutes and is recommended for all ages. (Please note that in consideration of audiences, no one under 2½ years of age will be admitted to the theatre.)
For more information on THE JERRY HERMAN AWARDS, please visit www.JerryHermanAwards.com.
For tickets or more information about THE NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL THEATRE AWARDS, please visit www.nhsmta.com.