Nomination announcement.

I am Beth Lenhardt, the director of arts education for the ArtsBridge Foundation and the director of the Georgia High School Musical Theater Awards, also known as the Shuler Awards.

We are excited to have you with us today as we are coming to you live once again from the studios of Georgia Public Broadcasting.

Today, we will be revealing the top six nominees for Leading actress, leading actor, and overall production for the 2026 Georgia High School Musical Theater Awards.

We'll also be announcing the winners of the Showstopper Award, Spotlight Award and Standing Ovation Awards.

We'll introduce the two featured student musicians who will take the stage in our opening and closing medleys.

Announce the two student reporters who will lead this year's Shuler Purple Carpet event, along with two final scholarship recipients.

These nominees and special awards winners will go on to perform during our live broadcast on Thursday, April 16th on GPB.

Before we dive in, we want to extend a huge congratulations to all the talented semifinalists who participated in the secondary audition process.

This year's semifinal round brought together 27 schools from across Georgia, 15 in overall production and an additional 12 represented through our leading performers.

A powerful showing of the depth and diversity of talent across our state.

These students and programs represent the top ten unique scorers in their respective categories.

An incredible reflection of the outstanding work happening in High School Musical theater in Georgia.

Our adjudicators were deeply inspired by the exceptional storytelling and artistry displayed by each semifinalist.

In recognition of the additional work and dedication required for these categories, schools and students will be designated as either nominees or semifinal honorees.

Now, let's begin by celebrating two outstanding students with our final scholarship awards.

Each summer, the City Springs Theater Conservatory provides high school students the opportunity to participate in a full scale musical production.

And this June, students will take the stage in Guys and Dolls as part of a four week intensive program running June first to the 28th.

The recipient of the City Springs Theater Conservatory Scholarship is Bram Fages.

The Weber School.

Congratulations.

The Scad Summer seminar pre-college program scholarship provides a rising high school senior.

With the opportunity to gain valuable educational experience while developing their creative vision through engaging art and design projects.

During a summer session in either Atlanta or Savannah.

The recipient of the Scad Summer Summer seminar, Pre-College Program Scholarship is Aiden Ozguroglu.

Martha Ellen Stilwell School of the Arts.

Congratulations.

Now let's introduce the two student reporters who will lead this year's Shuler Purple carpet event and bring it to life.

Interviewing nominees, sharing their stories, and capturing the excitement of this unforgettable night.

Our two student reporters are Athena Williams Creekview High School and Jack Shepherd.

Eastside High School.

Congratulations.

And now we are thrilled to announce the two featured student musicians who will take the stage and add their instrumental talents to our opening and closing medleys.

Our two featured student musicians are Finbar Tierney, representing DeKalb school of the Arts as the electric electric guitar soloist, and Judah Harris representing Martha Ellen Stillwell's School of the Arts as the piano soloist.

And now we've arrived to the moment to announce the final nominees.

Semifinal honorees and special awards winners.

However, since this is still a fairly new process involving these categories, we also want to take a moment to explain how the nominees for all three of these categories were determined.

For overall production, each school's original adjudicated score counted for 75% of their total score, while their secondary audition score made up the remaining 20:05 percent.

This formula allowed adjudicators to recognize both the full scale production and the school's ability to showcase their work in a live audition setting.

For our leading performers, the nominees were determined using a four part formula where their original adjudicated production score and their in-person audition score each weighed 30%, while their virtual audition packet and their Zoom interview were weighted at 20% each.

So now let's get started with our first category, Best Performance by a Leading actress.

These six outstanding performers have captivated their audiences and wowed our adjudicators.

Here are your top six nominees for Best Leading Actress.

Eden Singletary K.ro High School for her role as Jo March in Little Women the Musical.

Sutton van Lenten Greenbrier High School for her role as Grace banker in the Hello Girls.

Amelia Wilson, Lakeside High School for her role as Reno Sweeney in Anything Goes.

Madeleine Hanson, Lambert High School for her role as Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady.

Destinee Brown Tri-Cities High School for her role as Celie in The Color Purple and Trinity Goolsby.

Westlake High School for her role as Janis in Mean Girls High School version.

Congratulations.

Now let's also recognize the exceptional talent of this year's Best Leading Actress semifinal honorees.

Mia De Martino, Allatoona High School, Eurydice in Hadestown Teen Edition, Maya Galbraith, Chattahoochee High School, Mrs.

Lovett in Sweeney Todd.

Sophia Satterfield, Decatur High School, Alice Spencer and Alice in Alice by Heart.

Nev.

Juday, Kingsbridge Christian School.

Janet van de Graaff in The Drowsy Chaperon.

Lily Thompson Milton High School Marlena in Water for Elephants High School edition.

Anna Kate McNeil, Sequoia High School.

Alice Murphy in Bright star.

Lily Bishop West Forsyth High School.

Julia Sullivan in The Wedding Singer, and Kate Nichols Wheeler High School.

Sally Brown in You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown revised edition.

Next up, it's time to announce the top six nominees for Best Performance by a Leading Actor.

These students brought passion, energy, and unforgettable performances to the stage.

Here are your top six nominees for Best Leading Actor.

Will Bartlett Decatur High School for his role as Alfred Hollow, White Rabbit and March Hare in Alice by Heart.

Andrew Pianowski Denmark High School for his role as Quasimodo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Steel stout, Houston County High School for his role as Pippin in Pippin.

Aiden.

Ozguroglu.

Martha Ellen Stillwell's school of the Arts for his role as lion in The Wiz.

Jake James Milton High School for his role as Jacob Jankowski in Water for elephants.

High school Edition and Conor Green, North Forsyth High School, for his role as Sky Masterson in Guys and Dolls.

Congratulations.

Now let's honor the amazing talent of the best leading actor semifinal honorees.

Nolan Stevens, Allatoona High School, Orpheus in Hadestown Teen Edition Brent von Kalebn Atlanta International School, miss Agatha Trunchbull in Matilda the Musical.

Vincenzo Fusco Buford High School Bobby Strong in Urinetown.

Stuart Rose, Morgan County High School, Patrick in the SpongeBob musical, David DJ Horton, Providence Christian Academy, Harold Hill in The Music Man, Will McGowan, Sequoyah High School, Jimmy Ray Dobbs in Bright Star, Greg Brezina, Trinity Christian School, Prince Eric in The Little Mermaid, and Sire Holland Wheeler High School.

Charlie Brown in You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown revised edition.

Congratulations to all of these incredible leading performer nominees and semifinal honorees.

Now it's time for the biggest, most coveted category, best Overall production.

These six schools have delivered outstanding musical theater productions this season, and we look forward to their amazing production numbers during the live broadcast on April 16.

Here are your top six nominees for overall production.

Allatoona High School Hadestown Teen Edition Buford High School.

Urinetown, Houston County High School, Pippin, Kingsbridge Christian School, The Drowsy Chaperon, Milton High School.

Water for Elephants High School Edition and Peachtree Ridge High School, 42nd Street.

Congratulations.

Let's also take a moment to recognize the semifinal honorees for overall production.

Decatur High School.

Alice by heart.

Holy Innocents Episcopal School.

The SpongeBob Musical.

Lakeside High School.

Anything goes.

Martha Ellen Stillwell's school of the Arts.

The Wiz, North.

Hall.

High.

School.

Matilda.

The Musical.

Providence.

Christian.

Academy.

The Music Man.

Ringgold High School.

The Little mermaid.

Tri-Cities High School.

The color purple.

And Wheeler High school.

You're a good man, Charlie Brown.

Revised edition.

Congratulations to all of these amazing schools.

What an incredible season it has been.

Now that we have our nominees, we are delighted to announce our winners of our special awards.

These awards recognize exceptional production moments, innovation, and impact that truly stood out this season.

First up, the Standing Ovation Awards, which were created to recognize schools that are using theater as a force for impact within their communities.

This award celebrates programs that are leading with innovation, inclusion, and purpose, creating spaces where all students feel seen, supported, and empowered through the arts.

The winners of this year's Standing Ovation Award are DeKalb school of the Arts, Memphis.

The Musical School Edition for Redefining access in the rehearsal room by implementing individualized learning strategies.

Trauma informed practices, and a culturally responsive approach to storytelling.

They ensured that every student, regardless of learning, style or background, could fully engage, grow, and excel.

Duluth High School West Side Story High School Edition for elevating authentic storytelling through community and student voice.

By collaborating with cultural leaders and centering the lived experience of their students, they ensured the story was told with honesty, respect, and a deeper understanding of the community it represents.

Greenbrier High School the Hello Girls for turning performance into purpose by replacing traditional ticket sales with a community toy drive for military families.

They transformed their production into an act of service, using theater as a platform for generosity, empathy and impact.

Martha Ellen Stilwell School of the Arts, The Wiz for celebrating identity through transformational storytelling.

By infusing their production with Bipoc cultural history, Afro Afrofuturism, and LGBTQ ballroom culture while removing financial barriers through sustainable design.

They created a space where every student could see themselves reflected and empowered.

Ringgold High School The Little Mermaid for building a culture of belonging through connection and care, through their sole framework, and triple H initiative.

They created a rehearsal space rooted in empathy, unity, and shared purpose, ensuring every student feels seen, valued and essential to the story.

And Wesleyan School Newsies for expanding what leadership looks like in theater.

By empowering a student with disabilities to serve as stage manager through collaborative support systems and connecting their production to community service.

They demonstrated that the theater can develop leaders both on and off the stage.

Congratulations.

Each year, the Shuler Spotlight Award honors a school that delivers a singular, extraordinary moment of excellence in musical theater, one that captivates surprises and leaves a lasting impression.

This year, we celebrate a school whose transformative design and ingenuity belongs in the spotlight.

In theaters.

Sometimes the magic isn't what you wear, it's what you become.

And sometimes that transformation isn't built in a costume shop, but imagined from the ground up.

You'll have the chance to see this extraordinary creation up close when they are featured in a special performance during the live broadcast on April 16th.

The Shuler Spotlight Award recipient is Ringgold High School transformative design and ingenuity for Ursula from The Little Mermaid.

Congratulations and our final Judges Choice Award, the Showstopper Award recognizes a performance in a musical production that the audience enjoyed so much that their applause interrupted the performance.

The selected school will perform their award winning show stopping number at this year's award show, and the winner for the showstopper award is Martha Ellen Stilwell School of the Arts.

Y'all got it from The Wiz.

Congratulations to all of our special award winners.

Your hard work and passion for musical theater will soon be appreciated and acknowledged on the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center stage during this year's live broadcast.

Now that we know our nominees and special award winners, let's talk about the big night.

There are two ways to be a part of this incredible night, and see all this amazing talent.

Take the stage at this year's Georgia High School Musical Theater Awards.

The Shuler Awards will be presented both online and on television on GPB on April 16 at 8:00 P.M.. School group ticket orders can be reserved and purchased by February.

March 27th and public tickets go on sale starting Tuesday, March 31.

Visit ArtsBridge.

Jimmy Awards or follow us on our IG channel at ArtsBridge.

For all the details on how to reserve your seats for this unforgettable night.

Stay connected with ArtsBridge website and social media for all updates behind the scenes content and all the excitement leading up to the awards night.

And once again, congratulations to all of our nominees.

Semifinal honorees, and special awards and scholarship winners.

We can't wait for you to join us this year at the 2026 Georgia High School Musical Theater Awards.

On April 16 at 8:00 P.M.. We hope to see all of you there.