The winners of the 17^th annual Jimmy Awards^® were determined and announced last night in front of a sold-out audience at the Minskoff Theatre on Broadway. The coveted JimmyAwards for Best Performance by an Actress and Best Performance by an Actor were presented to Samia Posadas, The Monte Awards (Tucson, AZ), and Jake James, Georgia High School Musical Theatre Awards – Shuler Hensley Awards (Atlanta, GA). Each winner was presented with a check in the amount of $25,000 to further their education, presented by Nederlander Producing Company of America, Inc.

The ceremony, hosted by Bowen Yang, was also live streamed and will remain available for viewing for the next 72 hours – through Thursday, June 25, 2026 – at www.jimmyawards.com. An alternate stream that includes ASL interpretation and closed captioning is also available. Follow the Jimmy Awards on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok & YouTube!

The Jimmy Awards has been the catalyst for more than $9,000,000 in educational scholarships to date. This year, a total of 22 awards and scholarships were presented to participants.

Finalists each received a $5,000 scholarship toward their future education, presented by Jimmy, Margo, Kathleen, and James M. Nederlander II:

● Langston Casey, The Ken Page Awards (St. Louis, MO)

● Emersyn Hunt, The Roger Rees Awards (New York, NY)

● London Mays, Heller Awards for Young Artists (Austin, TX)

● Amaya Washington, CAPA Marquee Awards (Columbus, OH)

● Jackson Wright, The Jerry Herman Awards (Los Angeles, CA)

● Josef Wright, Applause Awards (Orlando, FL)

Additional awards winners each received a $2,500 scholarship:

Outstanding Performance in an Ensemble, presented by BOOP! The Musical, BWF Foundation & Chicago, Hadestown, John Gore Organization, Thomas Schumacher and The Shubert Organization for outstanding collaboration during the Jimmy Awards program :

● Alec Avila, The Arshties (Miami, FL)

● Hayden Hooper, The Orpheum High School Musical Theatre Awards (Memphis, TN)

● Jack Nelson, The KPA Bradley Awards (Louisville, NY)

● Olivia Serrano, The Arshties (Miami, FL)

● Charlotte Sweet, The Blue Star Awards (Kansas City, MO)

● Zane Zangwill, The Philadelphia Independence Awards (Philadelphia, PA)

Showstopper, presented by Ken Davenport, No Guarantees Productions, and Iris Smith for individual artistic excellence during the Feature Group performance:

● Nathan Daniels, METG Musical Theater Awards (Boston, MA)

● Addison Haines, Miami Valley High School Theatre Awards (Dayton, OH)

● Addison Nesbitt, The Broadway San Diego Awards (San Diego, CA)

Best Dancer, for excellence in dance and movement

● Loren Prisuta, Gene Kelly Awards (Pittsburgh, PA)

Best Vocalist, for excellence in vocal performance and technique

● Emma Rose Armstrong, Broadway Star of the Future (Tampa, FL)

Rising Star for impressive advancement during the Jimmy Awards program

● Carter James Pflug, Nebraska Theater Academy (Omaha, NE)

Heart of the Jimmys, presented by Akihiro Nishino of Chimney Town, for exemplifying stellar community support to their peers:

● Towdah Denis Kiima, Broadway Dallas High School Musical Theatre Awards (Dallas, TX)

Spirit of the Jimmys, presented by Big Bus Tours, for embodying the spirit of this musical theatre celebration :

● Alec Avila, The Arshties (Miami, FL)

The recipients of the 2026 INSPIRING TEACHER AWARD, presented by MJ, were Kristy Kosko, Greece Arcadia High School (Stars of Tomorrow, Rochester, NY), and Peter Smeallie, Albert Einstein High School (Brandon Victor Dixon Awards, Washington, D.C.) who were honored for providing valuable guidance and encouragement to their students and school communities. Kosko and Smeallie were nominated for their recognition last spring by 2025 Jimmy Award nominees.

Jimmy Awards alumMason Alexander Park introduced the Where Are They Now video, while Samuel Nelson III from Broadway’s MJ presented the recipients of the INSPIRING TEACHER AWARD. Akihiro Nishino of Chimney Town presented the Heart of the Jimmys Award. Earlier in the evening, the Feature Group performed a tribute to CHICAGO ’s upcoming 30th Anniversary on Broadway, directed and choreographed by Charlotte d’Amboise, with an original music arrangement created by CHICAGO’s Music DirectorJohn Bell.

The creative team for the 17 ^th annual Jimmy Awards was led by Ceremony Director Van Kaplan and Music Supervisor Geoffrey Ko. Ko was also arranger and music director for the Opening Number, which was a tribute to the 2026 Broadway season directed and choreographed by Luis Salgado; the same team also crafted the Closing Number, which featured Jimmy Awards alumni Nicholas Barrón, Fabiola Caraballo Quijada, Miguel Gil, and McKenzie Kurtz. The iconic Character Medleys were directed by Kaplan and choreographed by Theo Lencicki, with Jon Bauerfeld, Wendy Bobbitt Cavett, Steven Cuevas, Michael A. Ferrara, and Noah Teplin providing musical arrangements featuring forty nominees performing selections from the roles they played in their high school productions.

The 2026 Jimmy Awards creative team was rounded out by Lighting Designer Karen Spahn, Sound Designer Nick Borisjuk, Projection Designer Brad Peterson, Costume Coordinator Rebecca Ming, and Writer Jill Twiss.

Judges for the 2026 Jimmy Awards included notable theatre professionals including Tony Award^®-winning producers, prestigious casting experts, and industry leaders: Montego Glover, Kenny Leon, Joe Machota, Alecia Parker, Marc Platt, Tara Rubin, Thomas Schumacher, Bernard Telsey,andLia Vollack. Preliminary judges who adjudicated and cast the nominees in the Character and Feature Groups included Kristian Charbonier, Stephanie Klapper, Sammy Lopez, Kevin Metzger-Timson, Dale Mott, T. Oliver Reid, and Rachel Sussman.

The annual talent showcase featured 116 nominees from 58 cities across the country performing on a Broadway stage following an amazing 10 days in New York City where rehearsals and individual coaching took place at The Juilliard School. The industry coaches who mentored the nominees were: Lisa Brescia, Janet Dacal, Colin Hanlon, MaryAnn Hu, Adam Kantor, Lily Kaufmann, Adam J. Levy, Desi Oakley, Eliseo Román, Lawrence Stallings, Steven Telsey, and EJ Zimmerman.

Promotional partners for the 2026 Jimmy Awards included: Applebee's, Big Bus Tours, Broadway News, Carmine’s, GuestTix, Krispy Kreme, TDF Costume Collection, and Hard Rock Cafe.

MJ serves as the Lead Show Partner of The 2026 Jimmy Awards. Apples and Oranges Arts is the streaming and video production partner of the Jimmy Awards. The official media partner of the Jimmy Awards is WABC-TV.