Announcing 2013 Blumey Award Winners

Charlotte, NC – The second annual Blumenthal Performing Arts High School Musical Theater Awards culminated Sunday, May 19, at a gala award celebration where winners in 14 categories were announced and nominees for Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Musical performed live on stage at the Belk Theater. The Blumey Awards were presented by Wells Fargo.

Charlotte Christian School from Mecklenburg County won the Wells Fargo Best Musical Award for their production of Oklahoma. Areon Mobasher of Charlotte Latin School in Mecklenburg County won Best Actor for his portrayal of “Jean Valjean” in Les Miserables. Eva Noblezada of Northwest School of the Arts in Mecklenburg County won Best Actress for her portrayal of “Ariel” in Footloose. Maureen O’Boyle, anchor for WBTV, emceed the black-tie celebration.

Aeron Mobasher and Eva Noblezada, the students named Best Actor and Best Actress at The Blumey Awards, will receive an all-expenses-paid trip and weeklong stay in New York City where they will train and compete with other regional winners in the National High School Musical Theater Awards. The national show and ceremony, known as The Jimmy Awards (named after famed Broadway producer, James M. Nederlander), takes place in New York on July 1, 2013.

Seventeen different high schools within the Charlotte region were nominated for Blumey Awards for at least one of the 14 categories. Counties represented by the nominees included Cabarrus, Gaston, Mecklenburg and Union.

Eleven student critics also participated in the inaugural Student Critic Program in association with the 2nd Annual Blumey Awards presented by Wells Fargo. The Student Critic Program is launched as a part of The Blumey Awards with support from The Charlotte Observer. Of these eleven Student Critics, Porter Yelton from Gaston Day School was awarded “The Charlotte Observer Student Critic Award” at The Blumey Awards, chosen by the editors at The Charlotte Observer.

“Congratulations to all the winners and the nominees at last night’s Blumey Awards Ceremony,” said Tom Gabbard, Blumenthal President. “I’m so proud of the remarkable creative talent in our community. The opportunity for these students to perform on the Belk Theater stage, just as our Broadway touring shows do, and to perform to a packed house is thrilling. These kids will have memories to last forever.”

Among the award presenters and special guests were Mike Collins and Brian Kahn (Charlotte Squawks), Christine Nelson (WBTV), Don and Mary Doctor (The Doctor Family Foundation), Susan Lee (Executive Director of the National High School Musical Theater Awards program), Jay Everett (Wells Fargo Community Affairs Manager), David Hagy (Music Director for the Salisbury Symphony Orchestra) and Tom Gabbard (President and CEO of Blumenthal Performing Arts).

This year's winners for The Blumey Awards included:

Wells Fargo Best Musical
Charlotte Christian School – Oklahoma!

Best Actor
Charlotte Latin School – Areon Mobasher as Jean Valjean (Les Miserables)

Best Actress
Northwest School of the Arts – Eva Noblezada as Ariel (Footloose)

Best Supporting Actor
Central Academy of Technology and Arts – TJ Schmidt as Igor (Young Frankenstein)

Best Supporting Actress
Ardrey Kell High School – Kelly Kapur as Ado Annie (Oklahoma!)

Best Featured Performer
Covenant Day School – Evan Bertram as Madame de la Grande Bouche (Beauty and the Beast)

Best Overall Direction
Central Academy of Technology and Arts – Young Frankenstein

Best Ensemble/Chorus
Charlotte Christian School – Oklahoma!

Best Choreography Execution
Charlotte Christian School – Oklahoma!

Best Student Orchestra
Providence High School – The Wizard of Oz

Best Costume Creation
Central Academy of Technology and Arts – Young Frankenstein

Best Lighting Execution
Charlotte Christian School – Oklahoma!

Best Set Construction
South Point High School – Seussical

Best Hair and Makeup Design
Central Academy of Technology and Arts – Young Frankenstein

Along with The Blumey Awards themselves, The Mary Doctor Performing Arts Scholarship, an annually renewable $10,000 scholarship, was awarded to John Pope of Marvin Ridge High School in Union County and Zeinab Caskey of Nation Ford High School in York during The Blumey Awards Ceremony. A special scholarship committee selected these winners.

The gala celebration was the highlight of the competition, which began in February when local schools began presenting their annual musical theater productions. Each school’s musical was viewed and evaluated by a panel of four judges, who awarded points according to detailed guidelines. The six highest scoring nominees in each of 14 categories were the finalists.

The Blumey Awards is produced by Blumenthal Performing Arts’ Education Department and is presented by Wells Fargo. US Airways, The Doctor Family Foundation and The Leon Levine Foundation provide additional support. Charlotte joins more than 40 other cities, including Pittsburgh, Houston and Atlanta, in hosting annual high school musical theater awards programs.

Like the Tony Awards, The Blumey Awards Ceremony featured live performances by the six finalists for Wells Fargo Best Musical: Central Academy of Technology and Arts, Young Frankenstein; Charlotte Christian School, Oklahoma!; Charlotte Latin School, Les Miserables; Covenant Day School, Beauty and the Beast; Myers Park High School, Once Upon a Mattress; Northwest School of the Arts, Footloose.

David Dabbon, a New York-based music director, conductor, orchestrator and composer arranged all of the music, led an orchestra of local professional musicians that accompanied the competing schools, and wrote the closing number. He has conducted shows and concerts throughout the country. Dabbon most recently wrote the dance arrangements for the new Broadway bound musical ‘The Nutty Professor,” composed by the late Marvin Hamlisch and Rupert Holmes, and directed by its original star Jerry Lewis.

The Blumey Awards Ceremony also featured a medley of performances by the six finalists for Best Actor and Best Actress. Additionally, two students from each participating school’s productions were featured in opening and closing musical numbers choreographed by Linda Booth, a professional choreographer. Booth holds a BFA in dance performance from UNC-Greensboro and has choreographed over 100 productions in regional and educational theatre. Recent credits include Hairspray, Chicago, 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, The Drowsy Chaperone and Charlotte Squawks.

The 32 schools that competed in the Blumey Awards program were: Ardrey Kell, Butler, Cannon, CYC Players, Central Academy of Technology and Arts, Central Cabarrus, Charlotte Catholic, Charlotte Christian, Charlotte Latin, Covenant Day, Cox Mill, Cuthbertson, East Gaston, Gaston Day, Independence, Jay M. Robinson, Kings Mountain, Lincolnton, Marvin Ridge, Mount Pleasant, Myers Park, Nation Ford, North Gaston, North Lincoln, Northwest Cabarrus, Northwest School of the Arts, Northwestern, Providence, Rocky River, South Mecklenburg, South Point and Weddington.