FORTY SCHOOLS REGISTER FOR THE 3rd ANNUAL BLUMEY AWARDS

Charlotte, NC – Forty area high schools have already signed up to participate in Blumenthal Performing Art’s 3rd annual High School Musical Theater Awards presented by Wells Fargo, marking a 100% growth since the popular program’s inception in 2012.

“We are thrilled to see such a positive response to the third year of this program,” said Education Director Ralph Beck. “Thirty-two area high schools registered on the first day, which is an amazing response and says something about how local theater teachers, schools and students have embraced this opportunity. The strong response continues a pattern of growth seen since the first year of the program, when 20 schools participated,” Beck said.

Patterned after Broadway’s Tony Awards, The Blumey Awards recognize and celebrate the best in area high school musical theater and provide a showcase for the talents of the students, teachers and administrators behind the productions.  Schools eligible to participate are those in Alexander, Anson, Cabarrus, Catawba, Cleveland, Gaston, Iredell, Lincoln, Mecklenburg, Rowan, Stanley, and Union Counties in North Carolina; Chester, Chesterfield, Lancaster, and York Counties in South Carolina, and include public, private and charter high schools.

The musicals presented by the participating schools are judged by a panel of judges, who score the productions and the lead and supporting actors in multiple categories. At the Blumey Awards celebration on May 18, the winners in each category will be announced, including Wells Fargo Best Musical and Best Actor and Actress.  Students from each participating school perform in the production numbers that open and close The Blumey Awards ceremony, while Best Actor and Best Actress and the casts of the Wells Fargo Best Musical Nominees also perform live on the Belk Theater Stage during the show.  Last year’s Blumey Awards celebration drew quite a crowd with 1,924 in attendance.

Blumenthal has also applied for participation in the National High School Musial Theater Awards in New York in June 2014.  If selected, the two students named Best Actor and Best Actress 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 a national competition known as The Jimmy Awards. Blumenthal Best Actress winner from last year, Eva Marie Noblezada from Northwest School of the Arts, was among the finalists for Best Actress in New York.

Registered schools for this year’s Blumey Awards include:

A. L. Brown High School
Ardrey Kell High School
Butler High School
Carmel Christian School
Central Academy of Technology and Arts
Central Cabarrus High School
CFA Academy
Charlotte Christian School
Charlotte Country Day School
Charlotte Latin School
Covenant Day School
Cox Mill High School
Crest High School
Cuthbertson High School
East Gaston High School
Gaston Day School
Hickory Ridge High School
Highland School of Technology
Jay M. Robinson High School
Kings Mountain High School
Lake Norman High School
Marvin Ridge High School
Myers Park High School
Nation Ford High School
North Gaston High School
North Lincoln High School
Northwest Cabarrus High School
Northwest School of the Arts
Northwestern High School
Olympic High School
Parkwood High School
Providence Day School
Providence High School
Rocky River High School
South Mecklenburg High School
South Point High School
Southlake Christian Academy
Stuart W. Cramer High School
Sun Valley High School
Weddington High School