Tampa, Florida-- The David A. Straz, Jr. Center for the Performing Arts is known for community service and generosity, and especially for its commitment to helping talented youth strive and thrive in the world of performing arts.
In keeping with this mission, the Straz Center recently sponsored two young Floridians ? Joshua Grosso and Samantha Schneider-Behen - to attend the fourth annual National High School Musical Theater Awards in New York City.
In the end, Joshua nailed two operatic songs to capture the coveted Jimmy Awards and title of Best Actor. Elizabeth Romero of Fullerton, Calif., was named best actress. Both received $10,000 scholarship awards.
Joshua and Samantha were both finalists for the Straz Center?s Broadway Star of the Future Award. Winners were announced at the Florida State Thespians Festival, held at The Straz Center in March. The Straz Center then selected them to compete in the Jimmy Awards, named after James Nederlander, owner of Nederlander Theater.
18-year-old Joshua hails from Plantation in south Florida and Samantha attends Blake High School in downtown Tampa. Both represented the state of Florida and The Straz Center, joining 60 other students from around the country to compete for the title and perform on Broadway at the Minskoff Theatre. About 50,000 students from 1,000 schools began the competition process early on, before 60 were finally selected to go to New York.
Grosso graduated this year from American Heritage School in Plantation and is studying musical theater at Pittsburgh's Carnegie Mellon University.
Grosso was a replacement for Countryside High School's Jordan Rodnizki, who could not compete at the Jimmy Awards due to a prior commitment. Rodnizki and Schneider-Behen won the Straz Center?s Broadway Stars of the Future awards at the Thespian Festival.
The Jimmy Awards winners were selected by a seven-judge panel that included Tony Award nominee Montego Glover. The event?s hosts were Constantine Maroulis and Deborah Cox, stars of the upcoming revival of "Jekyll & Hyde." The 60 participating teens received six days of coaching by New York University faculty and Broadway stars like Telly Leung from "Godspell." They also took in a showing of "Nice Work If You Can Get It."
"Congratulations to both Joshua and Samantha on representing the Patel Conservatory and the state of Florida so well, and a special congratulations to Joshua for being the winner!" said Wendy Leigh, vice president of education at the Straz Center.
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