The Broadway Education Alliance Inc. is pleased to announce the 50 nominees who will compete for the title of Outstanding Performer in the 16th annual Roger Rees Awards for Excellence in Student Performance on Sunday, May 17, 2026, at Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway (at 95th Street), Manhattan, in a spirited evening of Broadway showtunes.
Queens student nominees for Roger Rees Award Outstanding Performers will take to the stage in the final round of the competition: Mary Claire Smyth of The Scholars’ Academy and Leonidas Tirella of St. Francis Preparatory High School.
Roger Rees Awards Outstanding Performer nominees were selected from over 500 students throughout the region who were initially adjudicated by local teams of independent theater professionals.
The Roger Rees Awards recognize the importance of theatre arts education and celebrate the exceptional life and career-long artistic excellence of Broadway’s beloved actor/director, Roger Rees. Playwright Rick Elice, Rees’ partner of over 30 years, and author of “Finding Roger,” said, “Rog would have liked this chance to educate and inspire young actors, to offer a guiding hand as so many were offered to him when he too was a kid with a dream.”
Two students selected by a panel of Broadway experts will represent the Greater New York region at The Broadway League Foundation’s The Jimmy Awards® (also known as the National High School Musical Theatre Awards®) on Monday, June 22, 2026 at the Minskoff Theatre.
For more information about the program and to purchase tickets, visit www.rogerreesawards.com.
Photo Courtesy Rebecca J. Michelson
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