Sunday, May 17th at 2:00 pm
See performances of the top musical theatre students from across Southern Arizona and WATCH A STAR BEING BORN! Winning Contestants will participate in a week long program with Broadway professionals in New York City and vie for the titles of Best Actress and Best Actor on the National Level. The program has been the catalyst for more than $6,000,000 in educational scholarships to date, and many student participants have already been cast in Broadway, Touring and West End productions.
The Monte Awards – High School Musical Theatre Finals, is a unique scholarship competition for talented high school musical theater performers. Two talented students from Southern Arizona will be crowned Best Actor and Best Actress and go on to compete at The National High School Musical Theater Awards (The ‘Jimmy Awards’) at a Broadway Theatre in New York in June. The Jimmy Awards is an advanced program and talent showcase that celebrates high school students from across the country and features dynamic ensemble and solo performances. The NHSMTA program impacts more than 140,000 students who participate in high school musical theatre competitions each year, sponsored by presenters of Touring Broadway productions throughout the United States.
In 2019 Arts Express & Broadway in Tucson renamed the local National High School Musical Theatre Awards program to honor Monte Ralstin: a beloved Teacher, Director, and Mentor to the theatre community in Southern Arizona. For over five years, Monte played a significant role in the development of the awards program, serving as an adjudicator, vocal coach and then Host and Director of the Awards program.
Chris Will has been directing, teaching and performing musicals all around the world for the past 25 years, including two Off-Broadway shows (Time Being and The Jungle Queen Debutante). He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Wyoming in Theatre & Dance and continued his education in the United Kingdom, earning his Masters of Performance in Musical Theatre from The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and received an MFA in directing form the University of Idaho. Chris Will loves teaching acting and is the Theater & Dance Chair at Pima Community College. He starred as Neville in the Arts Express Theatre production of A Secret Garden and is the resident director for the Monte Awards, Southern Arizona’s High School Musical program produced by AET.
José "Chach" Snook is an award-winning Arts Educator, Singer, Actor, Director and Music Director. After a career in Musical Theatre in NYC, Chach moved to Tucson where he has performed and/or directed for the last 20 years working with creative teams from Arizona Onstage Productions, Roadrunner Theatre Co., St. Francis in the Foothills Theatre, Pima Community College, Borderlands Theatre, to Arts Express. He holds a Vocal Performance degree from NAU and is an Arts Integration Specialist and Mentor Teacher for TUSD’s OMA Program. Chach loves working with the next generation of musical theatre performers helping them realize their potential.
Simone Jolivet-Manuel, a member of that rare breed of Tucsonans actually born in Tucson. She received her BA from Northern Arizona University and her M.Ed in Elementary Education. Simone began dancing at the age of 7, she continued training over the years with workshops and conventions across the country with high-end choreographers - Savion Glover, Mandy Moore, Paula Abdul, JT Hornstein, Denise Leitner and many others. Currently Simone is in her 21st year at Salpointe Catholic High School and 10th year choreographing for Arts Express Theatre, and serves as its Director of Education. Simone’s professional achievements include work with Salpointe Pomline, Dance Force-1 Productions, Gaslight Theater and Danswest Productions and the 2001, 2005 and 2009 Link Cotillions. She thanks her husband Scot, children Lincoln and Maxine and her mother, for their support and love.
Experience the ever-popular Monte Awards from a remote location! $25/viewing. The Live Stream Link will be available below beginning Monday, May 11th at 5:00 pm, so that you'll have plenty of time to prepare for the Sunday, May 17th 2:00 pm streaming.
Traditional row theatre seating, with orchestra and mezzanine options
Lobby opens one hour before each performance. Seating begins 30 minutes before each performance. Ample complementary parking.
Links:
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-Audience Code Of Conduct-
No refunds. Exchanges with 24 hour or more notice only.