Nominees were announced this week for Prime Stage Theatre’s 5th Annual High School Drama Awards to be presented on Jan. 11, 2025, at the Hillman Center for the Performing Arts in Fox Chapel.
The Drama Awards honors excellence in non-musical plays by student actors, directors, and production crew. Students from fifteen area high schools were nominated in sixteen categories. The event draws around 400 students, teachers, and families annually.
The complete list of the 2025 nominees is at https://primestage.com/events/drama-awards.
“What makes these awards unique,” says Drama Awards coordinator John Dolphin, “is that to be eligible, the students must be in a backstage leadership role or an onstage performance role. We encourage adult mentorship and assistance, but in the end, these productions are student-run.”
During the evening, the five schools nominated for Best Overall Production will present a short scene from their nominated production.
This year’s Best Overall Production nominees are Avonworth High School (12 Angry Jurors), Carlynton High School (Sorry, Wrong Show!), Chartiers Valley High School (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child), Pine-Richland High School (The Holiday Channel Movie Wonderthon) , and Quaker Valley High School (Almost, Maine).
Monteze Freeland, co-artistic director of City Theatre, will serve as master of ceremonies; the evening’s special guest is Ben King, a 2018 Carnegie Mellon University drama school graduate now working as production manager for Hudson Scenic Studios in New York.
“The High School Drama Awards is our way of looking to the future,” says Dr. Wayne Brinda, Prime Stage Theatre Producing Artistic Director. “By encouraging these young actors and production specialists in their early efforts, we’re building a strong foundation for Pittsburgh theatre in years to come.”
Since its founding in 1996, Prime Stage Theatre has presented over 100 plays that introduce student and family audiences to classic and contemporary works of world literature.
Categories: Arts and Ideas, Feature Stories, Show Previews
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