Shea’s Performing Arts Center and The Lipke Foundation are proud to announce the winners of 25th Anniversary Kenny Awards, an endeavor that recognizes the talent, dedication, and efforts of our local high school youth.
Since the inception of the program, the Kenny Awards have recognized and honored countless outstanding musical productions in local high schools and put $120,000 into area high school theatre programs. Now in its 25th year, the Kenny Awardsonce again recognized local high school talent for excellence in producing and performing musicals. The winners were announced on Saturday, May 12 at an awards ceremony held at Shea’s Buffalo Theatre with host and Kenny alum Lauren Hall from Pegula Sports and Entertainment.
Outstanding Orchestral Performance
West Seneca West Senior High School – Anything Goes
Outstanding Technical Design
Starpoint High School – Mary Poppins
Outstanding Choral Performance
Lewiston Porter High School – Into the Woods
Outstanding Scenic Design
Buffalo Academy for the Visual & Performing Arts – Chicago
Outstanding Dramatic Performance
Starpoint High School – Mary Poppins
Outstanding Costume Design
Dunkirk High School – Little Shop of Horrors
Outstanding Dance Performance
Starpoint High School – Mary Poppins
The Show Stopper Award
“We Both Reached for the Gun” in Chicago/ Buffalo Academy for the Visual & Performing Arts
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble
Statues & Gargoyles in The Hunchback of Notre Dame/St. Joseph’s Collegiate Institute
The Blossom Cohan Award
Honors a performer who “Blossoms” in a role
Emily Kuster as Carol Strong in Catch Me If You Can/Eden Jr/Sr High School
Outstanding Actress in a Supporting Role
Magdalene Lord as Mrs. Banks in Mary Poppins/Starpoint High School
Outstanding Actor in a Supporting Role
Daniel Lord as Mr. Banks in Mary Poppins/Starpoint High School
Outstanding Actress in a Leading Role
Emily Kuhn as Lucy Harris in Jekyll & Hyde/Tonawanda High School
Outstanding Actor in a Leading Role
Christopher Palumbo as Bert in Mary Poppins/Starpoint High School
Outstanding Musical Production
Starpoint High School – Mary Poppins
Applications for this year’s Kenny Awards program were accepted in October and reviewed by the panel of Kenny adjudicators. From the applicant pool, 10 schools were selected to participate as finalists in this year’s program and be eligible for the Outstanding Musical Production award. The finalists for the 2018 Kenny Awards are:
Buffalo Academy for the Visual & Performing Arts – Chicago
Dunkirk High School – Little Shop of Horrors
Eden Jr/Sr High School – Catch Me If You Can
Forestville Central School – Disney’s Beauty & the Beast
Lewiston Porter High School – Into the Woods
Pioneer Central School – Mary Poppins
St. Joseph’s Collegiate Institute – The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Starpoint High School – Mary Poppins
Tonawanda High School – Jekyll & Hyde
West Seneca West Senior High School – Anything Goes
The Kenny adjudicators viewed and evaluated the productions and determined the nominees and winners based on what they saw. There are 15 award categories, including “The Kenny” for Outstanding Musical Production in which the winning school receives a $5,000 grant from the Lipke Foundation to be used solely by the school’s theatre department. Other awards include individual performances in leading and supporting roles, as well as areas of technical production, orchestration, choreography, set design, and dance performance.
The Kenny Awards is one of 40 regional awards programs nationwide participating in the National High School Musical Awards Program, aka The Jimmy Awards, which will allow the selected Outstanding Leading Actress and Actor of the Kenny Awards to win an all-expenses-paid, week-long trip to New York City to compete in the National High School Musical Theatre Awards in June, 2018.
This once-in-a-lifetime opportunity will include rehearsals and coaching sessions with Broadway performers, performances, and other beneficial experiences. Participants in “The Jimmy Awards” will compete for various college scholarships.
For information on the Kenny Awards Program, contact Shea’s Education Coordinator Holly Grant at (716) 829-1171 or hgrant@sheas.org.
