Nominees Announced for the 2018 Jimmy Awards, Hosted by Laura Benanti

The 2018 National High School Musical Theatre Awards, also known as the Jimmy Awards, has announced the nominees competing for the titles of Best Performance by an Actor and Best Performance by an Actress. Tony Award winner Laura Benanti will host the 10th annual event, taking place Monday, June 25, at 7:30pm at the Minskoff Theatre.

Among the nominees are New York's Andrew Barth Feldman and Alyssa McDonald, Chicago's Darian Goulding and Natalie Doppelt, and Los Angeles's Daniel Kohanbash and Hannah Kanter. For a full list of nominees, click here.

Jimmy Awards nominees will prepare for their debut on a Broadway stage during a nine-day professional training intensive with NYU Tisch School of the Arts' New Studio on Broadway faculty members plus other theater professionals. Winners will be selected by a panel of industry experts.

Founded in 2009 by Nederlander Alliances LLC, Pittsburgh CLO, and Broadway Education Alliance (BEA), the mission of the Jimmy Awards/National High School Musical Theatre Awards (NHSMTA) is to raise the profile of musical theater in schools, recognize dedicated teachers, and inspire the next generation of performers and enthusiasts. Since the inception of the program, participating students have earned over $2 million in university and conservatory scholarships. Several student participants have already been cast in Broadway, touring, and West End productions.

At this year's event, the Inspiring Teacher Award, presented by Wells Fargo, will be presented to Janine Papin of Trinity Preparatory School in Winter Park, Florida, and Nadine Love of William R. Boone High School in Orlando, Florida.