The journey to the Broadway stage is not always a yellow brick road. Sometimes it’s bumpy or unpaved. But there are some resources that make the journey smoother and the goal more attainable.
The Adrienne Arsht Center launched an awards program in partnership with the Broadway League this year that makes it easier for young performers in South Florida to break into professional theater.
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The Arsht High School Musical Theater Awards Program, also known as The Arshties, serves as an education-to-workforce pipeline. All private and public schools in Miami-Dade County with a theater program are eligible to sign up.
“You are able to see that trajectory of professionalism, to say, ‘Okay, I can study this. I can study theater, I can study voice, I can study acting. I can go from this to this.’ So they see the line to where they can be as a professional Broadway actor, stage actor, film actor, right? But we're laying down the brick with them,” said Jairo Ontiveros, head of community engagement at the Adrienne Arsht Center.
The goal is to help elevate arts education, specifically in regards to theater. The year-long program offers a comprehensive curriculum including acting workshops, vocal coaching, dance training and even behind-the-scenes roles like stage management.
“ I think one of the most important things that we need to talk about in regards to talent being here is that we need to foster it. We need to nurture it. We need to take care of it, right?” Ontiveros said.
The experience culminates in a showcase in which students must prepare a performance to a panel of judges. Two winners are chosen to represent South Florida at the prestigious Jimmy Awards in New York City.
'Cause Miami people will always be Miami people. They come back. And you serve not only this community, but every community when you give opportunity and experience to people who love it.Alec Avila
Alec Avila, 18, from Miami Arts Studio at Zelda Glazer, and Olivia Serrano-Salow, 18, from New World School of the Arts, won the award for best actor and best actress, respectively.
“You never think it's gonna be you, and I remember, I told Alec before I walked on stage, I said, ‘I can't wait to see you at the Jimmys.’ Little did I know that I would be joining him," said Serrano-Salow.
Both caught the theater bug participating in local theater productions at a young age.
“Having programs in your community that teach kids about the arts is one thing and then to have that exist and have it be a straight shot to the Jimmys is a huge thing,” Avila said.
"And the Jimmys is the most theater-kid thing in the world. You get to watch a bunch of high schoolers perform on Broadway. You're doing the thing! I can't tell you how lucky I feel that they did it this year."
The Jimmy Awards, officially known as The National High School Musical Theatre Awards, is one of the most prestigious recognitions in high school musical theater.
Finalists of the Jimmy Awards include Andrew Barth Feldman, Eva Noblezada and Reneé Rapp, who have gone on to perform on Broadway, national tours, film and television.
A long time coming
There are more than 50 of these participating regional arts programs across the United States, including Tampa, West Palm Beach and now Miami.
For Serrano-Salow and Avila, the advent of the program simultaneously felt like a godsend and a long time coming.
“There were so many emails coming in [to the Arsht] 'cause everybody wanted this program to exist. Everybody wanted to go to the Jimmys. It's such an incredible thing that it was like, ‘Why isn't this here already?’ South Florida has so much young talent,” Serrano-Salow said.
As a Broadway touring house, the Arsht is particularly well-positioned to offer the program.
Ontiveros, who is the Dorothea Green Chair of Education and Community Engagement at the Arsht, said that caliber of young talent has always existed in South Florida. But it was their goal, as an organization, to be a conduit between here and Broadway.
“Because while beautiful for our young people to go to New York City and spend a week there and learn there and hopefully chase their dreams to Broadway, I know that every other arts organization and regional theater here in South Florida, we would love for them to come back home," Ontiveros said.
The inaugural Arshties showcase comes at a time when Miami is getting national recognition. University of Miami alumnus Joshua Henry won a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for Ragtime.
“It shows everyone truly how insane the talent and the training that we have here is. Watching him win the Tony — I feel so proud of this man I've never met,” Serrano-Salow said.
Miami natives like Janet Dacal and Katerina McCrimmon who have built careers in New York as professional theater actors, Avila noted, are real-life examples of what’s possible.
And it’s the close bonds of the theater community and their dedication to their craft that will have Avila, Serrano-Salow and their successors paying it forward.
“'Cause Miami people will always be Miami people. They come back. And you serve not only this community, but every community when you give opportunity and experience to people who love it,” Avila said.
