Brandon Victor Dixon Awards

The National Theatre is excited to announce the inaugural Brandon Victor Dixon Awards for excellence in high school musical theatre, the newest regional partner of the National High School Musical Theatre Awards® (NHSMTA®), also known as The Jimmy Awards®.

Our awards program is named in honor of Brandon Victor Dixon, a Tony, Emmy, and Grammy Award nominee originally from Gaithersburg, Maryland.

Beginning this fall, up to 25 public, private, and charter high schools located within a 25 mile radius of The National Theatre will be invited to participate by submitting their fully-staged musical theatre productions for consideration. These schools may nominate up to two students each in the Best Performer categories. Judging will begin in fall 2021 and continue through spring 2022, with the BVD Awards ceremony taking place at The National Theatre in spring of 2022.

As an official Regional Awards Program, The National Theatre’s Brandon Victor Dixon Awards will feed directly into the national NHSMTA® celebration. The top two winners from the 2021-2022 BVD Awards season will be invited to compete at the 2022 Jimmy Awards® in New York City. The national awards are a national celebration of outstanding student achievement, recognizing individual artistry in vocal, dance, and acting performance and elevating the importance of theatre arts education in schools.

Questions? Please start by visiting our Participation Guidelines below. Other inquiries can be directed to info@brandonvictordixonawards.com.

Video: 2019 National Jimmy Awards® recap

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HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS: Students cannot audition directly for the Jimmy Awards. In order to be a Nominee at the Jimmy Awards, students must first win their Regional Awards Program (RAP) competition. In compliance with the Rules and Regulations of the National High School Musical Theatre Awards, each RAP awards one Best Actor and one Best Actress based on his/her performance of a Qualifying Role in an Approved Musical in a full-length high school production that took place during the school year. These two winners are then invited to compete at the Jimmy Awards. If your high school does not currently participate in a Regional Awards Program, please see instructions below for high school teachers regarding involvement in the Jimmy Awards. Learn more.

PARENTS: Due to the anticipated high volume of inquiries, we are unable to respond to individual participation requests from parents of interested students. If your student’s high school does not currently participate in a Regional Awards Program, please see instructions below for high school teachers regarding involvement in the Jimmy Awards. Learn more.

EDUCATORS & ADMINISTRATORS: To express interest in participating in the 21/22 Brandon Victor Dixon Awards season, please fill out our interest form. Please note: Your school must be located within a 25 mile radius of The National Theatre (1321 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20004) to be eligible for our regional program. More information about registering and the judging process will be provided prior to Labor Day. In the meantime, please visit the Jimmy Awards website to see a list of qualifying shows and roles, so that you can plan your season.

NHSMTA® is a national celebration of outstanding student achievement in high school musical theatre that recognizes individual artistry in vocal, dance, and acting performance, and honors teachers and their schools’ commitment to performing arts education. NHSMTA® focuses much needed attention on the meaningful work being done by dedicated teachers and students with wide ranging talents on and off the stage, engages families in the activities of their children, ignites new partnerships between theatres and the schools in their area, and contributes to the development of future audiences for live performing arts in communities across America.

Since its inception, NHSMTA® has been the catalyst for more than $4,000,000 in educational scholarships awarded to deserving young performers. Also known as The Jimmy Awards®, named for Broadway impresario James M. Nederlander, this year-round program is administered by The Broadway League Foundation Inc.

Learn more about NHSMTA® at JimmyAwards.com.

Brandon Victor Dixon, a Tony, Emmy, and Grammy Award nominee originally from Gaithersburg, Maryland, will lend his name to an awards ceremony for the first time with the kickoff of this program. Dixon, following his Emmy Award nominated turn opposite John Legend as Judas in NBC’s Jesus Christ Superstar, most recently starred in FOX’s RENTonFOX, and as Terry Silver on the STARZ hit POWER.

A Presidential Scholar Semi-finalist and scholarship winner at the British Academy of Dramatic Acting in Oxford, Dixon is a graduate of Columbia University and a recipient of the University’s I.A.L Diamond Award for Achievement in the Arts which is an honor he shares with Tony Kushner (Angels in America), Jeanine Tesori (Caroline, or Change) and Katori Hall (Mountaintop, TINA on Broadway).

Since his professional debut, originating the role of Adult Simba in The Lion King national tour (Cheetah), Dixon was nominated for a Tony Award for his role as Harpo in Broadway’s The Color Purple, a Grammy for his portrayal of Berry Gordy Jr. in Motown The Musical, and he was nominated for Olivier, Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel, Outer Critics Circle, Drama League, and AUDELCO awards for his outstanding portrayal of Haywood Patterson in Kander and Ebb’s The Scottsboro Boys.

Other credits include: ABC’s One Life To Live, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, ABC’s The Good Wife, and NETFLIX’s “She’s Gotta Have It”. AMAZON’S Modern Love, and NBC’s This Is Us.

His company WalkRunFly has produced multiple works including the Tony Award winning Hedwig and the Angry Inch starring Neil Patrick Harris. He is co-founder of The WeAre Foundation (WeAre.org), a non-profit “Turning Art into Action,” and Qurator: The Movie Ratings App (available on iOS/Android). Originally from Gaithersburg, Maryland, Brandon currently resides in New York City.

Learn more at BrandonVictorDixon.com.

Interest Form for Educators