Georgia High Schools Win 2024 Shuler Awards Presented By ArtsBridge Foundation

In a special broadcast with partner Georgia Public Broadcasting, ArtsBridge Foundation announced the winners of the “Sweet 16” 16th Annual Georgia High School Musical Theatre Awards (GHSMTA) during “Shuler Awards 2024,” a live co-production with GPB that aired statewide.

Two schools tied for most awards, each winning in four categories. Greenbrier High School in Evans, Ga., earned top honors for overall production, direction, lighting design and sound for their production of “Anything Goes,” while Ringgold High School earned awards for leading actress, music direction, choreography and technical execution for “Peter Pan.” 

Presented as the Shuler Hensley Awards—also known as the Shuler Awards or The Shulers and named for the Marietta-born star of the stage and screen—GHSMTA winners and nominees are recognized as the best of the state's high school musical theatre students and schools. Visit GPB.org/Shuler2024 for the complete broadcast.

Fashioned after Broadway's Tony Awards, this year's GHSMTA winners span 10 public and private schools from seven counties across the Peach State. The winners are: 

- Overall Production—Greenbrier High School in Evans, Ga. (Columbia Co.) for “Anything Goes”

- Direction—Derek Varney and Stephen Hansen, Greenbrier High School for “Anything Goes”

- Music Direction—Brayden Roach and Jadyn Hatch, Ringgold High School (Catoosa Co.) for “Peter Pan”

- Orchestra—Adam Brooks, North Atlanta High School in Lawrenceville, Ga. (Fulton Co.) for “Mean Girls High School Edition”

- Best Performance by a Leading Actress—Ivy O'Neal, Ringgold High School for “Peter Pan”

- Best Performance by a Leading Actor—Hayden Poe, Dalton High School (Whitfield Co.) for “Fiddler on the Roof”

- Best Performance by a Supporting Performer— Avry Bowman, Lakeside High School in Atlanta (DeKalb Co.) for “Mean Girls High School Edition” and Charlie Rosenberger, Starr's Mill High School in Fayetteville (Fayette Co.) for “Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella” (Broadway Version)

- Best Performance by a Featured Performer— Abi Bragg, Houston County High School in Warner Robins, Ga., for “Mean Girls High School Edition”

- Choreography— Sophia Thomas, Cherish Headrick and Luke Garverick, Ringgold High School in Ringgold, Ga. (Catoosa Co.) for “Peter Pan”

- Ensemble—Glynn Academy in Brunswick, Ga. (Glynn Co.) for “Chicago: Teen Edition”

- Costumes—Charlie Rosenberger and Emily Steele, Starr's Mill High School in Fayetteville (Fayette Co.) for “Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella” (Broadway Edition)

- Lighting Design— Madison Sprouse and Luke Dowdy, Greenbrier High School for “Anything Goes”

- Scenic Design— Sarah Martin and Rainey Miles, North Forsyth High School in Cumming, Ga. (Forsyth Co.) for “Bright Star”

- Sound— Fiona Reggelin, Greenbrier High School in Evans, Ga. (Columbia Co.) for “Anything Goes”

- Technical Execution— Kelly Schroder, Nehemiah Daves and Masey McCorkle, Ringgold High School in Ringgold, Ga. (Catoosa Co.) for “Peter Pan”

- Showstopper— North Hall High School in Gainesville, Ga. (Hall Co.) for “Land of Yesterday” from “Anastasia: The Musical”

- Spotlight Award (production design and execution)—Houston County High School in Warner Robins, Ga.) for “Where Do You Belong” from “Mean Girls High School Edition”

As the leading actress and actor, respectively, O'Neal and Poe will represent Georgia in the National High School Musical Theatre Awards program named The Jimmy Awards and participate in this year's awards show at the Minskoff Theatre in New York on June 24, with merit scholarships and professional opportunities up for grabs. The Broadway League organizes the national competition.

For the third consecutive year, the Shuler Awards included the “supporting performer” category which combined the previous categories of supporting actress and supporting actor.

"Our supporting performer category celebrates students of any gender, with the two highest-scoring students jointly awarded, which serves Georgia high school musical theatre students who identify across the entire gender spectrum," said Elizabeth Lenhart, director of arts education for ArtsBridge Foundation.

The Shuler Awards competition was among the nation's first regional high school musical theatre awards programs to institute such a change, in good company with other first-time non-gendered performance awards competitions of 2022 in Florida, Iowa, Minnesota and Texas.

As part of ArtsBridge Foundation's celebration of the 16th GHSMTA celebration, for the second year, Standing Ovation Awards were also presented to recognize six participating schools for their work involving Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access (I.D.E.A.) within their musical theatre programs, aligned with ArtsBridge Foundation's commitment to its mission, vision and I.D.E.A. Policy.

“Each Standing Ovation Award winning school was chosen based on actions they took to address relevant challenges within their communities,” said Lenhart.

The Standing Ovation Award recipient schools are:

- Chamblee High School (DeKalb Co.) for “Chicago: Teen Edition” for promoting gender identity awareness and fostering respect for Hispanic culture through integration of Spanish communication

- Dalton High School (Whitfield Co.) for “Fiddler on the Roof” for proactively engaging a student cultural consultant offering education on Judaism, ensuring avoidance of misappropriation

- Gordon Central High School in Calhoun, Ga. (Gordon Co.) for “Anastasia: The Musical” for incorporating American sign language into productions, enhancing accessibility for the hearing impaired

- Lakeview Academy in Gainesville, Ga. (Hall Co.) for “Into the Woods” for their performing arts students' anti-bullying and suicide prevention initiatives

- North Hall High School in Gainesville, Ga. (Hall Co.) for “Anastasia: The Musical” for engaging staff in new ways during productions, enabling their actions as valuable resources for disabled students in need of additional assistance on- and off-stage

- Ringgold High School (Catoosa Co.) for “Peter Pan” for championing opposition to racist language while promoting authentic representation of Indigenous peoples in theatrical productions

“We congratulate all winners and nominees of the 2024 Georgia High School Musical Theatre Awards,” said Jennifer D. Dobbs, ArtsBridge Foundation executive director. “We appreciate everyone's support in honoring the hard work this year's competing schools and a record 70 volunteer adjudicators who generously shared their time and critical expertise.”

In 2023-24, 64 high schools across the state initially registered to determine the 18 Shuler Award winners in 17 categories, with a team of 70 Georgia-based arts professionals evaluating 60 student productions (four schools withdrew mid-season). The accounting firm Bennett Thrasher tabulated the results for the 2024 GHSMTA.

ArtsBridge Foundation and GPB-TV live broadcasts of The Shulers won the Southeast Emmy Award in 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2023 for special event coverage, and was a finalist in 2022, indicative of the superb quality and high production value. Since 2009, the GHSMTA program has engaged over 67,269 students from 162 schools and 45 counties/school systems. The 2024-25 GHSMTA competition will commence in August 2024 with the 17th Annual Shuler Awards presentation slated for April 17, 2025. More information will be available on the ArtsBridge Foundation website at ArtsBridgeGA.org/programs/Shuler-Awards.

The broadcast also included the announcement of student recipients of theater- and performing arts-related monetary or in-kind scholarships. ArtsBridge Foundation and its partners presented $18,137 in scholarships, with individual cash scholarships ranging from $549 to $5,000 each. Winners were chosen from a competitive pool of applicants. Scholarship winners include: