Will Austin’s ‘Heights’ rise to top at Baber Awards?
Austin High School has high hopes for the chances of its production of “In the Heights” in the second annual Jerry Baber Awards after the show snared nominations in all 13 categories for Fort Bend ISD musicals performed this spring.
Winners for the event will be announced in a Tony Award-style ceremony May 28 in Rodgers Auditorium at Dulles High School, along with honors for fall plays, in which Austin’s “Noises Off” and Bush High School’s “You Can’t Take it With You” tied with 11 nominations each, Dulles theater director Blake Minor said.
The 7 p.m. event will kick off with a red-carpet entrance at 6:30 p.m.
General admission tickets will be pre-sold for $20 each.
“We will not be selling tickets at the door,” Minor said. For ticket information, visit vikingtheatrecompany.com.
Throughout the night, each Fort Bend ISD high school will present one piece of its choosing from either its fall play or spring musical.
“The night is meant to showcase the amazing talent that Fort Bend ISD has to offer,” Minor said.
Jerry Baber was a beloved high school theater teacher in Sugar Land when he died at age 46 in a car accident in 2002.
In the musical categories, “In the Heights” was nominated for best show, ensemble, chorus, lead actor, lead actress, supporting actor, supporting actress, sound, properties, lighting, scenery, costumes
and publicity.
Other musicals nominated for best show include “Ghost” (Clements), “Grease” (Ridge Point High), “Little Shop of Horrors” (Kempner High) and “Shrek” (Bush High).
In the fall show categories, “Noises Off ” and “You Can’t Take it With You” face off in the following categories: best show, ensemble, lead actor, lead actress, supporting actor, supporting actress, scenery, props, sound and publicity. In addition, “Noises Off ” scored a nod for best lighting, and “You Can’t Take it With You” is a finalist for best costumes.
Other fall productions nominated for best show include “Macbeth” (Dulles), “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” (Ridge Point) and “The Crucible” (Travis High).
Bigger and better was the goal of this year’s competition, following its premiere event in 2014-15, Clements High theater director Paul W. Shaffer said.
Two goals of the programs are to reward students for commitment and talent in plays and musicals and to “create a community” among thespians in the district, Shaffer said.
Voting on the nominations was tallied from ballots submitted by students who judged the productions, Minor said.
“This is an amazing way for students to attend more theater and to see shows at schools that they might otherwise not attend,” Minor said.
Theater directors at each school chose judges through an application process at the beginning of the 2015-16 school year. Each judge was scheduled to see one or more of the qualifying shows, then give scores in designated categories.
“This could be like the Tommy Tune Awards,” said Baber’s surviving sister, Jan Slavin of Westbury, referring to a nationally recognized program that honors excellence in high school musical theater in the Houston region.
Slavin was disappointed that only 500 to 600 attended the first awards ceremony last year.
“We need to get more butts in the seats,” she said.
At the first event, Slavin and her brother, Jay Baber of Sharpstown, presented awards for “Almost, Maine,” a Dulles production, and “The Addams Family,” a musical at Kempner.
“What I thought was so neat was that all of the kids seemed to know each other and cheered each other on,” Slavin said.