Introducing the 2026-27 Shea’s Buffalo Broadway Season
View Season Announcement
Introducing the 2026-27 Shea’s Buffalo Broadway Season
View Season Announcement
Welcome to our page about the Shea's Wonder Awards!
The Shea’s Wonder Awards program is a dynamic initiative designed to celebrate and support the arts in high schools, foster excellence in musical theatre, and provide valuable educational opportunities for students. This program is deeply committed to nurturing young talent, promoting collaboration, and building a strong sense of community within the world of musical theatre.
The Shea’s Wonder Awards ceremony will take place on Saturday, May 16, 2026, 7:00pm at the Shea’s Buffalo Theatre.
For more information, contact our Arts Education Coordinator, Jake Grear.
Official Nominations for the 2025-2026 Shea’s Wonder Awards
Outstanding Production of a Musical
Cleveland Hill High School – Disney’s Frozen
Fillmore Central High School – Hadestown: Teen Edition
Jamestown High School – The Pirates of Penzance
Lockport High School – Big Fish: School Edition
Maple Grove High School – Hadestown: Teen Edition
Nardin Academy – Footloose
North Tonawanda High School – Freaky Friday
St. Francis High School – The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Starpoint High School – Disney’s Frozen
Williamsville East High School – Into the Woods
The STAGE Program Semi-Finalists
Actors
Anthony Aguglia as “Nostradamus” – Something Rotten! at West Seneca West High School
Carter Maier as “Kristoff” – Disney’s Frozen at Starpoint High School
James Hines as “Prince Hans” – Disney’s Frozen at Cleveland Hill High School
Jonah Higgins as “Nick Bottom” – Something Rotten! at West Seneca West High School
Levi Simanowski as “Orpheus” – Hadestown: Teen Edition at Fillmore Central High School
Maceo Rodriguez as “The Baker” – Into the Woods at St. Joseph’s Collegiate Institute
Michael Duffy as “Willard Hewitt” – Footloose at Nardin Academy
Nathaniel Gomez as “Reverend Shaw Moore” – Footloose at Nardin Academy
Actresses
Ashleigh Farrell as “Bea Bottom” – Something Rotten! at West Seneca West High School
Braelyn Szpilewski as “Queen Elsa” – Disney’s Frozen at Starpoint High School
Ella Hinklin as “The Witch” – Into the Woods at Williamsville East High School
Isabella Bindemann as “The Witch” – Into the Woods at St. Joseph’s Collegiate Institute
Jane Hereth as “Esmeralda” – The Hunchback of Notre Dame at St. Francis High School
Kathryn College as “The Baker’s Wife” – Into the Woods at St. Joseph’s Collegiate Institute
Macy Gabel as “Katherine Blake” – Freaky Friday at North Tonawanda High School
Natalie Prosser as “Princess Anna” – Disney’s Frozen at Starpoint High School
Outstanding Leading Performances
Cleveland Hill High School – Disney’s Frozen
Fillmore Central High School – Hadestown: Teen Edition
Jamestown High School – The Pirates of Penzance
Lockport High School – Big Fish: School Edition
North Tonawanda High School – Freaky Friday
Starpoint High School – Disney’s Frozen
St. Francis High School – The Hunchback of Notre Dame
West Seneca West High School – Something Rotten!
Outstanding Collective Ensemble Performance
Fillmore Central High School – Hadestown: Teen Edition
Jamestown High School – The Pirates of Penzance
Lockport High School – Big Fish: School Edition
Maple Grove High School – Hadestown: Teen Edition
Nardin Academy – Footloose
Pioneer High School – Guys and Dolls
West Seneca West High School – Something Rotten!
Outstanding Student-Led Orchestra
Alden High School – Hello, Dolly!
Bishop Timon / Mount Mercy – Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Cleveland Hill High School – Disney’s Frozen
Jamestown High School – The Pirates of Penzance
Lockport High School – Big Fish: School Edition
North Tonawanda High School – Freaky Friday
Southwestern Central High School – Once Upon a Mattress
Starpoint High School – Disney’s Frozen
West Seneca West High School – Something Rotten!
Williamsville East High School – Into the Woods
Outstanding Collective Vocal Performance
Fillmore Central High School – Hadestown: Teen Edition
Jamestown High School – The Pirates of Penzance
Lockport High School – Big Fish: School Edition
Maple Grove High School – Hadestown: Teen Edition
St. Francis High School – The Hunchback of Notre Dame
St. Joseph’s Collegiate Institute – Into the Woods
Starpoint High School – Disney’s Frozen
West Seneca West High School – Something Rotten!
Outstanding Dance Execution
Buffalo Academy of the Sacred Heart – Nunsense
Fillmore Central High School – Hadestown: Teen Edition
Maple Grove High School – Hadestown: Teen Edition
Mount St. Mary Academy – Anything Goes
Nardin Academy – Footloose
St. Mary’s High School – Chicago: Teen Edition
West Seneca West High School – Something Rotten!
Outstanding Costume Design & Execution
Buffalo Academy of the Sacred Heart – Nunsense
Cleveland Hill High School – Disney’s Frozen
Jamestown High School – The Pirates of Penzance
Lockport High School – Big Fish: School Edition
Pioneer High School – Guys and Dolls
Southwestern Central High School – Once Upon a Mattress
St. Joseph’s Collegiate Academy – Into the Woods
Outstanding Hair and Makeup Design & Execution
Alden High School – Hello, Dolly!
Cleveland Hill High School – Disney’s Frozen
Jamestown High School – The Pirates of Penzance
Lockport High School – Big Fish: School Edition
North Tonawanda High School – Freaky Friday
St. Joseph’s Collegiate Academy – Into the Woods
Starpoint High School – Disney’s Frozen
Outstanding Lighting Design & Execution
Cheektowaga Central High School – The SpongeBob Musical
Cleveland Hill High School – Disney’s Frozen
Fillmore Central High School – Hadestown: Teen Edition
Gowanda High School – Disney’s High School Musical
Maple Grove High School – Hadestown: Teen Edition
St. Francis High School – The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Starpoint High School – Disney’s Frozen
Outstanding Scenic Design & Execution
Fillmore Central High School – Hadestown: Teen Edition
Gowanda High School – Disney’s High School Musical
Lockport High School – Big Fish: School Edition
Maple Grove High School – Hadestown: Teen Edition
North Tonawanda High School – Freaky Friday
Southwestern Central High School – Once Upon a Mattress
St. Francis High School – The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Outstanding Music Direction
Cheektowaga Central High School – The SpongeBob Musical
Fillmore Central High School – Hadestown: Teen Edition
Jamestown High School – The Pirates of Penzance
Lockport High School – Big Fish: School Edition
Maple Grove High School – Hadestown: Teen Edition
North Tonawanda High School – Freaky Friday
Pioneer High School – Guys and Dolls
Outstanding Choreography
Fillmore Central High School – Hadestown: Teen Edition
Lockport High School – Big Fish: School Edition
Maple Grove High School – Hadestown: Teen Edition
Mount St. Mary Academy – Anything Goes
Pioneer High School – Guys and Dolls
St. Mary’s High School – Chicago: Teen Edition
West Seneca West High School – Something Rotten!
Outstanding Direction
Cheektowaga Central High School – The SpongeBob Musical
Fillmore Central High School – Hadestown: Teen Edition
Jamestown High School – The Pirates of Penzance
Maple Grove High School – Hadestown: Teen Edition
North Tonawanda High School – Freaky Friday
Starpoint High School – Disney’s Frozen
West Seneca West High School – Something Rotten!
Magic of Theatre (Spirit of Wonder)
Buffalo Academy of the Sacred Heart – Nunsense
Canisius High School – Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Letchworth Central High School – The Sound of Music
North Collins Jr./Sr. High School – Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma
Pioneer High School – Guys and Dolls
Randolph Jr./Sr. High School – Disney’s Newsies
Southwestern Central High School – Once Upon a Mattress
Power of Storytelling (Spirit of Wonder)
Alden High School – Hello, Dolly!
Buffalo Academy of the Sacred Heart – Nunsense
Canisius High School – Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Cheektowaga Central High School – The SpongeBob Musical
Gowanda High School – Disney’s High School Musical
Mount St. Mary Academy – Anything Goes
Randolph Jr./Sr. High School – Disney’s Newsies
Celebration of Community (Spirit of Wonder)
Bishop Timon/Mount Mercy – Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Buffalo Academy of the Sacred Heart – Nunsense
Gowanda High School – Disney’s High School Musical
Letchworth Central High School – The Sound of Music
North Collins Jr./Sr. High School – Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma
Pioneer High School – Guys and Dolls
Southwestern Central High School – Once Upon a Mattress
Michael Shea Award for Educator of the Year
Betty Haynes – Cleveland Hill High School
Candice Kogut – Bishop Timon St Jude High School/Mount Mercy Academy
Christine Beichner-Miller – Southwestern Central High School
Jessica Chapman & Beth Tucker – Fillmore Central High School
Keith Ersing – West Seneca West High School
Lisa LoVullo – Williamsville East High School
Victoria Tomasulo – Pioneer High School
The Showstopper Award
Fillmore Central High School – “Livin’ It Up on Top” from Hadestown: Teen Edition
Letchworth Central High School – “The Lonely Goatherd” from The Sound of Music
Nardin Academy – “Let’s Hear it for the Boy” from Footloose
North Collins Jr./Sr. High School – “The Farmer and the Cowman” from Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma
Pioneer High School – “Havana” from Guys and Dolls
St. Mary’s High School – “Both Reached for the Gun” from Chicago: Teen Edition
Starpoint High School – “Monster” from Disney’s Frozen
West Seneca West High School – “A Musical” from Something Rotten!
We are thrilled to feature the headshots and bios of our WONDER-ful adjudicators for the 2025-2026 season at the link below.
Logo designed by Akasya Crosier. Video services by Lyrical Pipe.
Questions? Contact Arts Education Coordinator and Program Manager, Jake Grear.
All public, private, and charter schools in Erie, Niagara, Allegany, Cattaraugus, and Chautauqua, Orleans, Genesee and Wyoming counties producing a full-length musical production are eligible and encouraged to apply for and participate in the Shea’s High School Musical Theatre Awards. This includes ‘School Editions’ but not Broadway Junior or TYA shows.
Participating casts must be largely made up of at least 50% students in grades 9-12.
Participating programs must acquire proper licensing for their production and let the licensing house know that they are participating in this program.
Occur within the program’s adjudication window period of November 2025 to March 2026.
Utilize material from a musical production eligible for the 2026 National High School Musical Theater Awards competition (The Jimmy Awards).
Participating schools must commit to ALL dates and deadlines.
Participation in the Shea’s Wonder Awards program is 100% FREE for all schools! There are no fees associated with registering, participating, and ceremony tickets for the participating schools are free of charge. We are one of a small handful of regional awards programs throughout the country that keep our participation free of charge due to our dedication to make our programming as accessible as possible.
The Shea’s Wonder Awards program can accommodate for approximately 20 schools to participate in the program each year. This is due to the capacity limitations of the theatre, dressing rooms, rehearsal spaces, etc. Our long term goal is to increase the number of participating schools as we learn how to make adjustments to accommodate for the capacity limitations and grow our team.
Each participating production is attended by five (5) adjudicators who score each of the adjudicated categories using our scoring rubric. Each student playing a role recognized for eligibility by The Jimmy Awards also received their own set of adjudication using a different scoring rubric.
Once all scores have been tallied, the scores are combined and tallied to reveal the highest scoring productions in each category. The six (6) highest scoring productions in each category receive a nomination, the highest scoring production wins the category.
In the case of Outstanding Production of a Musical, all categories that count towards the overall score are weighted to put a 70% emphasis on the performance-based categories and a 30% emphasis on the design and execution-based categories. This is to ensure that big budgets are not the reason why a school may win this category as we are a performance-based program.
For Jimmy Award eligible performers, these individuals are required to audition and participate in the STAGE program in order to be considered. The auditions for the program are scored and the adjudicator scores given during their production are also taken into account. Only the sixteen (16) highest scoring auditionees are selected to participate in the STAGE program. At the end of the program, the participants receive one final adjudication which determines the eight (8) finalists who are chosen to perform at the Shea’s Wonder Awards ceremony. This performance is adjudicated live via a new panel of adjudicators and the highest scoring individuals (one (1) actor and one (1) actress) are selected as the winners.
Registration for all high schools will open on Friday, October 3rd, 2025 at 4:00 PM and will close on Monday, October 6th, 2025 at 11:59pm. Interested schools can also attend a virtual pre-registration informational session on Tuesday, September 30th, 2025 at 5:00pm.
Adjudicated Categories
Submitted Categories
Spirit of Wonder Awards
Tickets for students, teachers, production team members, or other associated individuals of the participating productions are 100% FREE of charge. The directors of each production need to request the number of tickets to the ceremony that they would like, and they will receive those tickets free of charge. If you are a parent, friend, or other patron not involved with a participating production, all tickets are $12 (pre-sale) or $15 (day-of).
Outstanding production of a musical (gold) will receive a $5,000 grant for that school’s theatre program.
Outstanding production of a musical (silver) will receive a $2,500 grant for that school’s theatre program.
Outstanding production of a musical (bronze) will receive a $1,000 grant for that school’s theatre program.
Outstanding Orchestral Performance will receive a $500 grant for the school’s theatre program.
Outstanding Collective Vocal Performance will receive a $500 grant for the school’s theatre program.
Outstanding Dance Performance will receive a $500 grant for the school’s theatre program.
Outstanding Achievement in Costumes will receive a $500 grant for the school’s theatre program.
Outstanding Achievement in Hair & Make-up will receive a $500 grant for the school’s theatre program.
Outstanding Achievement in Lighting will receive a $500 grant for the school’s theatre program.
Outstanding Achievement in Scenic Design will receive a $500 grant for the school’s theatre program.
