The Jerry Awards have once again confirmed what we already knew: excellence is the standard at Wauwatosa high schools. The annual awards, which recognize and celebrate outstanding achievements in high school musical theater across Wisconsin, have honored both Wauwatosa West and Wauwatosa East high schools with remarkable accolades this year.
Wauwatosa West Awards
Tosa West's production of Dear Evan Hansen: High School Version earned the Jerry Awards’ highest honor: Outstanding Musical. This prestigious distinction acknowledges excellence across all areas of a production, from performance and design to direction and technical achievement.
Outstanding Individual Performances
Evan Hryniewicki as Evan Hansen
Annie Freeborn as Zoe Murphy
Henry Riordan as Connor Murphy
Eliza Gray as Heidi Hansen
Spirit Award
Katelyn Connolly
Additionally, Hello, Dolly! also received special recognition from the Jerry Awards for its brilliant execution.
Outstanding Lead Performance in Hello, Dolly!
Maddie Ullsperger as Dolly Levi
Spirit Award
Ariyana Rhodes
Wauwatosa East Awards
Tosa East’s production of Ride the Cyclone was also awarded the Jerry Awards’ highest honor of Outstanding Musical and will have the privilege of performing at the Overture Center on June 7.
Key Creative Contributions
Direction: Colleen Jaskulski
Vocal Direction: Raven Dockery & Jim Ryan
Choreography: Tori Watson
Scenic Design: Kerry Ramsden
Costume Design: Darcy Devens
Lighting Design: Jove Stueber
Sound Design: Shane McCarthy & Trevor Powers
Outstanding Leading Performance
Katya Aronow as Jane Doe
Spirit Award
Brynn Noe
In addition, recognition was given to The SpongeBob Musical with a Spirit Award for Miriam LaWall-Shane.
The Jerry Awards: Celebrating Excellence
The Jerrys, one of Wisconsin’s High School Musical Awards Programs, encourages, recognizes, and honors excellence in high school musical theater. Originating as the Tommy Awards in the 2009/10 school year, the program was renamed in the 2017/18 season to The Jerrys, after philanthropist and arts supporter W. Jerome Frautschi. With educators and industry professionals attending productions at nearly 115 high schools across 30 counties, the program provides invaluable feedback and elevates the importance of musical theater within high schools.
The school and student achievements are honored and featured in an awards show held at the Overture Center in June. As a participating awards program in The Jimmys, two students are selected to represent The Jerrys at the competition in New York City.
Congratulations to all the students and production teams involved in these remarkable shows. We look forward to showcasing our talents in Madison and continuing to celebrate the exceptional achievements of our students.