COLUMBUS, Ohio — Two young musical theater performers from central Ohio are headed to the Big Apple this week to make their Broadway debuts.
Pickerington North junior Christian Strong and recent Olentangy graduate Helena Engberg are making the journey newly crowned as best of the best in central Ohio musical theater.
On May 25th, the CAPA Marquee Awards honored high school musical theater performers from all around the region. Strong was honored as "Best Actor in a Leading Role" for his portrayal of Lola in Pickerington North's production of "Kinky Boots" while Engberg was recognized as "Best Actress in a Leading Role" for her take on Belle in Olentangy High School's production of "Disney's Beauty and the Beast."
"The moment they announced my name on stage, it did not feel real," said Strong of the experience that was the culmination of countless hours of hard work and preparation.
As winners of the CAPA Marquee Awards, Strong and Engberg will now travel to New York City to participate in The National High School Musical Theatre Awards or "The Jimmy Awards."
"Just the experience of The Jimmys - how they call it the future of Broadway because it's these young kids on stage," said Engberg. "It does feel like a dream come true."
The pair will join nearly 100 other high school students from around the country for 10 days of classes, workshops and networking with musical theater professionals. They will also compete for national recognitions that include up to $25,000 in scholarships.
"And they get to perform on Broadway on the Minskoff Theatre stage where 'The Lion King' performs," said Amy Handra, the director of education for CAPA, "so they get an incredible opportunity."
"The fact that we get to go to New York and represent our school and represent the people that we love, like, we really want to do them proud," said Strong.
According to Handra, this type of recognition is key to encouraging musical theater hopefuls that their goals are attainable.
"Let's just be honest, a lot of our high schools celebrate sports, but [they] don't always celebrate The Arts in the same way," said Handra. "This program gives us an opportunity to celebrate those students and to bring those students from their own individual school communities into a much larger community of theater lovers, theater artists, theater professionals."
For both Strong and Engberg, that community is a significant part of why they enjoy participating in musical theater.
"For me, theater is family at this point," said Strong. "When I step into the black box theater at my school, like, I'm so comfortable; I can be myself, like, I don't have to worry."
"It's ironic how the stage is where you feel most comfortable," Engberg interjected, seemingly sharing the sentiment.
"Yeah and when you're playing somebody who's completely different from you," continued Strong, "that's when you're most yourself and that's one thing that I love about the theater community. I remember one of my favorite drag queens, she said, 'Theater kids are geniuses.' and it's true! We take on so much and a lot of people don't understand how much we do."
Strong cited the amount of work that went into his award-winning turn as Lola and praised his mother for all of her support and, specifically, for her help backstage at every performance assisting with makeup and costume changes.
"For me, it's a family like Christian said," echoed Engberg. "You feel comfortable to be yourself; it's a place for expression. Theater can change the world...and it's all because of the community. I mean, you can't do it alone. Like, we would not be here if we didn't have our directors and our fellow nominees. It's just this big community full of people who give back to each other and who give back to the world."
Strong and Engberg emphasized that the members of this theater community come from all walks of life with a wide variety of interests and backgrounds. They pointed out that the strength of the community comes from this diversity.
"If you have the passion to do it, then do it," said Engberg. "The community will accept you."
The 2023 Jimmy Awards will stream live from Broadway on June 26. For more information on the awards or to watch the broadcast, check out their website.