23-05-2025
Greece Arcadia students win RBTL ‘Stars of Tomorrow' competition
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — Two students from Greece Arcadia High School, Tessa Meyers and Ian Royse are the 2025 'Stars of Tomorrow New York City Bound' winners.
Next month, Meyers and Royse will represent Rochester in the 2025 National High School Musical Theatre Awards (NHSMTA) also known as the Jimmy Awards.
They will compete with more than 100 student performers from across the country in New York City. This is Royse's second year participating in the Jimmy Awards.
The RBTL competition Thursday night included 40 students from area high school theatre programs. In the first round, judges selected twenty students to perform the role they performed at school this year and one minute from a song of their choice.
After that round, the judges narrowed the group down to ten who performed a final round before the two students were announced.
Holly Valentine, the Education Director at RBTL says this competition is about all the kids not just the two winners.
'They're performing on a Broadway stage, they're performing for Broadway professionals. They are learning all the things they will need if they are going on in this business which many of them hope to do,' said Valentine.
The students were cheered on by their families, friends, music teachers and classmates during the competition that lasted over two hours.
WROC-TV is a proud sponsor and partners with the Rochester Broadway Theatre League. News 8 hosted a 'Fan Favorite' web contest after the nominees were announced on May 9. The Rochester community visited to vote for their favorite student.
News 8 Evening Anchor Theresa Marsenburg announced this year's winner at the beginning of Thursday's competition. Aubrey Puccio from LeRoy Jr/Sr High School received the most votes and won 4 VIP Box Seats, parking and passes to the President's Lounge to a performance of Clue this fall at RBTL'S Auditorium Theatre.
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