SIA HAN

editors@antonmediagroup.com

On June 26, Lauren A. Marchand graced the stage at Broadway’s Minskoff Theatre, winning the 2023 Jimmy Award for Best Performance by an Actress along with $25,000 towards furthering her education.

The prestigious Jimmy Awards, presented by The Broadway League Foundation, are often referred to as the Tony Awards equivalent for high school musical theater performers. But Marchand’s life has been filled with music for as long as she can remember.

After seeing her favorite Disney movie, The Little Mermaid, come to life on the

Broadway stage at age four, Marchand knew she wanted to perform on that same stage. She first performed in a local production of Annie at a Merrick theater and never looked back.

Marchand has now performed in five productions throughout her years at Jericho High School, including the Broadway hit musical Frozen, where she played Elsa, winning the regional Roger Rees Award for her role. She was also elected as the President of the Thespian Honor Society, remarking that her time at JHS helped her grow as a performer and person “by growing my leadership skills and working in a team to produce a common goal.”

Life for Marchand has only sped up after the Jimmys, immediately gaining a larger social media presence, which she is now using to post performance videos and covers of her favorite Broadway songs. Additionally, she’s made many new professional contacts and is currently working on some

Competing To Be 2023’s Teen Idol

The second annual Downtown Sounds Teen Idol vocal contest, which began on July 7, featured four contestants aged 13 to 18 from the Gold Coast area. Every Friday at 7 p.m. before the Downtown Sounds concert series, attendees were treated to four performances as each contestant took the stage to perform.

This year’s contestants were Tatiana Andino-Mendez, a 17-year-old student from Glen Cove High School, Charlotte Dilgard-Clark, a 14-year-old from Glen Cove’s Robert M. Finley Middle School, Stasia Kulpa, a 16-year-old student at Our Lady of Mercy Academy, and Tammy Pattugalan, a 17-year-old from Our Lady of Mercy Academy. The winner is Andino-Mendez.

A panel of judges decided who would move on to the next week. Along with the judges, each week audience members were encouraged to help by voting for who they believed should be this year’s Teen Idol.

The rotating panel of judges included musicians, composers, and other talented figures in the industry. One judge, Lou-Ann Thompson, is a local singer-songwriter and manager of Glen Floors. Another, Teddy Christman, is the Artistic Director of the Christman Opera and Performing Arts Coordinator at DDI Company, as well as a pianist, composer, and vocal coach. John Gatto is a producer/guitarist and original member of the original Good Rats, who were signed to Warner Brothers and toured all over the world. Mark Newman is a songwriter and guitarist who has performed with artists including Sam Moore, John Oates, Jim McCarty and Bobby Whitlock.

“The Downtown Sounds Teen Idol contest has been an excellent way to showcase our local teens, and it’s also a lot of fun,” said Jill Nossa, executive director of the Glen Cove Downtown BID. “The partici- pants are so supportive of each other, and the community is really into it again this year. It’s great to see a lot of younger people and families come downtown and cheer on the contestants.” exciting projects.

The first week of the competition saw all four girls compete; after a minor audio issue, all the contestants were invited back the next week to perform. The contest continued on July 21 as Andino-Mendez, Kulpa, and Pattugalan performed.

On Friday, July 28 at 7 p.m., the final two contestants competed to see who would be 2023’s Teen Idol.

As winner, Andino-Mendez sang “The National Anthem” at Glen Cove’s National Night Out on Aug. 1 and will perform at the Aug. 4 Downtown Sounds concert.

For more information on the Teen Idol Contest, the Glen Cove Downtown Business Improvement District, its programs and events, visit www.glencovedowntown.org.

In the fall, she plans to attend NYU Steinhardt School for Vocal Performance in Musical Theater and will continue to perform and attend auditions around New York City.

“The dream has always been to perform on Broadway, so hopefully in a few years, I will be pursuing that dream in some capacity,” Marchand said.

When asked what word of advice she would give to younger kids also dreaming of the Broadway stage, Marchand said, “One piece of advice I would give is to always be yourself. You have to be kind, but do not let other people walk all over you. Theater can be a ruthless field, but it is also beautiful too.”