New Buffalo High School’s ‘Into the Woods, Jr.’ nominated for Lake Michigan College WAVE Awards

New Buffalo High School has been nominated for Lake Michigan College Visual & Performing Arts Department

2022-2023 WAVE Awards for Excellence in High School Musical Theatre for its spring production of “Into the Woods, Jr.”

The awards ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 24, at the Mendel Center Mainstage on the Benton Harbor Campus, 2755 E. Napier Ave.

Loosely designed after Broadway’s famed Tony Awards, the WAVE Awards recognizes, encourages, and promotes high school theater. Individuals and productions from participating schools were nominated in 13 acting and technical categories. Winners will be announced during the ceremony, and all students and production staff will receive written feedback from a panel of arts professionals. Nominees may also receive additional performance and scholarship opportunities.

Now in its second year at LMC, the WAVE Awards has grown to include students and art educators from Berrien, Van Buren and Cass counties in Michigan and St. Joseph County in Indiana. This year, nine high schools were evaluated by 12 adjudicators. About 550 students participated in the musicals that were reviewed.

“It is astonishing how the arts community has rallied around this idea. In just one year, we have more than doubled the number of participating schools and have seen tremendous growth in returning schools,” said Kristopher Zook, LMC dean of Arts & Sciences and founder of the WAVE Awards. “Our goals are to continue to embrace educational and creative growth, provide opportunities for youth, build enthusiasm and networking in the arts community, and give recognition and exposure to some hardworking and extremely talented students and staff.”

Wednesday’s event will begin with red carpet arrivals at 6 p.m., followed by the awards ceremony, including musical production numbers from Bridgman, Dowagiac, Paw Paw, St. Joseph, and Penn high schools, as well as Children’s

Music Workshop and Lake Michigan College Visual & Performing Arts.

New Buffalo High School was nominated for the following categories:

Outstanding Set Design in a Musical, Dwayne Whitmyer; Outstanding Costume Design in a Musical, Deb Rancatore; Outstanding Choreography in a Musical, Holli Sommerfeld; Outstanding Musical Direction in a Musical, Chris Beushausen; Outstanding Featured “Special” Cast Member, Milky White (New Buffalo Robotic Club - Rich Eberly); Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical, Rapunzel’s Prince (Ian Sokol); Outstanding Lead Actor in a Musical, Jack (Henry Gadiel) nd Outstanding Direction in a Musical, Chris Beushausen.

The event is free and open to the public. Parents, friends, fans, teachers and school administrators are all encouraged to attend. For more information, visit www.lakemichigancollege. edu/wave, email Mindy McCaffrey at mmccaffrey@ lakemichigancollege.edu, or call the Visual & Performing Arts office at 269-927-8876.