It’s almost time to raise the curtain on another exciting year of the Dazzle Awards presented by Pat and John Chapman! For 10 years, the program has recognized the importance of musical theater and arts education in Northeast Ohio high schools.
Every year, the Dazzle Awards sends its Best Actor and Best Actress winners to the Jimmy Awards in New York City. This year, 110 students from 55 affiliated regional high school musical theatre awards programs across the country came together to participate in workshops and rehearsals that culminated with a full-scale Broadway production modeled after the Tony Awards.
We caught up with 2025 Dazzle Awards Best Actor and Best Actress Winners, Anthony Fritzgerald and Mira Cahalane, to hear more about their experiences at the Jimmy Awards!
PSQ: What are your memories from Dazzle Awards rehearsal week and the ceremony itself?
MIRA: Dazzle Awards rehearsals were such a fun way to close out the school year. From spending time in the car with my friends on the way there, to meeting new people and learning new music, I enjoyed every minute.
ANTHONY: My favorite memories from the Dazzle Awards rehearsal week were being surrounded by all the talented artists! The week and rehearsals were super long but the people made it so impactful. I remember during the rehearsals seeing how amazing everyone was and how seriously everyone took the opportunity of performing. I learned about commitment, energy, and dedication from all these talented people. I also gained a really strong community during the Dazzle Award rehearsal process. I bonded with a lot of my old friends from my school’s production of Shrek The Musical a lot more and we were so excited we got to be a part of it again and perform Shrek one more time. I made so many new friends as well! During breaks I remember me and some of my new friends from other schools making up little jingles to the Dazzle Awards or making new friends when I needed help with choreography for the ceremony. The beauty of the process was seeing everyone shine and also seeing how helpful and kind artists and people can be. It makes me really excited for the future of the arts. The ceremony itself was so magical. The other nominees cheered each other on which made the night so much more fun. The absolute craziest thing was performing on the Playhouse Square stage. Being on the stage where my love for theatre was fueled was such a dream. Playhouse Square has been a part of my life since I was a kid and to now be a young adult standing on that stage singing as Donkey which had been a dream role of mine for so long, it was a surreal opportunity, and I am still wrapping my head around it.
PSQ: What was your reaction when they announced your name as Best Actor/Best Actress?
MIRA: I honestly think I blacked out when I heard my name. It’s like the whole world just started spinning slower and everything was in slow motion, and of course I started bawling. I’m so grateful to have gotten such an honor.
ANTHONY: When I heard my name for Best Actor, I was shellshocked! I had to take two seconds to process that I had won. I was so excited, and I was just so thankful. The Dazzle Awards community showed me nothing but love and support the whole week and then getting to represent the community in New York City was an amazing experience. I was also excited to be going with Mira Cahalane, as well. She really lit up my week and made it so positive, so I was excited to be going with such a talented, kind, and hilarious person! I truly am so grateful to the Dazzle Awards, Playhouse Square and the Saint Ignatius community for giving me such wonderful opportunities. And to God for giving me the gifts to share with the world, I am grateful to him for everything!
PSQ: Tell us about the Jimmy Awards rehearsals! What moments stick out from those days before the actual ceremony?
MIRA: Jimmy Awards rehearsals were so so SO much fun. Getting to perform on Broadway was such a dream, but the true gift of being at the Jimmy Awards was being with so many loving people and getting to work with industry professionals. Those were the greatest ten days of my life right there.
ANTHONY: The Jimmy Awards rehearsals were so amazing! Everyday always entailed something new and exciting. The thing I loved the most was the nuggets of truth we got from industry professionals. I had grown up watching some of their performances and it was so surreal seeing them! I also loved working with every single nominee. I always learned something new from watching them perform or watching them take notes, and I would write them down and apply them to my work and see what I could try and learn from them too. The Jimmy Awards truly was a huge learning opportunity. Thats what I loved the most about it, really soaking in all the valuable lessons from the people.
PSQ: What was it like performing on a Broadway stage for the first time? You both had solos in the feature number “Ready to Rise!”
MIRA: WOW, I am so unbelievably thankful for this year’s Feature Group number!! We worked with music director Steven Cuevas, choreographer Luis Salgado, and assistant choreographer Anna Aliau Guerra. Each one of them pushed us to the best of our abilities and made the whole experience so so special. And of course, the performance. Getting to portray just a snippet of one of my dream roles in front of THE GUY OF ALL TIME!!! I got the honor of performing Sonny’s rap solo in “96,000” from In The Heights, and it just so happened that Lin-Manuel Miranda was there watching the performance. I honestly think my mind might have exploded right in that moment.
ANTHONY: Performing on a Broadway stage was so awesome! It was surreal stepping onto The Lion King stage because The Lion King was the first show I ever saw. It was also so amazing looking out and seeing all the seats in the house as well. I became super pumped to finally be performing on a Broadway stage! Being in the Feature Group was an amazing time! I felt that performing my solo on a Broadway Stage was so surreal, I couldn’t even put into words what that felt like. It just felt like joy was radiating out of me and the rest of my peers while performing! That night was just such a joyful night!
PSQ: What was the most valuable/impactful piece of advice you received from your Broadway mentor or the other industry professionals that you worked with?
MIRA: One of the best pieces of advice I received over the Jimmy Awards week was something that our feature group director, Luis Salgado, had taught us. Everything that you do on stage — movement, action, words, anything — always has intention. Don’t fight whatever your mind and body is telling you to do, just go for it. This is truly the art of play. It’s in the name! It’s all a PLAY.
ANTHONY: I learned so many impactful things, but one thing that stood out was when my adjudication coach Steven Telsey instructed us to have some kind of inner dialogue when doing our pieces. It helps create the conflict of the song and our reasoning as actors to push for what we want in the scene and what we believe in. It made my pieces feel more active and I really thank him for that! I also learned from one of the professionals - Julia Murney - who talked about the importance of imperfection in performing. That we go to the theater to see humans not perfection. That helped me realize that when acting I need to show more humanity, more relatability and to worry less about making my role perfect. Finally, I learned about how important affirmations are from Nikki Kimbrough. Every morning, we would start our day with stretching and positive affirmations. She would have us say our names and three positive things about ourselves. She taught me the power of affirmations and speaking life into yourself and into others. It made me realize how powerful affirmations truly are. I am so grateful for the industry professionals who made the Jimmy Awards such a positive experience!
PSQ: What advice can you give to future Dazzle Award & Jimmy Award nominees?
MIRA: Any advice I could give to future Dazzle Awards or Jimmy Awards nominees would be to forget the competition and make those friends!!! Take in the people, the places, and the experience. Performing at the KeyBank State Theatre at Playhouse Square is truly such a gift and so insane to have had the honor of doing. Same with the Minskoff Theatre in New York City. Don’t concern yourself with competition. It’s theater camp!
ANTHONY: My advice to future Dazzle Awards and Jimmy Awards Nominees is to do the work of performing for the sake of good work. Do it because you love to do it. Don’t do it because you want to be in the spotlight or to win. Do the work because this is your passion and what you love. My other advice is to soak it all in. Make connections, network, and relationships. These opportunities are a once in a lifetime experience so take them seriously! Don’t let them pass you by!
PSQ: What about this experience will you be taking with you into the future?
MIRA: I will be taking EVERYTHING from this experience into the future. I’ve learned so many valuable performance and life lessons throughout both events, and I am so thankful for everyone and everything that led to them.
ANTHONY: What I will take about this experience in the future is that when you work hard and dedicate yourself to something, you gain something beautiful. This experience showed me the future of theater and the power that we have as young artists. I saw the dedication, the grit, and the determination in everyone. From now on, I will always give one hundred percent into everything with joy and determination! Thank you again Playhouse Square, The Dazzle Awards, and The Jimmy Awards for the fabulous and life-changing opportunity! I really appreciate it!
To learn more about the Dazzle Awards program, please visit playhousesquare.org/dazzleawards and follow us on Instagram at @dazzleawards.