BHS, CAK: TN Theater Marquee winners
Hosted by Broadway star and Knoxville Central High School alum Bailey McCall, Tennessee Theatre celebrated high school musical theater in the region during the event.
Eli Solomon of Bearden High School won the Lead Actor Award as Bert in “Mary Poppins” and Annika Kallstrom of South-Doyle High School won the Lead Actress Award as Reno Sweeney in “Anything Goes.”
The lead actress and lead actor winners earned a trip to New York City for the Jimmy Awards in June.
Among group performances, Christian Academy of Knoxville’s Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Cinderella,” the Broadway version, earned the Outstanding Choreography Execution Award.
“Tennessee Theatre’s membership in The Broadway League, the national trade association for the Broadway industry, allows the two winners to attend The Jimmy Awards, which is a national celebration of outstanding student achievement in high school musical theatre,” a Tennessee Theater press release stated. “Those 2025 awards will be held Monday, June 23 at Broadway’s Minskoff Theatre.”
“We are so excited to send Eli and Annika to New York to represent the Tennessee Theatre in the Jimmy Awards,” stated Mary Adkins, director of education and outreach for the Historic Tennessee Theatre Foundation. “The Marquee Awards enables the Tennessee Theatre to elevate cultural arts in our area and region, and we know that they will have the experience of a lifetime and be wonderful representatives of East Tennessee high school musical theater at the national level.”
Awards were given in 11 total categories, and finalists from various categories joined together on stage to perform during the ceremony.
The 2025 event featured 21 schools in East Tennessee and Western North Carolina. In addition to BHS and CAK locally were Clayton-Bradley Academy, Concord Christian School in Farragut, Hardin Valley Academy, Knoxville Catholic High School and Webb School of Knoxville.
“The Marquee Awards are dedicated to supporting the talents, education and opportunities of students to build a strong and inclusive theater community,” press release stated.
“We were thrilled to host another incredible Marquee Awards,” Historic Tennessee Theatre Foundation executive director Becky Hancock stated in the release. “This will continue to give our community the chance to recognize the talented young students ... as well as promote theater arts education in schools.”
The Marquee Awards is supported by the Tennessee Arts Commission, Arts & Culture Alliance, Knox County, Nancy Sharp Voith and Kenneth Stark Family, Savannah College of Art and Design and Clarence Brown Theatre at University of Tennessee.
“After launching the Marquee Awards last year, we have more than doubled the number of participating schools,” Hancock stated. “We encourage all high school theater students and teachers in East Tennessee and the region to join in on the fun as we continue to grow this exciting and impactful program.”
Pictured: Eli Solomon of Bearden High School holds the award he earned as Outstanding Lead Actor Award for his role as Bert in “Mary Poppins” at the regional 2nd Annual Marquee Awards in Tennessee Theater, downtown Knoxville, Sunday, May 25.
Photo courtesy of Scott Temple/Temple Photography
