(RED BANK – NOV 2) Fall high school theater productions have started throughout Monmouth County, and that can mean just one thing:

The 14^th Annual Basie Awards can’t be too far behind.

This year’s Basie Awards program and ceremony, presented by Bank of America, is slated for May 22, 2019 at the historic theater. Tickets for the perennially sold-out celebration will go on sale in the spring.

The BASIE AWARDS began in 2005 as a way to honor and recognize actors, actresses and productions in the Monmouth County high school theater. Basie Center evaluators began visiting high school productions last weekend, taking in and tabulating performances to see which performers and programs will be recognized at the annual ceremony.

“It’s hard to believe we are about to embark on our 14th season of The Basie Awards, and with each passing year the  evaluating committee is more impressed by the tremendous growth and level of professionalism seen on the Monmouth County high school stages,” said Yvonne Lamb-Scudiery, Vice President / Education, Count Basie Center for the Arts. “Twenty-three dramatic productions in the fall, followed by show stopping musicals in the spring… let the excitement begin!”

Monmouth County schools vying for recognition in Basie Awards drama categories include:

 

• Christian Brothers Academy, Lincroft (“The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940”)
• Collier High School, Marlboro (“Sense And Sensibility”)
• Communications High School, Wall (“The Diary of Anne Frank”)
• Colts Neck High School, Colts Neck (“Almost, Maine”)
• Freehold Borough High School, Freehold (“Clue: On Stage”)
• Freehold Township High School, Freehold (“Rumors”)
• Howell High School, Howell (“Summer Brave”)
• Long Branch High School, Long Branch (“William’s Dark Lady”)
• Manalapan High School, Manalapan (“Arsenic and Old Lace”)
• Marlboro High School, Marlboro (“Peter and the Star Catcher”)
• Matawan Regional High School, Matawan (“45 Seconds from Broadway”)
• Mater Dei Prep, Middletown (“Clue: On Stage”)
• Middletown South High School, Middletown (“The Turning of Gertrude…)
• Monmouth Regional High School, Tinton Falls (“Boeing Boeing”)
• Neptune High School, Neptune (Delirium’s Daughters”)
• Ocean Township High School, Oakhurst (“Awesome 80s Prom”)
• Ranney School, Tinton Falls (“Clue: On Stage”)
• Raritan High School, Hazlet (“A Christmas Carol”)
• Red Bank Catholic High School, Red Bank (“Lend Me A Tenor”)
• Red Bank Regional High School, Red Bank (“The Diary of Anne Frank”)
• Rumson-Fair Haven High School (“The Emperor’s Nightingale”)
• John Vianney, Holmdel (“Little Shop of Horrors”)*
• Rose High School, Belmar (“The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe”)
• Trinity Hall, Tinton Falls (“Peter and the Star-Catcher”)
  

*St. John Vianney will produce two musicals this school year.

 Eligible school productions for spring will be announced in January.

At least four Basie Awards evaluators visit qualifying productions during their runs, scoring individual and ensemble acting performances and technical design. For spring musicals, vocal abilities, orchestras and choreography are also assessed.

Nominees for all Basie Awards categories will be announced in early May.