You've heard of EGOT — The Emmys, Grammys, Oscars, and Tonys, — but there's no J in there ... yet. The J, as San Antonio theater audiences know, is for Joci.
The annual Joci Awards is a program honoring student performers at schools in the entire San Antonio area, and it's happening Sunday, May 17th, at the Majestic Theater.
Jaselyn Blanchard, Executive Director of the Majestic Empire Foundation, says, "The Joci Awards is more than just an awards show. It's a year-round tuition-free arts education and scholarship program, that impacts over 4,000 students who come through the program. It culminates in a Broadway-caliber show.... We have Broadway choreographers, we have a Broadway music director (Christopher D. Littlefield, pianist and Resident Music Director), who come in to work with our finalists, that put together an incredible production that rivals any Broadway production you'll see."
Three of those finalists — Clara Sankey, Luke Woodruff, and Christian Mendoza — dropped in to our studio to perform and talk about the program, accompanied by Littlefield. Says Woodruff, a student at North East School of the Arts along with Sankey, "It's such a great opportunity, especially for high schoolers. It's an honor to be able to perform with so many talented people. It's a beautiful testament to an under-appreciated art."
Mendoza, a student at Reagan High School, agrees: "We get to perform in front of really high Broadway-caliber teachers and directors, which is also a great opportunity, putting ourselves out there and getting exposure in the industry."
Indeed, that exposure means something. Blanchard points out, "We have two students on Broadway right now, and one opening as Christine in Phantom of the Opera on the West End this weekend, we have a student in Ragtime and a student in Death Becomes Her, but we always say is that these skills that they're learning will benefit them in life: confidence, collaboration — these are our future leaders, these are our future board members who are going to make a difference in our community, thanks to the power of arts education."
The Joci Awards
Sun 5/17, Majestic Theatre, 6:00 p.m.
Ticket information at this link: https://us.atgtickets.com/events/the-joci-awards/majestic-theatre/
