Lincoln, Blair graduates to make Broadway debuts at Jimmy Awards on Monday (2024)

Samara Follette took the stage for the first time ever in a Norfolk community production of Sweeney Todd.

She was just a member of the ensemble then, but the 11-year-old felt an instant connection to performing.

Since then, that connection has only grown. And on Monday, she’ll be taking her talents to a Broadway stage.

Follette, a recent Lincoln Northeast High School graduate, is one of two Nebraska students who were identified by the Nebraska High School Theater Academy as the top performers in the state, and selected to participate in the 15th anniversary of the prestigious National High School Musical Theatre Awards, which are called the Jimmy Awards after theater owner and Broadway producer James Nederlander. She’s joined by Blair High School graduate Derek Penner.

Penner and Follette, alongside around 100 other top theater students from across the nation, have spent a week in daily rehearsals, lessons and coaching sessions, all of which will culminate in a final performance at New York City’s famous Minskoff Theatre on the corner of Times Square.

The performance will also be available to watch on livestream on Monday at 6:30 p.m. Central Time on the Jimmy Awards’ Facebook page and YouTube channel. A video of the showcase will be available to watch online following the completion of the ceremony until Thursday evening.

To be chosen for the elite program, students had to hold qualifying leading roles in their local productions this year and exemplify strong abilities in acting, singing, dancing and professionalism. More than 100 students from across Nebraska submitted video audition tapes.

From there, a panel of local professionals narrowed it down to 16 performers, who were invited to spend a day at Omaha’s Holland Center to work with Omaha native and Broadway artist Q. Smith and complete final vocal, acting and dance auditions. The panel then worked to select a male and female actor from the pool of talented performers to represent Nebraska on the national stage— leading them to Follette and Penner.

“Samara and Derek are both wildly talented, they're fantastic performers and just really, really talented, but they're also very professional,” said Taylor Wyatt, the education manager at Omaha Performing Arts.

The students arrived in New York last week, and have since been working to soak up as much knowledge as possible. It’s been fun for Wyatt, who is in New York with the Nebraska students, to watch them grow as actors through this opportunity.

“It's truly so amazing. It's very, really special to be able to see them and their growth,” Wyatt said. “It's really incredible.”

The whole experience has been a dream come true for Follette— from spending a week in New York City to meeting other aspiring performers from across the country and working with top Broadway professionals to grow her talents. Not to mention the participants were surprised with tickets to last week’s Tony Awards, where they watched stars like Jonathan Groff and Sarah Paulson win the distinguished theater awards— an experience that can only be described with “wow, wow, wow,” Follette said.

But to top it all off, she gets to make her Broadway debut on a stage that houses large productions like "The Lion King," which will be a big change from her humble beginnings in community and high school theater in Norfolk and Lincoln.

“It's unreal,” Follette said. “To come from (Northeast), knowing how much of a struggle it is to even get people to come and watch us, to now be a part of something where hundreds and thousands of people are coming to watch. It's crazy.”

“And I feel like I'm taking a part of my school with me, and just kind of representing them and showing them that it can happen to any one of us,” she added. “It's something that I haven't taken for granted, and I don't think I ever will, for sure.”

Follette plans to attend Ball State University in Indiana for acting in the fall, and hopes to enroll in the musical theater program there pending her audition. As she progresses in her performing career, her goal is to dip her toes in every facet of the performing arts. Right now, her focus is on expanding her composition skills.

But no matter where she goes from here, Follette said she’ll never forget her time in the big city, and, someday, she hopes to be back on Broadway.

“Being here has been the most inspiring thing I've ever felt in my life, and I just can't see myself anywhere else,” she said. “I truly feel that this is where I was meant to be.”