Fairfax County students John Poncy and Allie Blanchet will be performing tonight on Broadway. The pair won best leading actor and actress at the Brandon Victor Dixon Awards, DC’s regional high school theatere awards show, which earned them a spot at The National High School Musical Theatre Awards, also called the Jimmy Awards. The Jimmys award the top performances in high school theater around the country. The winners for lead actor and actress at the 50-plus affiliated regional awards shows around the country are invited to travel to New York City for a week to train and ultimately perform in the Jimmy Awards, with the chance to take home the ultimate prize of best actor or actress. Impressively, both of the local teens are nominated for roles in the same show, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, at Fairfax Academy for Communication and the Arts. Poncy earned his nomination for his portrayal of protagonist J. Pierrepont Finch, a window washer attempting to climb the corporate ranks and join the company’s “Brotherhood of Man.” Blanchet gained hers for playing Smitty, a sarcastic and hardworking secretary at the company Finch joins. Blanchet and Poncy have both been selected to perform in character medleys during the ceremony, an honor for the top 40 students at the show. Both also auditioned last week for best actor and best actress, and will find out during the ceremony whether they’ve been selected as finalists. Both Blanchet and Poncy told Fairfax County Schools that they are thrilled to take part in the ceremony. “After growing up watching the iconic character medleys, and getting goosebumps from the opening number, it’s very surreal to be creating those same feelings for others this year,” Allie said. “For years, I’ve been in awe of the Jimmy’s and what they represent. I’m so grateful and humbled to be here in New York alongside some of the greatest talent in my generation,” John added. Fairfax Academy is a magnet-style program located within Fairfax High School. Students from Fairfax County public schools are eligible to audition for Fairfax Academy’s Musical Theatre and Actors Studio. Poncy recently graduated from Oakton High School, while Blanchet is a rising senior at James Madison High School; both are in Vienna. Poncy and Blanchet’s director in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Erich Dicenzo, is in New York City to watch them perform. He says that the students earned their honors with who they are off stage just as much as their performances on it. “Allie and John, outside of being true triple threats, are the kindest people in the room everywhere they go. And they are also the hardest working people in the room. They don’t take anything for granted. And I think the thing that was most exciting for me, that they were going to the Jimmys, was because they deserved it,” Dicenzo says. Dicenzo explains that part of what made each of their performances so special was the way that their skills helped them succeed at acting (while really trying). Poncy tap danced his way through the show, while Blanchet’s comedic chops propelled her to a nomination for lead actress despite the role typically being classified as supporting. For two students who have dedicated countless hours to musical theatre, Dicenzo says there’s no better opportunity than the Jimmy Awards, which he refers to as “the Olympics of high school musical theater.” “This week for them has just been a whirlwind of the best experiences Broadway has to offer. I don’t think they could get a better kind of introduction to the industry than what they’ve had to do this week,” Dicenzo says. Tune into the Jimmy Awards live on YouTube at 7:30 PM on June 22 to watch Poncy and Blanchet perform and see if they take home the night’s biggest prizes. This year’s ceremony is hosted by Saturday Night Live and Wicked alum Bowen Yang, and will be available to watch on YouTube until June 25.The post Watch Two Virginia Teens Compete at the “High School Tony Awards” Tonight first appeared on Washingtonian. ...read more read less