For any high schooler who loves musical theatre, there is no higher honor than getting to participate in the Jimmy Awards. And if you are lucky enough to be a finalist or winner? Well, that's enough to launch a theatre career! On June 23 at Broadway's Minskoff Theatre, the Jimmy Awards crowned two winners at its 16th annual ceremony: Chris Hayes and Fabiola Caraballo Quijada.
The event, highlighting the best of high school musical theatre talent, featured 110 nominees from 55 regional awards programs (culled from over 150,000 students who put on shows in their school theatres). Those 110 nominees were given a week-long trip to New York City, where they were coached by Broadway professionals, saw a billboard in Times Square with their face on it, and saw a Broadway show. The trip culminated in all of these young artists making their Broadway debut on the Minskoff stage, where they all sang in group performances. Then, eight finalists were named, and each finalist performed a solo that they had been prepping all week, in the hopes that they would get to perform it. After that, two winners were named. Videos from this year's Jimmy Awards can be .
Below, learn more about Hayes and Quijada, their history with the Jimmys (this was Quijada's third time singing at the Jimmy Awards, while Hayes has been watching the Jimmys since his freshman year of high school), and what's next for these rising stars.
Fabiola Caraballo Quijada
High School: Tyler Legacy High School in Tyler, Texas
Regional Awards: Broadway Dallas High School Musical Theater Awards, where Quijada won for playing . At the Jimmys, she performed as Sandra Bloom in a character medley and then for her solo performance as a finalist, she performed "Astonishing" from Little Women.
What's your history with the Jimmy Awards?
Fabiola Caraballo Quijada: I was a nominee for the first time in 2023, I got nominated for the role of "Motormouth" Maybelle in Hairspray. Last year, I got nominated for Nostradamus in Something Rotten! and I was a finalist. Last year, I sang "I'm Here" from The Color Purple for my finalist performance. And well, here I am. This year, I was nominated for Sandra Bloom in Big Fish and sang "Astonishing" from Little Women. Life is good.
Why did you choose "Astonishing" for your solo?
"Astonishing" was one of the very first musical theatre songs that I ever learned, and I became immediately attached to it. There's a lyric in the song that says, "I may be small, but I have giant plans." And I feel like that very well represents me and the dreams that I have, the goals I have for myself. It's a song that showcases how one can change in an instant, how just contemplating a moment in time can lead to a change in a person's desire, and it can affect their whole future. So a person is so powerful, just as powerful as their heart and their mind can be together.
Who was your solo coach this week, and what was one piece of advice they gave you that really stuck with you?
So my solo coach was Lisa Brescia. She was fantastic. One thing that she taught me was to create a performance that is authentic with yourself. You need to blend the character of the song that you're singing with who you truly are. And, you know, you'll bring your life experiences into the song that you're singing, and it'll make a performance so much richer and more relatable, and it'll feel great in your body. I think that's what really stuck with me.
What does it mean for you to be nominated here at the Jimmy Awards and then to take it home after your third time here?
It feels like a long journey, and it's a journey of growth and progress. And it makes me happy [to see] my first year in comparison to who I am now, what the Jimmy Awards has helped me become. It's incredible. I've seen myself grow as a performer and as just a person. I've gained so much more confidence, and it's because of the amazing things that happen at the Jimmy Awards.
Since this is your third time, you've done this whole cycle before, what is a favorite moment you've had this week? Besides winning it all.
I definitely enjoyed watching a performance of MJ: The Musical. We had a whole day at Times Square, we ate at Carmine's. For the beginning of the Jimmy Awards, part of our opening number was a video, sort of simulating Sunset Boulevard, and it was iconic. I've always wanted to be included in film and work in that. And that just gave me a kind of a glimpse of what it's like. I think that's my favorite part!
What does it feel like when you enter the stage and when you finally see the entire audience? What was that like to be on that lift?
It's very powerful, very beautiful, holding hands with the other finalists, and we become one. And I feel ethereal. I'm just a five foot one little Hispanic girl, I feel like I'm floating on that lift. And then I see just a wide expanse of just loud cheering and the darkness. And I can just imagine everything I can and want to be鈥� on that stage in that moment.
When they called your name tonight as a winner of the 2025 Jimmy Awards, what went through your head?
Gosh, I just felt relief. I was just so glad that I could finally breathe, and I was just so happy that in a couple of minutes, I would just be seeing my family and my friends, and I'd be giving them the biggest hugs. And I was glad that I can make them proud. It took me a moment to realize, "Wow, this is crazy." I just melted. I had no more pressure. I reached my goal, and now I could just go party.
One thing that really touched me tonight is during your acceptance speech, you were talking to your family watching on the live stream in Venezuela, and you said, "This is what immigrants can do." What does that mean for, not only your family, but kids your age across the world, to be able to watch someone like you, to have that representation.
Well, specifically during this time that we are living in today, it is very, very important to highlight the hardships that people go through and how their journeys are important, they matter鈥攁nd how success is possible, no matter where you come from. And I really hope that my words on that podium inspired someone to think bigger, dream bigger, tear down all who oppose them, and reach for the stars.
You just graduated high school. What are your plans now?
I'm very, very excited to be going to Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas, in the fall. I'm just gonna go back to my hometown. I'm gonna go on vacation with my friends the moment I get home, so I'll just live out this summer until I go to school.
Chris Hayes
High School: Las Vegas Academy of the Arts
Regional Awards: Nevada High School Musical Theatre Awards, where Hayes won for . At the Jimmys, he performed as Gaston in a character medley and then for his solo performance as a finalist, he performed "She Loves Me" from the musical of the same name.
Is this your first time at the Jimmy Awards?
Chris Hayes: Yes. I was honestly lucky because my RAP [Regional Awards Program] partner Marie Mu帽oz came here last year. So she really helped me prepare, and I could not have done this week without her.
Who was your solo coach this week, and was there one piece of advice they gave you that really stuck with you?
Yes, I had two solo coaches this week. I had EJ Zimmerman at the beginning of the week for my first character medley audition, and one of the biggest pieces of advice she gave me, is to just really think about the words that I'm saying and really, really, really act on them as if I'm truly feeling it. My other coach, Lisa, she taught me how to be more grounded, because I'm very good at being a character actor and playing the bit, but she taught me how to really go into my true life experiences and mix that with my strength in playing the bit.
What has been a favorite memory from this entire week?
One hundred percent, it had to be seeing my face on Times Square. It really put into perspective what I'm doing, how much of an honor it is to be here鈥攕eeing it really hammered the nail on the head for me about how I'm doing the thing. I got to see MJ: The Musical, and meet the MJ cast members. But mainly seeing my face on Times Square really put into perspective what is happening right now and how far I've come over the past few years.
Tell me about the process of picking your solo song.
So, it was actually a very long process in picking it. I originally was trying to choose very dramatic songs to contrast with Gaston, because I was like, "Ooh, they want to see contrast. They want to see if I can play two different characters." I had song choices that I was confident with, but none that I really felt showcased who I am, especially because I prioritized the more dramatic songs鈥攚hich, I'm just not a very dramatic person like that. But one night, after I submitted my packet, after I submitted all of my songs to the Jimmys, I was listening to my Spotify shuffle, and "She Loves Me" came on, Zachary Levi's version, and I was like, "Wow, this is such a great song that showcases such a beautiful range of emotion." But I was like, "No, it's not dramatic. I can't do it." So then I brought it up to one of my vocal coaches, and they told me that they believe what I do best and who I am as a person is more of that goofy, giddy, funny type of guy. And they really put that into perspective: More than showing my contrast as an actor, I should show who I am as a person. So that really clicked for me, and that is when I chose "She Loves Me." I was stressing out because I didn't know if they're gonna change my song after I submitted it. So I asked somebody at my RAP to email them, and they allowed me to change it.
One of my favorite parts about the Jimmys every single year is when you as eight finalists, you kind of rise out of the Minskoff stage. What was that like, lifting up on that stage?
Euphoric. I've been watching the Jimmys since freshman year, and I've watched many nominees, many of my friends, rise up on that lift, and to finally be in their shoes.... I've also watched many past Jimmys, to see many Broadway stars and movie stars and music stars rise up on that lift. So to know that I'm in all of their shoes was thrilling. And to see that whole audience out there, there was nothing like it. And the energy in the room from the castmates backstage cheering us on to my fellow finalists on that lift, to the audience out in front of us, it was the most positive, beautiful thing I've ever experienced.
So you're on stage with your fellow finalists, they call your name. What are the thoughts that are going through your head when you hear your name called?
So many thoughts that they all canceled out. It felt like just pure fuzz in my brain. And the first thing that I remember thinking was, "No way." Because I'm gonna be so honest. I got off of that stage and I was like, "Oh, I'm not winning." But that is okay, because every single person, especially this year at the Jimmys, they all could have been a finalist. All 110 of us could have won, and it would have been so deserved that I was so okay with whoever won because I was so thankful to even make it this far in the first place. All I could think of was, "No way." And then immediately after, I was like, "Oh, I have to do a speech," and started thinking about all of the beautiful people in my life that made this possible.
What are your plans now?
I just graduated high school. After high school, I am going to the University of Cincinnati's College Conservatory of Music, CCM, for musical theatre. And I luckily have a full ride, so I'm just fully planning on honing my craft.
