The Jimmy Awards: From Cult-Favorite to Cultural Force

Happy Friday 👋🏼 Every June, a new crop of high school performers steps into the spotlight at Broadway’s Minskoff Theatre. It’s the Super Bowl of student musical theater. The NFL draft of Broadway. A launchpad, a love letter, a night of pure joy.

The Jimmy Awards—officially The National High School Musical Theatre Awards—are more than just a competition. They’re a cultural force. They represent hope, access, and ambition in an industry that often feels impenetrable.

And behind the curtain? A small, scrappy digital team is trying to turn that joy into something people can actually see.

I wanted to know how this feel-good, niche event became a full-blown digital phenomenon. So I sat down with Jake Miaczynski—a digital content associate at The Broadway League—who’s helped steer the Jimmys’ social presence from quiet YouTube clips to a multi-platform powerhouse.

We talked about building community, fighting for trust, and making content that actually means something.

Matt: Let’s start at the beginning. How did you end up working on the Jimmy Awards?

Jake: Honestly it was so random. I was living in Wisconsin after taking a job in marketing and comms at the end of 2020. I ended up working remotely for that job, moved to New York, and cold-applied to a bunch of jobs in the city and found this one on Playbill.

Matt: So you landed at The League and ended up working on the Jimmy Awards?

Jake: Yeah—this past year was my third. The digital team here works across multiple programs, but the Jimmys are our crown jewel. It’s the biggest thing we do. And honestly, it’s the most fun.

Turning Clips Into Community

Matt: What was the state of the Jimmy Awards’ social when you started?

Jake: We had our Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube accounts. Instagram had about 23K followers, and TikTok was just getting started at around 3K. I’d say YouTube is where most people heard about the Jimmys—it’s where we livestream the show and where Jimmys medleys of old live, based on our licensing agreements. Which—don’t get me wrong—those medleys have always had a cult following. But fans were buried in the YouTube comments. There wasn’t a strong sense of community or interaction with those fans.

Matt: So what changed?

Jake: We gave the fans a stage. We knew the audience was already there—obsessed, engaged, passionate. So we just met them where they already were with content they were already consuming: TikTok, Instagram and Facebook Reels, and recently, YouTube Shorts. And that’s when it really started to take off.

Metrics That Actually Matter

Matt: What does “good engagement” look like for your team? What are you actually tracking?

Jake: It’s a mix. We look at all the typical social metrics, but we also pay close attention to conversation. Especially on TikTok, we’re seeing what we’ve dubbed the “Jimmys Army.” We’re a small team. Three full-time staff members plus one intern during the actual Jimmy Awards. So if someone in the comments says, “What even is this?”, often our community jumps in and explains it before we do. 

Matt: That’s wild. You’re literally building digital advocates.

Jake: Exactly. And then we look at the big numbers too. The year before I started, we had about 1 million content views across platforms following the ceremony. My first year jumped to 12 million. Last year, 24.5 million. This year? We’re nearing 40 million.

Matt: That’s incredible. And that’s the kind of number, I imagine, people will take seriously.

Jake: Totally. We say “a million” and they’re already impressed. Then we say “forty” and it’s like—okay, this is real. This year we also passed 100K followers on both TikTok and Instagram. Three years ago, we had 3K followers on TikTok. Now we’re at 136K and counting. Instagram grew from 23K to now over 120K.

Matt: That’s not just growth. That’s proof of concept.

Jake: Yes—and it’s also reach. We have alumni like Reneé Rapp, Eva Noblezada, and Andrew Barth Feldman whose audiences go way beyond theater. If we can leverage those fans, the program and its mission go further, too.

Matt: I hadn’t thought about it that way. The show itself isn’t being discovered through billboards or commercials. It’s happening on social.

Jake: Right. The Jimmy Awards doesn’t grow because of print ads or TV spots. They grow because of what we’re building online. That’s where people are falling in love with this program. That’s why social matters—maybe more than ever.

How it All Happens

Matt: So what does the actual year look like for your team? Especially in the lead-up to the ceremony?

Jake: It’s been different every year as the program continues to grow and expand. From my understanding, the off-season used to be pretty quiet, but that’s changing. We’ve done things like an alumni concert at 54 Below, and we follow alumni who are starting in new Broadway shows—like if someone’s debuting in The Notebook, I’ll email a contact and see if we can film their first bow. So there’s more happening year-round, but the big push is obviously the two weeks the nominees are here.

Matt: And during those two weeks, it’s chaos?

Jake: Chaos. Beautiful chaos. That’s why we plan so aggressively in advance. We use Notion to build out literally everything—every post has a copy task, an approval task, a video task, a due date. Things like sponsor shoutouts, countdowns, coach intros—those can all be pre-approved. That way, we’re not bottlenecked when the spontaneous moments hit.

Matt: And those moments really are where the magic is.

Jake: Exactly. Like this year, during the dance call, one of the choreographers was working with the nominees on “You Can’t Stop the Beat.” The music stopped, but the students just kept going. They were singing a cappella, dancing, fully in it. I was filming and thought, “Oh. This is it. This is the moment.” And that video ended up being one of our most viewed clips of our nominees rehearsing at Juilliard.

Matt: How do you decide what actually gets pulled from the livestream and posted?

Jake: We try to clip everything that we’re cleared to use. So any time someone’s singing, it’s likely getting cut into a postable format. We post full medleys, but we also slice them up for TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube Shorts. Then there are the special moments—Josh Groban’s speech, Lin-Manuel’s cameo, anything that hits emotionally. We’re also trying new things, like photo-based TikToks or behind-the-scenes looks at the conductor cam.

Matt: Oh I loooooove those.

Jake: Yes! I was obsessed with those old Broadway conductor cam videos as a kid, so I pitched getting one for the Jimmys. And it’s magic. Geoffrey Ko, our music supervisor, is so expressive. We’re using it to do side-by-sides with the students’ performances, showing how he’s guiding every beat. I got chills just watching it. That’s when I know it’s going to work.

Voice, Vision, and Regional Reach

Matt: Let’s talk about voice. The Jimmy Awards are produced by The Broadway League Foundation, but the tone on social doesn’t feel corporate—it feels warm, embedded in the culture. Was that intentional?

Jake: Oh, totally. One thing I always say is: we need to speak the language of our target audience. And by doing so, we help to make people feel connected. That’s the whole point. These students are giving their whole hearts on stage—our job is to channel that energy online.

Matt: And you’re speaking to so many different audiences at once. Students, parents, teachers, industry professionals. How do you navigate that?

Jake: At the end of the day, I think of it like this—and this is just from my perspective—but the students come first. They’re the ones engaging, sharing, building community. We’re on these platforms for them. Then it’s the parents, the communities. The people who can’t be there in person. I had a mom come up to me one year at the afterparty and say, “I felt like I was there with my kid all week.” That stuck with me. That’s when I knew we were doing something right.

Matt: That emotional clarity really comes through. And it makes sense that voice would carry over to how you engage with the regional programs too.

Jake: Exactly. We wouldn’t be here without them. Many regional programs send chaperones or program managers to the Jimmy Awards, and a lot of them have their own social channels. We’re not collaborating on every single post—that would be too much—but we’re in their comments, resharing when we can. A lot of them return every year, so I’ve been able to build relationships with people from the programs across the country.

What the Jimmys Teach Us

Matt: What have the Jimmy Awards taught you—about your work, or about yourself?

Jake: That we should seize the opportunities we’re given with everything we have. These students are young, yeah, but the way they show up—with their whole hearts—it reminds me that we all have access to that energy. I’m here in New York. I’m working in this industry. How lucky am I? Watching our nominees reminds me we have everything we need to go after what I want. It’s easy to forget that.

Matt: That’s beautiful. It’s one of the reasons I love watching the Jimmys as an adult—it’s nostalgic, but also kind of electric. It reminds me of why I started.

Jake: Exactly. They don’t just perform. They believe. And that belief is contagious. It wakes something up in you.

Matt: So if someone’s reading this and trying to grow their own program—at a high school, in a small town, wherever—what would you tell them?

Jake: I’d say: don’t just show what you did. Make people feel what you felt. That’s the difference. We’re in a moment where theater needs to reach people where they are. And that means finding ways to translate the magic of what happens in the room to the screen. Social doesn’t replace live performance. But it extends the invitation. It reminds people why this matters.

The Jimmy Awards aren’t just a stepping stone to Broadway—they’re a mirror. Reflecting back the power of community, the thrill of live performance, and the deep desire so many young artists carry to be seen.

It’s easy to write them off as a talent competition. Or a content machine. But what Jake and his team are building is something deeper: a digital bridge between dreams and reality. One that says you belong here—no matter where you’re watching from.

One Last Thing…

I didn’t grow up with the Jimmy Awards. Illinois didn’t start sending students until the year after I graduated high school. So while part of me wonders what it might’ve been like to compete, most of me is grateful—I didn’t have to measure myself against something I never had the chance to reach.

Because that’s the shadow side of events like this. For every student in the spotlight, there are hundreds watching from the wings. And it can stir something in you—not just admiration, but envy. That weird ache of almost. Of wanting to belong to a club that never opened its doors.

The Jimmys are extraordinary. But they also sit at the intersection of talent, opportunity, and perception. Many of the students who’ve competed have gone on to do incredible things—and sometimes, the industry starts treating the Jimmys like a shortcut to success. A fast track. A stamp of approval.

But regardless of how it appears, there is no shortcut.

Now, a decade into my own New York journey—after ten years of pounding the pavement, two new musicals in the same year, and still feeling like I’m just getting started—I’m learning to make peace with the long road. To trust the detours. To release the scorecard.

Because the truth is, we’re always being shown shinier things. More followers. More press. More visibility. And it’s easy to forget that none of it guarantees peace. No win guarantees self-worth. No moment erases the work it takes to stay grounded.

The deeper truth—the spiritual one, maybe—is that fulfillment doesn’t live in outcomes. It lives in attention. In being awake to the life you’re already living. In knowing that your worth isn’t proven by applause, or press, or prestige.

It’s not cumulative. It’s intrinsic.

You don’t earn your enoughness. You remember it.

You’re not late. You’re not lost. You’re not behind.

There is no rush to arrive—because you were never separate from the sacred to begin with. You’re in it. You’re of it. You’re already home.

See you next week ♥️