This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Health & Fitness

Newtown High School's Taylor Varga Heading to Broadway

For the fifth year, The Spirit of Broadway Theater in Norwich, CT presented The Connecticut High School Musical Theater Awards at a black tie gala event at the Palace Theater in Waterbury on Tuesday night. The large number of high school students in attendance took the black tie dress code very seriously and they appreciated each others' work throughout the glittering evening.

The program celebrates arts in our schools and recognizes individual artistry in vocal, dance and acting performances by high school students from throughout Connecticut. As the nationally designated, high school musical theater awards program for the State, The Connecticut High School Musical Theater Awards are connected with The National High School Musical Theater Award Program based in NYC. The lucky winners of the outstanding actor and actress of the Connecticut awards will participate in a five-day intensive “Broadway boot camp” in New York and then compete nationally at a ceremony to be held July 1 at 7:30 p.m. at Broadway's Minskoff Theatre.

Newtown High School senior Taylor Varga was named Outstanding Leading Actor for his performance in HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS as J. Pierpont Finch. In a heartfelt acceptance speech, Mr. Varga thanked his teachers at Newtown High School. This very talented young actor will represent the state of Connecticut at the Broadway boot camp.

Before being named the winner, Mr. Varga and the entire cast of the musical opened the gala with a performance of "Brotherhood of Man." Later in the three and a half hour awards show, the actor returned to the stage with the "executive" chorus and showed off his talented with a reprise of "I Believe in You."

One special "moment" during the awards show was a moving tribute to Newtown with selected students singing "Seasons of Love;" this was introduced by the producer of From Broadway with Love, which was held at the Palace Theater last winter.

Also honored with a Student Achievement Award in Stage Management was Newtown High School's Sean Watkins. Mr. Watkins was Stage Manager of HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS.

For a complete list of the award winners, click here.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

Patch Mayors are trusted local users who help moderate the Patch platform by promoting good local stories and flagging unwanted content. To learn more, click here.