Blanchard Creative Group to Produce the Upcoming 10th Anniversary Joci Awards
The one-night showcase of 25 high school performing arts students from San Antonio and surrounding counties awards $100K in scholarships each year
SAN ANTONIO, May 17, 2018 (Newswire.com) - Blanchard Creative Group announced this morning that it will be returning to partner with the Las Casas Foundation this weekend to produce the 2018 Joci Awards, which will take place Sunday, May 20, 2018, at 6 p.m. at the Charline McCombs Empire Theatre in San Antonio, Texas. (http://www.lascasasfoundation.org/announcing-the-10th-annual-joci-awards-finalists).
Jaselyn Blanchard, San Antonio native and founder of Blanchard Creative Group, together with a star-studded theatrical production team, will bring their extensive professional theatrical experience and passion for live theater to San Antonio for this special event. http://blanchardcreativegroup.com
Earlier this spring, over 125 students from 44 high schools all over South Texas competed for a spot in this year’s show performed onstage at the Charline McCombs Empire Theater. Over the course of this week, students will take part in an authentic professional rehearsal experience crafting a show with creative professionals comprised of local and New York City talent, giving them a unique glimpse into the next steps in their careers.
The full creative team includes: Jaselyn Blanchard (Producer), Chris Ketner (Co-Producer), Kristan Seemel (Director), Alan J Plado (Music Director), Weston Wetzel (Director of Production), Rachel Latremore (Choreographer), Curtis Shields (Lighting Designer), and Rebecca J. Simmons (Production Stage Manager).
Together, this seasoned creative team boasts over 250 combined professional theatrical and live event production credits. Professional theatrical highlights among the creative team include: Broadway National Tours of "Dirty Dancing," "Legally Blonde," "Elf the Musical," "Memphis," "Mama Mia," "Disney’s Beauty and the Beast," "The Nance" (Broadway), "The Spongebob Musical" (Broadway), "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" (Broadway, Tony winner), "Annie" (Broadway), "Hands on a Hardbody" (Broadway), "Evita" (Broadway, Tony nom.) also performances at places like London’s West End, Off-Broadway, The Public Theater, Trinity Repertory Company, The Flea Theater, Ogunquit Playhouse, Alabama Shakespeare, Broadway Method Academy, Westchester Broadway Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse, The Magik Theatre, to name a few.
Blanchard Creative Group team’s previous production credits also include: Joci Awards 2017, Super Bowls 47, 48, 49, the US Open Tennis Tournament 2012-2015, concerts with Carrie Underwood, Usher, Blake Shelton, Ariana Grande, and more.
The Joci Awards has a longstanding tradition of celebrating the best and brightest of the performing arts in San Antonio, and this year will be no different. The one-night showcase culminates the Las Casas Foundation’s annual scholarship program which supports talented performing arts high school students. Since the program’s inception in 2009, Las Casas has awarded more than $800,00 to deserving students who excel in the performing arts, making it one of the largest scholarship funding source of its kind in the United States.
Blanchard Creative Group will be bringing nationally-acclaimed theatre and film professionals to help select scholarship winners based on their performances. This year’s judges include: Christopher Windom (Broadway’s "Pippin," National Tour of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat," "Frozen: Live at The Hyperion" for Disney) Ryan Driscoll ("Summer of 42," Broadway music copyist and orchestrator, and current Assistant Director of Music Theatre for the Program in Vocal Performance at NYU-Steinhardt) Caitlyn Caughell (Broadway’s "Newsies," National Tours of "Finding Neverland" and "Bridges of Madison County"), Kirsti Carnahan (Marta in Broadway’s "Kiss of the Spiderwoman" opposite Chita Rivera, Founder of the StrawHat Auditions), and Justin Blanchard (Broadway’s "Journeys End" and Workshop Production of "Zorba" with Antonio Banderas and Chita Rivera).
This year’s Joci Awards will take place at the Charline McCombs Empire Theatre on Sunday, May 20, 2018. For more information, please contact Blanchard Creative Group at (917) 623 4730 or celebrate@blanchardcreativegroup.com.
Tickets available at www.ticketmaster.com.
Source: Blanchard Creative Group