Jimmy Awards Desperately Trying to Contact Broadway Audience Member Who Claims to Have Seen "HIGH SCHOOL Shows Better Than THIS"

by Leah Windahl. @leah_windahl.

HACKENSACK, NJ. — Representatives from the Jimmy Awards have been hastily contacting Steve Johnson, a local man who made the mistake of remarking that he had seen “high school shows better than this” during the intermission of Ragtime last Sunday.

“Well, it was 7:42 in the morning, and somebody was pounding on my front door,” said Johnson, whose moderately talented granddaughter attends George Washington High School.

“I open it up, and before I can say anything, the gal standing there is like ‘I’m here about that thing you said at intermission’ and I was like ‘what thing? That charging $48 for a glass of pinot noir is a crime?’ Then she started asking about getting comps to the high school’s next show.”

The Jimmy Awards—a national event celebrating the best of high school theatre—were happy to weigh in on the hoopla.

“If he means that, then we gotta see it,” said Jimmy Awards representative Jenny Anderson, who we found frantically trying to secure seats to George Washington High School’s sold-out production of Fiddler on the Roof by banging on their front door at 7:42 am.

“I’m trying to find the next Reneé Rapp, and if you’re telling me these kids can outshine a Broadway budget and a career-defining performance by Joshua Henry, well, I’m sat. Plus, I hear they’re doing Fiddler, and I really want to do a MEAN medley this year. Think like the time we had five Millie Dillmounts singing 'Gimme Gimme,' only with five Lazar Wolfs instead.”

We reached out to GWHS Drama director Harold Rupertson to see if he felt his shows were better than Broadway, and also to see if he had a comp. Now Ms. Anderson won’t stop knocking on our door at 7:42 am. 

“We’ve had several exceptional students go through our program, so it’s possible,” Rupertson said, putting the finishing touches on 14 pages of hyper-specific dress rehearsal notes. “We once had a young man play Pippin so beautifully it brought tears to my eyes. And that kid grew up to be Jonathan Groff…’s neighbor.”

At the end of the interview, Rupertson graciously gave us a comp, which we kept for ourselves. Better than Ragtime? We’re sat!