See the winners of the 2023 Metro Awards and watch a replay of the show

Rye Neck High School’s production of “Anastasia,” a musical about a woman who might or might not be Russian royalty, left no doubt with the judges of the 2023 Metropolitan High School Theater Awards, who named it outstanding overall production at a ceremony Monday at Tarrytown Music Hall.

The announcement of the “Anastasia” win capped a song-filled evening at the Music Hall, with performances and speeches, cheers and showtunes aplenty.

Theater kids from 56 schools converged to celebrate a year of song, dance and collaboration. It was the first time the awards had been held since 2019, when this year’s graduating seniors were in eighth grade.

Hosts Kerry Butler and David Josefsberg, seen most recently in “Beetlejuice” on Broadway, kept the evening going at a good clip. After all, it was a school night.

Here's how the night unfolded, in real-time, in reverse order.

Outstanding overall production

Rye Neck's “Anastasia.”

The cast hugged it out, center stage as director Cyndi Feinman approached the podium.

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"Wow! Thank you," raising her hand in a quiet-coyote gesture overhead. "This production was a collaborative effort. Love you! Stay kind!"

Leading actress

Tatum Hopkins, for Nyack's “Little Shop of Horrors.”

Hopkins leapt to the stage. "This is the best last show I could ever dream of having," she said. "Thank you so much."

Leading actor

Nathaniel Findlay, for Rye Neck's “Anastasia.”

Findlay, at the podium, appeared shocked. "OK," he said in a funny falsetto. He thanked his director and family and begged his sister to become a stage manager.

Director

Christina Colangelo, Blind Brook, “Something Rotten!”

"I did write something because I didn't want to be unprepared," she said. Colangelo thanked her family and her cast for stepping out of their comfort zone. She said she comes from a family of female directors and women in theater education.

"I can undeniably say that theater is the greatest of all art forms," she said. "Everything I ever needed to know about life I learned from musical theater. And theater kids grow to be the most empathetic adults."

All rise

Hosts Butler and Josefsberg asked students who were on stage to stand.

They then asked all the kids who filled technical roles to stand.

Then all the directors and musical directors and creative staff.

Then all the parents.

Then they began to announce the evening's final awards.

A special award

The Danielle Rudess Award went to Danielle Rudess, the founding producer of the Metro Awards.

Supporting Actress (a tie)

Chloe Beal, Blind Brook, “Something Rotten!” A shoutout to a friend with a concussion. "She's still dedicated and we love her," she said.

Cecelia Valdez, Lyndhurst, “Disney’s The Little Mermaid.” "I want to thank my theater parents. I love you. They're the reason I've been doing this since the sixth grade." Then she threw in a quick "Happy Pride Month!"

Stepinac performs

Calvin Lindo, a Roger Rees Award winner for his portrayal of Frankie Valli, opened Stepinac's performance, singing "My Eyes Adored You," joined by Ava Pursel and then his "Jersey Boys" co-stars. Then they transitioned into "Rag Doll" and "Who Loves You?"

Supporting actor

Alejandro Martinez of Pleasantville, who wowed as Conrad in “Bye Bye Birdie” earlier in the night, took to the podium, still in his gold jumpsuit. He thanked his directors, particularly Nadia Rizzo, for getting him on the stage.

Music direction

Charles Santoro, Fair Lawn, “Little Shop of Horrors.” Santoro was not present, but sent along a note of thanks.

Featured ensemble member

Carolina Doherty, of Rye Neck's “Anastasia,” took this Metro. "Wow! I just performed!" she said. "This is an honor. If it weren't for Rye Neck, I don't think I would have immersed myself in theater. So, yeah. Here's to doing theater for the rest of our lives."

Cameo

Alexis Ulmer, Ramapo (NJ), “Urinetown.” She thanked her director, her mom and her cast, in that order.

Rye Neck performs

"The Land of Yesterday" brought down the house. Enough said.

Production Number

“When You’re an Addams” from Rye Country Day School's “The Addams Family."

Chorus

Bergen County Academies, “Fiddler on the Roof.”

Featured ensemble group

Tessa Boissonnault and Autumn Takacs, Brewster, “James and the Giant Peach” Boissonnault and Takacs. "No one knows this show!" they said. "Who knows 'James and the Giant Peach'? Hopefully, people know what 'James and the Giant Peach' is now."

Costume design

Evelyn Varga, Westlake, “The Addams Family." The crowd clapped along as Varga made her way to the stage. She thanked her family for "letting me turn my dining room into a sewing room for six months out of the year."

Leading actresses perform

Wow. The performances here. From "Xanadu," "Chicago," "Little Shop," "Bye Bye Birdie," "Anastasia" and "Into the Woods." (You must check out the livestream on replay at the top of this story to check them out.)

Vocal performance

Vocal Performance – Male: Sam Corry, Carmel, “Disney’s High School Musical." "When I walked into the audition, I know everyone thought 'Who let Ron Weasley into the building?'" said the ginger-haired Sam Corry.

Vocal Performance – Female: Nora Giannantonio, Academy of the Holy Angels, “Twelfth Night”

Choreography

Caitlin Ort, choregrapher for Northern Valley Old Tappan's “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels,” had to rechoreograph the show with 10 days notice when cast members were removed for disciplinary reasons. Director Susan Van Buskirk, who is not a dancer, accepted the award for Ort, and deputized star Roman Gatti to accept the award. He spoke of the challenges Ort faced — "We had crew kids standing in."

Lighting design

Immaculate Heart Academy's Nikki Belenski won for “Xanadu.” "I don't go on stage, so this is hard," she said.

Technical Merit

This teacher-nominated award had a four-way tie.

Julian Silva for Blind Brook's "Something Rotten!" as assistant technical director and sound console operator.

Kayden Caleca, Abby DiSalvo and Evelyn Jansen, the stage management team for Pascack Valley's "Chicago."

Joel Joseph, head of publicity for Ramapo (NY)'s "Footloose."

Christian Vincenty stage manager and set construction chief, Westwood, “Into the Woods.” "That was unexpected," he said. "I'd like to thank my mother. There's too much to thank you for."

IHA performs

Immaculate Heart Academy, an all-girls Catholic school in Township of Washington, performed "All Over the World" for "Xanadu," with cast members filling the aisles handing out glow-sticks, which soon filled the house. This being a show with roller-skates, there were roller skates. The cast then transitioned to the title song.

Duet

The winner for duet is “The Song That Goes Like This,” from Tappan Zee's “Spamalot.” Daniel Lipari and Kiki Zervoudis thanked the cast, crew, directors and friends and family. "I want to thank everyone," Kiki said. "I wanna thank Jesus."

Hair and makeup

A new category, the Metro went to Merielle Lupfer of Pascack Valley's “Chicago: Teen Edition”

Child actor

Pleasantville had just settled back down when Julian Dundie won for child actor. He thanked his directors "for shaping me into the actor I've become."

Stage Crew

Pleasantville stage crew won for “Bye Bye Birdie.” As the three girls linked arms and thanked the crew "and everyone who helped us get here," a guy in the audience shouted "That's my girlfriend!"

Leading actors perform

The performances here, from "Jersey Boys," "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels," "Little Shop of Horrors," "How to Succeed," "Urinetown" and "Anastasia." Poise. Command.

Acting performance

Acting Performance – Male: Jack Eiff, Harrison, “Into the Woods.” He thanked his directors Meg test and Deb Toteda. "I was not good for a while and you guys helped build me up," he said. He then threw his newfound clout behind Kendrick Lamar for president in 2024.

Acting Performance – Female: Amelia Perlmutter, Rutherford, “Mean Girls: High School Edition" She thanked her directors, her friends and family and her cast. She thanked her parents, both of whom are actors.

Small group number

A new category this year, for small group number, went to Kennedy Catholic for “I’m Not A Loser” from “SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical”

"I have to say how proud I am," the spokeswoman for the group shrieked. "You guys are some of the best friends anyone can ask for. I'm a soprano. I played Squidward."

Student orchestra (a tie)

Lakeland's "Into the Woods." There were 17 students in the pit of Lakeland's "Into the Woods" orchestra. Sondheim played by 17 students in the pit.

White Plains, “Mamma Mia!” The music director thanked his student musicians for their work.

Pleasantville performs

The company of Pleasantville's "Bye Bye Birdie" opened their medley with the MacAffee family waxing harmonic about Ed Sullivan. Then Conrad Birdie stepped forward in his gold jumpsuit and had the girls falling left and right.

Dance performance

Dance Performance – Male: Nate Algor, Ramsey, “Crazy for You." Nate thanked his dance teacher and cast.

Dance Performance – Female: Nicolette Rivera, Saddle River Day School, “The Addams Family." Nicolette, who played the moon, came down from the balcony, wearing a boot on her left foot. She thanked her parents "for paying for all the lessons."

Scenic Design

Zach Dore of Blind Brook's “Something Rotten,” thanked his wife and kids, the Blind Brook community and some of his stage kids by name. "You stage crew kids out there? Your work is noticed."

Student pit musician winner is Leah Shefferman, of New Rochelle's “Love’s Labours Lost.”

Student critic

Maeve Gorham from Dobbs Ferry High School said she'd done many things in theater, but hadn't written a critique until this year. She gave a shoutout to the Dobbs Ferry "rat pack" and told the cast of Pascack Valley's production of "Chicago" they were great. (That was the musical she reviewed in the winning entry.)

Nyack performs

Nyack performs from "Little Shop of Horrors," starting with "Suddenly Seymour" and transitioning to "Downtown." Tatum Hopkins and Angus McLary, who'll also perform later (they're nominated in leading roles). The Nyack kids, in "Little Shop" T-shirts, nailed it.

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Comedic Performance

Comedic Performance – Male: Ian Morris, Mamaroneck, “Footloose." Ian, rocking his bolo tie as Willard.

Comedic Performance – Female: Elianna Carvalho, Hastings, “Something Rotten!” "Hey, everybody!" Elianna shouted as she took to the podium. She thanked her director, Laurie Walton, and her amazing cast.

Graphic design

The award for graphic design went to Emma Gelman of Hastings High School, for “Something Rotten!” She thanked her mom for telling her to keep editing.

The first award

The award for outstanding lobby display goes to Raegan Sedlarcik, for Carmel High School's “Disney’s High School Musical.” As Raegan, a Carmel mom, made her way from the balcony, the crowd clapped along with "We're All in This Together." (Reagan's daughter was in the show.)

Blind Brook performs

"Welcome to the Renaissance" opens the Blind Brook performance of "Something Rotten!" a play about brothers who have to have the misfortune of working at the time of Shakespeare. The number shifts into "A Musical," a tap-happy number with countless musical references. The crowd roars their appreciation.

The show begins

The house is filling and they're just about to start the show. Hosts Kerry Butler and David Josefsberg are backstage, the kids are talking excitedly.

You can tell the schools nominated for overall production because they're in costume: "Bye Bye Birdie" in the back of the house; Blind Brook's "Something Rotten!" is back stage, ready to come on first.

The house lights dim and a video starts.

"We're back after a long intermission," the video reads. And the kids erupt. "Tonight belongs to you."

With that, the video unspools production photos from each of the 56 participating schools and it becomes clear where each school is sitting.

The kids from Immaculate Heart Academy's "Xanadu" went ear-splittingly berserk just across the aisle, just behind the kids from Nyack's "Little Shop of Horrors" (equally berserk) and in front of the kids from Pleasantville's "Bye Bye Birdie" (equally ear-splitting.) The kids from Rye Neck's "Anastasia" are in the middle of the house, toward the back, and have lung power to spare.

Before the show

Today's forecast calls for possible thunderstorms and hail and — starting at about 7:30 p.m. in Tarrytown — widespread outbreaks of joy, exhilaration and showtunes.

It's Metros Monday, when theater kids from across the metro NYC suburbs will dress up sweet and sharp and converge on Tarrytown Music Hall to celebrate what they've achieved.

There will be live performances from all six musicals nominated for outstanding overall production, and from the performers in leading roles.

And it will get loud.

We'll have a lohud team at the Music Hall, too: I'll be joined by videographer Peter Carr and photographer Seth Harrison. We'll go live at about 6 p.m. for an hour of blue-carpet interviews. Then the scene shifts to the Music Hall, where every seat is spoken for and the ceremony starts at 7:30 p.m.

This article originally appeared on New York State Team: 2023 Metro Awards: Loudest, proudest night on HS musical calendar