Medina’s Gabi Ilg is best actress at Dazzle Awards; Hoban’s Julia Martin honored for role

Last weekend was a big one for Gabi Ilg, who missed her Medina High School graduation to compete in the Playhouse Square Dazzle Awards and ended up taking home a big win.

The 18-year-old won best actress in the high school theater awards program May 21 amid a field of seven best actress finalists from Northeast Ohio high schools. Students from 29 high schools performed on the Connor Palace stage last weekend for the first live Dazzle Awards event in three years.

Ilg and best actor winner Daniel Blum of Mayfield High School will go to New York on June 20 for the National High School Musical Theatre Awards, known as the Jimmy Awards. A week of workshops, auditions and rehearsals will precede the final performance and awards ceremony June 27 at Broadway's Minskoff Theatre, where 92 students from across the country will compete.

Playhouse Square also presented Ilg and Blum with $1,500 checks.

"I'm really excited. I've never been to New York at all before," Ilg said Tuesday. "It's gonna be really crazy for my first time being there to get ready for a performance on a Broadway stage."

More: Arts picks: 'Say It Loud' at Knight Stage, Firestone in Dazzle Awards at Connor Palace

Ilg, who was also nominated for best actress for the virtual Dazzle Awards last year, got to compete live in the Playhouse Square competition for the first time this year. (The Dazzle Awards were canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic.)

More: Firestone senior among six Akron-area Dazzle nominees

"I wasn't expecting anything. I thought all of the nominees, they were all really good and they were all really nice," she said. "It just didn't feel real but it was so exciting."

This year, the best actor and actress winners were chosen through an audition process in March, where Ilg sang "Lost in the Brass" from the musical "Band Geeks."

On Monday, she and Blum were back at Playhouse Square to film singing, dancing, acting and interview segments at the Idea Center to submit for the Jimmy Awards. Ilg sang "Lost in the Band" again as well as a cut of the tune "Where Am I Now" from the Broadway musical "Lysistrata Jones."

Ilg, who grew up studying tap and performing in musicals at Akron's Weathervane Playhouse and at school, will attend Cleveland State University in the fall. She'll major in chemical engineering and has also received a scholarship to play the flute.

"I definitely want to keep pursuing the arts as much as I can going forward," said Ilg, who also hopes to audition for CSU shows.

So what are Ilg's hopes for the Jimmys?

"I just hope to make more meaningful connections with people because I feel like that's what doing this is really all about. It's just making connections through a shared love of the art of music theater," she said.

Award for Hoban actress

Julia Martin, a Copley 18-year-old, had a big night at the Dazzles, too. She won best supporting actress for her roles as Dragon and Sugar Plum Fairy in Hoban High School's production of "Shrek."

Martin, who was nominated for best actress the year the Dazzles were canceled in 2020, this year danced en pointe as the Sugar Plum Fairy and spoke with a Russian accent in her school's show.

She does competitive dance for Studio West Performing Arts Center in Fairlawn, grew up acting at Buckeye Community Theatre in Medina and studies voice with Sue Wallin at West Side Vocal Academy at Weathervane Playhouse.

On Saturday, many of her fellow cast members from "Shrek" were screaming for her and her dance coaches were whistling for her when she was named best supporting actress.

"I was stuttering through my speech. I don't even know what I said," said Martin, who graduated from Hoban Sunday.

When Martin and her fellow theater students learned during study hall May 3 from Fox 8's New Day Cleveland that she was nominated for best supporting actress, they went wild.

"Everyone started screaming for me. My director [Erin Bennett] picked me up. I was just so excited to be a part of it," she said Monday.

Now, Martin is preparing to start her freshman year in Baldwin Wallace University's esteemed musical theater program in the fall.

"I'm super excited to continue my training and continue doing what I love," she said.

Other Dazzle news for Hudson High, Firestone

In this special year's return to the live Dazzles, Hudson High School won best student orchestra for its production of "Chicago." Jada-Lynn Pledger of Akron School for the Arts at Firestone CLC also won the Spirit of the Dazzle Awards for most embodying camaraderie, passion and an infectiously positive attitude throughout Dazzles rehearsal week.

Playhouse Square also recognized the musical director from each participating school — including Akron-area schools Hoban, Firestone, Medina, Wadsworth, Walsh Jesuit, Hudson and Aurora — with a special Dazzle Award in honor of their dedication, leadership and perseverance.

Arts and restaurant writer Kerry Clawson may be reached at 330-996-3527 or kclawson@thebeaconjournal.com.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Medina's Gabi Ilg wins best actress at Dazzle Awards, heads to New York