Local thespians featured on PBS documentary

Florida thespians Joshua Grosso and Samantha Schneider-Behen are among 60 competitors featured on the upcoming PBS special Broadway or Bust.

As winners of the Straz Center’s Broadway Star of the Future Award, Joshua and Samantha went to New York City in June to compete in the National High School Musical Awards.

The PBS documentary series followed the competition from the regionals to the rigorous final competition in New York. More than 50,000 high school thespians competed in regionals across the country. Joshua and Samantha were among the top 60 most talented performers who qualified to compete in New York.

The series shows their journey as they sweat through an intense week of rehearsals, coaching sessions and performances. Follow along to the final awards ceremony, known as “The Jimmy Awards,” that took place in the famed Minskoff Theatre on Broadway.

Spoiler alert: if you follow our blog, you know already know that Joshua took home the coveted Jimmy Award for best actor.

Joshua, of Plantation, now attends Carnegie Mellon University and Samantha, of Riverview, is now a senior at Blake High School.

You can share their Broadway experience and watch how it all unfolded in the three-week PBS series airing on WEDU Sunday nights at 8 p.m. Sept. 9 - 23, 2012.

[Note: Each year, the Straz Center presents the Broadway Star of the Future Award to one male actor and one female actor in recognition of their outstanding performance in a musical theater production. Winners are selected through the Florida State Thespian Competition, held annually at the Straz Center, and have the opportunity to represent the state of Florida and the Straz Center at The National High School Musical Theater Awards.]