Ryan Geisler ’25 and Drew Waldman ’25 have been chosen to compete in the Roger Rees awards for their outstanding performance in this year’s musical: 9-5: The Musical.
As Waldman describes, these awards are “essentially an audition” to compete in the Roger Rees showcase, which is with a narrow group of fifty. One girl and one boy will win that showcase and advance to the Jimmy Awards. The Jimmy Awards is a national competition bringing together the two best highschool performers from each state. These awards can be a massive success for a future career in theater, as this is what began Reneé Rapp’s successful musical and theatrical career.
Geisler has known about the awards since she was an underclassman at Poly and has always had it in her mind. “I never knew that it would be a reality, and this year getting chosen as the lead role of Violet made it a possibility for me.” Geisler explains that she put a great deal of work into her role so she could help create a stellar performance, not just because she wanted Roger Rees recognition. Geisler said “It wouldn’t have been possible without the talented cast that we have.”
Waldman feels very honored to be chosen for the awards. She said, “I honestly did not expect to be picked. I thought that other leads were going to be picked over me.” She explained how she is nervous because she doesn’t know what the process will be like, and it is a new experience for her. However, she is very excited and hopeful that it will impact her career as she moves on to college and looks for jobs. Her technique towards this achievement was to “be in every show possible, work with a voice coach outside of school, and to take acting classes.” Waldman also makes sure that she dedicates much of her time to practicing and working independently to strengthen her skills.
Roger Rees (1944-2015) was an actor and director known and awarded for his lead role in the play The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby. The Roger Rees Award process entails multiple scouts attending high school performances across every state, searching for talent. The students in the state with the top two scores are sent to the competition in Marymount Manhattan College on May 2. The first round consists of you singing your solo from what show you were in for a panel of judges before moving on to the next round.
Rick Elice, a writer and former stage actor, said on the Roger Rees Awards website, “I hope everybody who is competing for the Roger Rees Awards understands this kind of lifelong commitment to trying to be better at what we, who work in the theater, try to do. What Roger’s life is a great example of is that you never stop learning, you never stop working, you never stop striving to be better.”
As Waldman and Geisler prepare for this competition, they simultaneously showcase their talents and shed light on the young talent present at Poly. As Elice said on the Roger Rees website, “These kids here today are on that path, and if Roger’s name is on that path as a signpost, then Heaven is happier today because he’s up there pointing down going, ’yeah, yeah, yeah, keep going, keep going, keep at it, just keep at it.”
