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Stephanie Styles with Kathie Lee Gifford at the National High School Musical Theatre awards June 28 at Broadway’s Marquis Theatre (New York).

Stephanie Styles, a 2010 graduate of Episcopal High School was awarded one of the top three best leading female actors at the Jimmy^TM Awards June 28 at Broadway’s Marquis Theatre at the 2nd Annual National High School Musical Theater Awards (NHSMTA).

The NHSMTA is a national celebration of outstanding student achievement recognizing individual artistry in vocal, dance and acting performance by high school students. Nearly 1,000 high schools nationwide participated in the 2009-2010 program offered at 22 regional theatres across America.

Styles won the 2010 Tommy Tune Award for Best Leading Actress in April at Theatre Under the Stars Hobby Center for her role as Janet van de Graaf in The Drowsy Chaperone which allowed her to advance to the national competition.

The ceremony was hosted by Kathie Lee Gifford and presenters included nine-time Tony® Award-winner Tommy Tune, Krysta Rodriguez and Adam Riegler (The Addams Family), and Hunter Ryan Herdlicka (A Little Night Music). The awards presentation featured student performances from all 44 participants and a special performance from the cast of Come Fly.

In addition to performing a piece from her award winning performance in The Drowsy Chaperone, as one of the top three in the competition, Styles performed a solo on this famous Broadway Stage.  She participated in interviews, private coaching, master classes and rehearsals at the New York University Tisch School of the Arts Department of Drama’s New Studio on Broadway: Music Theatre and Acting.

“This was an experience of a lifetime,” Styles said. “It was exhausting and amazing at the same time. Performing on Broadway and meeting so many amazingly talented people has changed me forever,” Styles said.

Jimmy^TM Award winners were selected by a panel of industry experts including Scott Ellis (Roundabout Theater Company); Kent Gash (NYU Tisch School of the Arts, New Studio on Broadway: Music Theatre and Acting); Tony® Award-nominee Montego Glover (Memphis, The Color Purple); Alecia Parker (NAMCO); Nick Scandalios (Nederlander Organization) and Bernie Telsey (Telsey + Company and MCC Theater).

The National High School Musical Theater Awards was established in 2009 to help invigorate and support in-school theatre arts programs. The program has already been recognized by The National Endowment for the Arts, The Broadway League, The Shubert Organization and other industry organizations and foundations committed to nurturing future artists and audiences.

Styles is a West University Place resident and will attend University of Michigan for theater in the fall.